ON THE DIVERGENCE
OF THE WMO FRAME
Master thesis
The analysis of
three
municipalities in
the Netherlands
Charley Sonius
10446524
26-01-2018
Words: 23291
Thesis supervisor:
Dr. Jasper Blom
Second reader:
Dr. Benno
Netelenbos
Email:
charleysonius@outl
ook.com
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Preface
Writing this thesis has been an interesting experience with ups and downs, but I succeeded with the help of many individuals. I would like to thank the different policy advisers and
participation/WMO councils of the municipalities for providing the knowledge and information, that enabled me to do the research. Their openness during and after the interviews allowed for interesting conversations and research material. Furthermore, I would like to express my appreciation towards my thesis supervisor Dr. Jasper Blom for supporting and guiding, by providing creative input and advice at crucial moments. I would also like to thank my second reader Dr. Benno Netelenbos. I am thankful for all the words of encouragements from my father during this period.
2 Table of contents Introduction ... 3 Questions... 4 Method ... 6 Relevance ... 9 Scientific relevance ... 9 Public relevance ... 9 Road map ... 9 Framework ... 10 Results ... 16 Municipality of Alkmaar ... 16
Dominant frame in the municipality ... 16
The political structure ... 20
Relevant actors ... 24
Observable relationship ... 26
Municipality of Haarlem ... 28
Dominant frame in the municipality ... 28
The political structure ... 33
Relevant actors ... 37
Observable relationship ... 39
Municipality of Den Helder ... 41
Dominant frame in the municipality ... 41
The political structure ... 45
Relevant actors ... 48 Observable relationship ... 50 Analysis... 52 Conclusion ... 54 Literature list ... 59 Appendix ... 66
Interviews civil servants ... 67
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Introduction
The inhabitants of the Netherlands are dependent on the municipalities for the care, that is organized in the WMO. These municipalities have the ability and space to design and implement the WMO policy at their own discretion, within the boundaries of the law (Wet maatschappelijke ondersteuning. 2015). The municipality can have a different WMO frame because they use their discretional space, so the balance of the responsibility between government and citizens might differ between the municipalities. One municipality might feel the need to provide for their inhabitants, while another municipality can decide that the inhabitants should take more responsibility. This study distinguishes three different kind of frames that can be present in a municipality; actieve overheid (verantwoordelijk), actieve overheid (gedeelde
verantwoordelijkheid) and the bal bij de burger. The inhabitants can have different rights and obligations in each of these frames. The WMO frame of a municipality can thus be important for the inhabitants, and insight in how this frame arises might be of value to them. The actors and influences that causes these differences between the municipalities are not yet explained and analysed in their totality. It has been suggested that the political structure of the municipality decides the frame of the municipality on the design of the WMO (Kampen, Verhoeven & Verplanke, 2013, p. 155-167).
The study of Kampen, et al., (2013) has found a possible connection between the political structure and the WMO frame. The increasing liberalization of the council would lead to a frame, where the responsibility of the municipality is limited. The study was done by analysing nine different municipalities with a clearly bounded research topic, which could restrict the analysis. This study will delve deeper into the cases, to analyse the vision and goals of the political parties and not simply their political colour. This study will not disregard other actors that might limit or change the influence of the political council. Including these factors will give a more reliable reflection of the complex society as opposed to simply looking at the ideological changes in the municipality councils.
This in-depth study will allow for a more comprehensive and reliable analysis of the extend of the relationship between the WMO frame and the political structure. This study will analyse the current and past rounds of the four-year data sets to further explore the influence of politics of the municipality councils on the WMO frames. The four-year plans after the election of 2014 will be discussed in detail in order to compare the municipalities more specifically.
4 Questions
The purpose of this research is to explain to what extend the political structure of the
municipality council and other actors influence the way the municipality frames their WMO design. This analysis would lead to an understanding of why each municipality designs and implements the WMO policy in a different way. So, this thesis will use the following main question: ‘To what extend can the differences or similarities between the policy frames of the
WMO in the municipalities be explained by the political structure of the local city councils?’.
This main question will be answered by using several sub-questions, that will structure the research.
