Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
1061550 | Policy and Society | 2013 | 16 Pages |
Policy-making in Flanders (Belgium) is traditionally characterized by a dense advisory system with a high number of advisory councils, firmly integrated into the policy-making process. Recently, the Flemish government has reshaped its strategic advisory council system, responding to concerns over growing advice competition. This reorganization was part of a broader reform aimed at increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of policies. In this article, we analyze the defining aspects of this new advisory council system, and explore members’ satisfaction about the advisory process and the use of advice by policy-makers. The latter can be considered a prerequisite for advice to contribute to policy-making. Our analysis is based on a 2009 survey with the members of the new strategic advisory councils (response 72.4%). The results show that reorganizing the advisory council system has not led to uniformity regarding council size, budget or membership constitution. And although satisfaction with the advisory process is generally high, the influence of the advice is perceived as low, which poses a challenge to neo-corporatist policy-making in Flanders.