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SOLIDARITY BETWEEN PUBLIC SECTOR ORGANIZATIONS

THE PROBLEM OF SOCIAL COHESION IN THE ASYMMETRIC SOCIETY

Social cohesion and integration is not only a classical problem of sociology but also of government. Governments implement policies and establish public sector organizations to solve this problem. As the number of such organizations increases, the question arises of how to ensure that their activities are geared to one another, i.e. how to attain cohesion between corporate actors in society. In the paper four answers to this question are reviewed; (i) new public management, which centers on market-type mechanisms that devolve greater responsibility to operating managers, and create more autonomy for public sector organizations; (ii) direct supervision by central government through hierarchy, rules, regulations, standard operating procedures and bureaucracy; (iii) investing in auditing with a focus on developing and using performance indicators; and (iv) investing in and managing with social capital. The empirical focus is on the Netherlands.

Key Words: asymmetric society • new public management • performance auditing • social capital • social cohesion as a policy problem

Rationality and Society, Vol. 9, No. 4, 469-488 (1997)
DOI: 10.1177/104346397009004005


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