1. What is the current WMO frame within the different municipalities?
The current norms and values that are observable in municipalities will be explained in this sub-question. The frames can be practically defined as the norms and values in municipality. The WMO frame is defined by Verhoeven as either bal bij de burger, actieve overheid (gedeelde verantwoordelijkheid) or actieve overheid (verantwoordelijk). These three options are based on the responsibility that the municipality takes in the care that is situated in the WMO.
Municipalities that only provide the minimum amount of support to their inhabitants are
categorized in the bal bij de burger frame. They mostly focus on the importance of the informal caregiver and in lesser extend on their own responsibilities. The actieve overheid (gedeelde verantwoordelijkheid) still feels an obligation to provide more than a minimum level of support to their inhabitants. They share the responsibility of the care with the inhabitants. The actieve overheid (verantwoordelijk) takes the responsibility to care for their inhabitants. The
municipalities will be organized based on these three categories. However, the differences within these three categories will also be discussed. The municipalities could all use a actieve overheid (verantwoordelijk) frame but still have different specific policies, such as direct financial support or coaching (Kampen et al., 2013). Including these more specific policy decisions will give a more in-depth view of the WMO frames of the municipalities.
2. What is the political structure of the local city council?
The political structure of the three municipalities will be discussed in this sub-question. This political structure will produce the basis on which the analysis will take place. The political
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structure of the council will be discussed based on the elections from 2006 onwards. The results from 2006 until 2014 will be analysed by the number of the votes the political parties received during the local elections. This overview will reveal a broad development of the political power within the municipalities. Simply doing this shallow evaluation will not be enough to create an in-depth and comprehensive analysis of the political structure of the municipality councils.
The political views of the parties will be analysed by looking at the election programs of the parties, with emphasis on their ideas on the WMO policy. These election programs are all made for the period from 2014 until 2018, which allows this study to compare the political position of the parties in the local councils. The results of the election will also be taken in account in the analysis of the political structure of the council. The political parties that received more than ten percent of the votes will be discussed. The municipalities have many small parties that received a limited amount votes. Including these parties with two or three percent of the voters will create the impression that they have an amount of influence similar to the bigger parties. A party that has less than ten percent of the votes will only be considered if they are part of the coalition.
3. Which other actors influence the WMO frame within the municipalities?
This question will be answered with a strong inductive character. The policy documents and interviews will provide the knowledge that would lead to distinguishing the actors that influence the WMO frame. Including these actors will create an in-depth and rich analysis that looks at a broad spectrum of influences. This would allow the study to create a broad view of the actors that are involved without excluding certain actors from the analysis beforehand. Furthermore, the position and views of the alderman that focusses on the WMO will be discussed in this question. The amount of power that the parties have in the councils might also be affected by their place in either the opposition or the coalition. The coalition should have more opportunities to create the policy based on their goals and views.
4. To what extend does a relationship exists between the political structure of the council and the
WMO frame?
This question will look at the relevance of political parties in creation of the WMO frame in the municipalities. This question will combine with the other three questions to explain why the
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power of the municipality council might be limited. The similarities and differences of the views of the political parties and the WMO frame could expose a relationship between them. The relevant actors will also be taken in account by comparing their views with the WMO frame. The relationship between the political structure, relevant actors and the WMO frame will also be explored by introducing new information about their relationship.
Method
The framing process of the municipalities can be studied more thoroughly by using a qualitative research strategy. This strategy will be applicable to this research, as it will look at the views and frames of the municipalities. A qualitative strategy will allow for an in-depth analysis, which will enable an analysis of the frames and views. Analysing policy documents and questioning the relevant civil servants is essential in navigating this complex context of influences on the WMO frames.
This qualitative research will be done based on comparative case study design. The three different rounds of the four-year plans will be analysed in this study. The four-year plans of WMO and their political structures of the council from 2006 to 2010 and from 2010 to 2014 will be briefly looked at. The most recent round of four-year plans will be analysed depth. This in-depth analysis will serve to explain the relationship between the political structure of the council and the WMO frame in relation to the relevant actors. This will illustrate whether the relationship between the political structure of the council and the WMO frame is as straightforward as
suggested by Kampen et al., (2013). The research design, as proposed, will enable an analysis that will give a comprehensive explanation as to what extend the political structure defines a WMO frame.
This study has some very strong inductive characteristics. The traditional structure will be altered because of the inductive strategy of this thesis. The results are the foundation of the study and the traditional role of the theoretical framework is changed. The theoretical framework that normally comes before the results will be limited. Part of the literature will be discussed after the results, as these results determine what literature will be relevant.
Two methods will be used within this qualitative data analysis of the political influence and the frames of the municipalities. The use of two methods will contribute to the diversity of the sources of knowledge. This diversity will create a more reliable research because the results
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of the individual resources can be compared. This use of data triangularity could confirm or partly disconfirm the explanation for the difference or similarities in the results (Weyers,
Strydom & Huisamen, 2014). Firstly, a document analysis will be done to gain knowledge of the political structure and WMO frames of the municipalities. The four-year plans will be one of the main sources for the document analysis. These four-year plans will be collected online or at the city hall. The four-year plans could refer to other relevant policy documents and these will thus be found using snowball sampling.
Secondly, interviews with the civil servants that are responsible for the WMO will
supplement the policy documents analysis. The WMO/participation councils in the municipalities of Haarlem will also be interviewed briefly, to validate the results from the documents and the other interviews. These semi-structured interviews will be used to obtain the necessary
knowledge, which is needed to answer the main question. Semi-structured interviews are applicable because they leave room for an in-depth interview, creating the opportunity for the civil servants to express their personal opinions and underlying thought.
This generates a rich data set while maintaining a certain level of structure and direction within the data collection. This interview will be structured around the sub-questions. The
interviews will mostly focus on the second and third sub-questions as they have a more subjective nature. This research also uses inductive method during the interviews, because it could lead to the fabrication of more indicators (Bryman, 2012, p.470). The thoughts and experiences of the respondents could create new and essential insights. The civil servants that are responsible for the WMO can identify how the political actors influence their policy making process. They are part of the actors that make decisions about the design and the implementation of the WMO policies. The population of this study consists of the civil servants responsible for the WMO of all the municipalities. The sample will have to be restricted to a limited number of civil servants, which are responsible for the WMO within the municipalities.
The units within this study are the municipalities in the Netherlands. The Netherlands has 388 different municipalities within its borders (Kiesraad, 2017) A purposive sampling of these municipalities should be done to research the main question within the boundaries of this thesis (Bryman, 2016, p.184). The municipalities should have a similar demographic size. Specifying the demographic characteristics will make it possible to more easily compare the municipalities and improve the replicability of the study. The municipalities with a much larger or smaller
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number of inhabitants might have different processes that influence the WMO frame. Comparing municipalities with similar demographic characteristics will allow for a more focused analysis that has a high reliability. The characteristics of the political structure of the chosen
municipalities are discussed thoroughly to create a transparent study.
So, within the purposive sampling a context sampling strategy will be used (Bryman, 2012, p.184). The sampling will have to include municipalities that have different ideological structures. The following municipalities are chosen based on these criteria: Alkmaar, Haarlem and Den Helder (Kiesraad, 2014). This limited amount will allow for an in-depth analysis even though this study has a limited time frame and resources.
The frames and political structure of the municipalities will be individually analysed and compared to each other. The differences in the policy structure could explain the differences in WMO frame between the municipalities. This suggests that a comparative case study design is an applicable method to approach this study. This design studies the environment of the policy making process intensively while maintaining the possibility to compare the municipalities.
The validity can be challenged by the existence of other processes that influence the WMO frame. This study will include the relevant actors to improve the validity of the study, and find what limits the power of the political actors.
Another problem that might limit this study is that the interviews might not give accurate information. This limitation can be caused by the openness of the civil servants during the interviews. They may simply say that they have an executive duty and listen to the orders from above. The civil servants must work together with the alderman and council of the municipality in the future, so they have an interest in keeping a good relationship with them. The civil servants could choose not to disclose certain vulnerable information to ensure their good relationship with these actors (Mosley, 2013, p.21). Emphasizing the confidentiality of the study might ease the reservation of the civil servants and decrease this limitation. Furthermore, the intricate political system may not be explained fully by these actors. This study interviews a leading civil servant of every municipality. These civil servants could have a different view of the processes in the
municipality. Their personal opinions about the council and or the alderman might conflict with an objective representation of the facts. They could also deceive the interviewer to enhance and boost their own reputations. These problems cannot be solved completely and can thus be seen as a part of the ‘measurement error’ (Mosley, 2013, p.88).
9 Relevance
Scientific relevance
This study will contribute to the literature of the policy making process, by expanding and structuring the knowledge about the influence of the political structure of the municipality council on the WMO frame in the context of the decentralization. The study of Kampen et al., (2013) was done in an abstract manner because they have a limited definition of the political structure. They concluded that the ideological background of the parties could explain the
changing WMO frame. This study will analyse the your-year plans of 2014 in relation to political programs of the parties in the councils. This will show if the views of the parties align with their ideological backgrounds. The other stakeholders that influence the WMO frame will also be taken in account to create a complete overview of the situation. The inductive strategy will help to reveal the vast majority of the actors that influence the policy. This would allow for an
extensive analysis of that will give an explanation for the differences between the municipalities. This study will look at the diagnosis of the situation and not on the possible solutions.
Public relevance
Understanding the influences of political structure on the WMO frame in the different
municipalities can be helpful for two parties. Firstly, the policy maker can better understand what his or her influence is on the decision-making process. This is done by structuring and comparing the knowledge about the policy frames of the individual municipalities and the position of the actors in this process. Secondly, the inhabitants should know which actors construct the WMO frame of the municipality to be able to influence the decision-making process. This study will show inhabitants and the public in general who designs the WMO frame and thus contribute to the public discussion.
Road map
This thesis will discuss the framework of the discretional space of the municipality. This will show the development of the discretional space of the municipality, during periods of
centralization and decentralization. Afterwards, the development and definition of the following WMO frames will be discussed; actieve Overheid (verantwoordelijk), actieve overheid (gedeelde
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verantwoordelijkheid) and the bal bij de burger frame. The results, that form the largest part of the thesis, will be discussed afterwards. The results of the interviews and the documents analysis will be structured around the individual municipalities. Alkmaar is the first municipality that is discussed in the results, which reveal that the alderman and the political parties have an important position in the development of the WMO frame. The WMO councils have an informal position, but is consulted on some occasions. The municipality Haarlem is analysed secondly. The results indicate that they have civil servants that seem to influence the WMO policy. The third
municipality is Den Helder, which WMO frame seems to be influenced by the regional collaboration. The results of these three municipalities generated some insight about the
influences on the WMO frame. This insight will be discussed in context of the current literature in the chapter analysis. Finally, all the results will be used to formulate an answer to the main question in the conclusion.
Framework
Frames can be seen as the principles that structure and give meaning to the social world that surrounds a person (Reese, 2007). Each person or organization can have a different frame towards a certain an issue. For example, the municipality can all frame the same process of the decentralization in a different manner. The decentralization can be propagated as an opportunity to create legitimacy or as a threat to the welfare state.
Actors can use these frames to initiate and form social policy, that align with their views. They can use frames to legitimise their policy choices or mobilise support for their cause. The frames can legitimise the policy decisions of the actors, as it can emphasise a certain aspect of an issue. Framing an issue in a certain manner will legitimize the policy choice of the municipality, as the actors can choose to use the frame of the municipality to define an issue. The frame can also be used to create a common cause or vision of the policy, on which people can be mobilized to act. People can rally behind a certain vision and frame, that will motivate them to act in order to achieve this vision of the policy (Gray, Lewicki & Elliott, 2003).
The frames of the municipality will be organized in three different categories. These categories are similar to the frames in the work from Kampen et al., (2013). The first category is named the actieve overheid (verantwoordelijk), in which the municipality feels responsible for their citizens. A municipality with this kind of frame will use certain language towards their citizens in their policy plans. They will express the importance of their efforts in the care of the
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clients. These municipalities think that they should provide for their inhabitants, without
demanding any form of contribution from the clients. The clients are entitled to receive the care that they need from the municipality. This guarantee for care shouldn’t only be provided for the weakest of the society. Finding and creating the solution to the problems surrounding the WMO is the responsibility of the municipality. So, the municipality in the actieve overheid
(verantwoordelijk) frame takes a leading position in the care of the clients (Kampen et al., 2013,
p.157-158). The
second category is the actieve overheid (gedeelde verantwoordelijkheid), in which the
municipalities emphasise the importance of the collaboration between themselves and the clients. The municipality still needs to take an active role in the care of the clients to fulfil their
responsibility towards the clients. They feel responsible for the care of the clients to a certain extent, but the clients are not simply the recipients of the care. The clients are stimulated to discuss and organize their care with the municipality. These active municipalities (gedeelde verantwoordelijkheid) should feel the need to establish an open relationship, where both parties act upon their responsibilities. They do take a leading position in providing the care for the clients. These municipalities do think and express that the municipality and the clients should work together in organizing the care. The municipality doesn’t demand a contribution from the inhabitants, as the problem of the WMO is not caused by the inhabitants but comes from the external factors (Kampen et al., 2013, p.159-160).
The municipalities in the third category have a bal bij de burger frame. The municipalities that have this frame will lay the responsibility of the care with the clients. These clients should take a leading role in organizing the care that the need. The municipality only feels responsible to provide the minimum level of care that the clients need. The inhabitants should always use their own resources before going to the municipality for the care. These resources can have a financial character or could be payment in kind. The citizens would be able to organize their care more efficiently in comparison to the municipalities. The participation society or doe-democratie are used regularly in the four-year plan of the municipalities that feel responsible for the clients. The WMO frame in this study will be defined by more than simply these three frames. The WMO frame in municipalities will be deepened by analysing the other aspect of the WMO policies. The WMO policy consist of choices about the compensation towards the clients, organization of the
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care and the freedom of choice of the clients. These choices in relation to the political parties will further illustrate their position and power (Kampen et al., 2013, p.161-162).
The WMO frames are based on different welfare regimes that will be discussed in this section. These regimes have been debated on a national level, as an ideal-type. A state never fit’s in just one regime as they can be categorized in a certain regime but can still show some crucial elements of another (Esping-Anderson, 1990, p. 29). The assignment of these ideal-types of welfare categories have also been challenged. Emmenegger, et al., (2015) argue that some choices to assign a country to a certain regime has been ambiguous. However, that same auteur acknowledges that the regime categories of Esping-Anderson (1990) are still very relevant in today’s study of the welfare regimes.
The characteristics of the three traditional regimes are described by Esping- Anderson (1990, p. 21-23). The universal care and the de-commodification of the welfare of the citizens are the main dimensions in the regimes. The commodification is centred around the reliance of clients on the market. The citizens are dependent on their wages and economic capacity in a society where the market is central, which makes them a commodity. De-commodification takes place when the citizens are given certain rights, which enables them to assure their livelihoods without depending on the market.
The first category consists of the nations with a liberal regime type. These welfare states have moderate social insurance plans and means-tested support. The criteria to be considered for social welfare are high and receiving this social welfare has a negative stigma. These types regimes do not substantially limit the commodification and they don’t provide universal care. The people that don’t meet the welfare criteria rely on the private market.
The conservative and corporatist nation falls into the second regime category. The historical awareness of these nations made them less susceptible to the tenets of the market and thus have a high level of de-commodification. However, this doesn’t lead to the destratification of the society as there is no universal care, since the historical policy choices are often based on the values of the church, and they can exclude non- working wives from the social welfare.
The nations with universal care and a high level of de- commodification are situated in a social democratic regime. These rights are universal between social classes in the social
democratic system. The position of the citizens in the social and economic structure should not influence their rights (Esping-Anderson, 1990, p. 26-28).
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The nation state of the Netherlands has most of the characteristics of a social democratic welfare model in 2006, on the basis of several studies (Castles, Leibfried, Lewis, Obinger & Pierson, 2010, p. 576-577). This regime is formulated for the nation state but can be translated to the municipality, as the characteristics of the social democratic regime are visible in the actieve overheid frame of the municipality. The municipality provides the care for the clients, with a strong universal character in this WMO frame. The clients don’t have to use the market to gain access to care, within the actieve overheid frame. So, this model is still used as the basis for the actieve frame (verantwoordelijk & gedeelde verantwoordelijkheid), as 2006 was the starting point of the analysed documents and the similarities of the characteristics between frame and the regime.
The bal bij de burger frame is based on the liberal regime type, as they both only provide the care for the weakest of the society. The universal care is not available in this regime and more citizens are dependent on individual insurance and the market for their care. However, Esping-Anderson (2014, p.442) acknowledges that the modern welfare regimes have changed compared to beginning of 1990, as the current societies face new challenges to the welfare system. Some nation states manage the new challenges by decentralizing, and lay the responsibility with families and the so called ‘local community’. Characteristics of both the liberal regime and the participation society are apparent in the bal bij de burger frame, as the Netherlands uses this participation society as a central vision in their WMO strategy.
The participation society changes the extent to which the government takes responsibility for the care of their citizens. The basic assumption behind the participation society is the
increasing involvement of citizens and a retreating of the government. The citizens should be given more responsibilities by handling most of the care demand without using the facilities of the municipality. The inhabitants should no longer solely depend on the care and support of the national government. The local municipalities are, presumably, able to create policies that fits the specific needs of their inhabitants. The involvement of the citizens would decrease the costs of professional support. The increasing cost of healthcare could be limited by having the relatives or acquaintances take over the support for the client (de Haan, 2014).
There has been a normative debate on the advantages and disadvantages of the welfare regimes and the participation society. The advantages of the participation society are explained by many auteurs and agencies (WRR, 2012. Raad voor Maatschappelijke Ontwikkeling, 2013).
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However, de Haan (2014) argues that the egalitarian norms and values of the traditional welfare state might be challenged, as some clients might have a more extensive support system than other clients. The concept of the traditional welfare state is defined by Thoenes in the following way;
‘De Verzorgingsstaat is een maatschappijvorm, die gekenmerkt wordt door een op democratische
leest geschoeid systeem van overheidszorg, dat zich - bij handhaving van een kapitalistisch productiesysteem - garant stelt voor het collectieve sociale welzijn van haar onderdanen (1962,
p.124).’.
The emphasis of this definition on the responsibility of the government for the collective and systematic care of their citizens is striking. During the golden age of the welfare state
between 1948 and 1972 many centralized policies enhanced the responsibility of the government (Doorn, 1978, p.23). This financial burden of this system was put into question after the
appearances of financial crises in the eighties and in 2008. The costs of the welfare state as it was defined and executed in the Netherlands were too high. Returning the responsibility of the care for their inhabitants back to the citizens was found necessary by the ruling political parties. The traditional welfare state that was created during the years of centralized policies after the war was thus threatened by this new policy paradigm, where other values such as individualization and personal freedom became more salient (Ingkehart, 1971). Ido de Haan (2014) expresses his concern about the resiliency of the core values of this new policy paradigm. The durability of the effort that is required of the citizens is questioned. The citizens would be dependent on others for a fair amount of their care. This asks sacrifices for the informal care givers as they might feel pressured and overworked by giving the extra care to a relative. There are obvious difficulties in involving these citizens in the care while maintaining a level of guaranteed care.
The decentralization of the WMO puts the delicate discussion, of this distribution of the responsibility in hands of local politicians. These local politicians all have different views on the right balance of the amount of responsibility of the municipalities versus that of the citizens. This view is related to the frame that they apply to the issue. The extent of the legislative freedom that the municipalities have is dependent on the power of other relevant actors and the past legislative choices. The current legislative authority of the municipality is part of a long and dynamic power relationship between national and local governance. The development of the history of this relationship will be briefly discussed, as it importance is stressed in the historical institutional
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literature. They believe in the path dependency of policy and assume that the current policymaking system want to sustain the current patterns (Peters, Pierre & King, 2005).
The ‘gemeente wet’ in 1852, that is part of the constitution, was the basis of the debate. This law endorsed the Netherlands as a ‘gedecentraliseerde eenheidsstaat’. This means that both the municipalities and the national government have certain jurisdictions. The national
government is highest ranked governance structure. However, within this national government other more local government agencies have other jurisdictions. The capacity of these jurisdictions can take different forms. The municipality can be an independent government agency and an executive agency of national government. The municipality as executive agency is also called the ‘medebewind’ (Couperus, 2014). This medewind was introduced because the municipalities were not able to handle all the new tasks of the government after the industrial revolution. The
government provided laws and policies but didn’t take over the executive responsibilities. The municipalities were still responsible for the implementation of the policies (Boogers, Schaap, van den Munckhof & Kasteren, 2007). After the second world war this medebewind was no longer totally applicable as the national government took over more and more responsibilities from the municipalities. The economic situation of the Netherlands prospered, and the welfare state grew. A centralized approach would allow for a nationwide welfare policy that was available for everyone. The tide changed again after several financial crises and several decentralizations have since taken place from the eighties onwards. These decentralizations were different in size and subject (Saunier, 2008). The decentralization of the welfare sector took place in the 1980’s and the law of ‘voorzieningen gehandicapten’ was decentralized in the end of the 1990’s
(Keuzenkamp, 2009; Wet voorzieningen gehandicapten, 1999).
The local political actors are not only depended on the amount of given
decentralized power. They also have to share their power with a wide range of actors that want to influence the policy process. Individual and organized citizens could influence the WMO frame by expressing their view and wishes. External advisers might also be part of the struggle to influence the WMO frames (Bovens, Hart & van Twist, 2012, p.112).
The values of the WMO frames could align with or differ from the views of the leading political parties. This study will generate new knowledge by analysing the influence of the political structure of the councils on the WMO frames in a changing political context of the decentralization, as well as the influence of the dynamics of the power structure of other actors.
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Results
Municipality of Alkmaar
Dominant frame in the municipality
The first municipality that will be discussed is Alkmaar, that has published their policy wishes of the WMO in the four-year plans. The municipality of Alkmaar made their first four-year plans after the election of 2006. The municipality seem to have an actieve overheid (verantwoordelijk) frame, based on several policy choices and vision in this four-year plan. The municipality takes an active role in providing the care for the clients; ‘Alkmaar is dienstverlenend en actief
signalerend naar mensen die afhankelijk zijn van individuele voorzieningen (Alkmaar, 2007, p.16).’.
The responsibility for the care of the clients lays with the municipality, as they actively want to improve the care for the clients. The municipality wants to show that they will use their discretional space to take a responsible role; ‘De Wmo biedt de gemeente de komende jaren de gelegenheid om
zich als ‘verzorgingsstad’ te profileren (Alkmaar, 2007, p.6).’. The verzorgingsstad wants to take care
of the clients by creating facilities and resources for the clients; ‘In het kader van de Wmo is elke
gemeente verantwoordelijk voor het scheppen van randvoorwaarden, zodat iedereen kan meedoen (Alkmaar, 2007, p.20).’.
The municipality released their second four-year plan in 2012, and they have announced a shift in their goals and visions; ‘Met dit beleidskader wordt een nieuwe richting ingeslagen met
betrekking tot de uitvoering van de Wmo. (Alkmaar, 2012)’. The municipality emphasises the
need for inhabitants to participate in their own care. They have to take an active role in
organizing their own resources, by using their networks. The municipality does no longer take sole responsibility for the care of their inhabitants; ‘De ambitie op het terrein van leefbaarheid en
sociale samenhang is dat gemeente en instellingen initiatieven van bewoners ondersteunen, oftewel van klant naar coproducent (Alkmaar, 2012).’. They have moved away from the actieve
overheid (verantwoordelijk) frame to the actieve overheid (gedeelde verantwoordelijkheid), where the clients and the municipality collaborate in creating the care.
The third round of four-year plan of the municipality will be explained in detail. The municipality states in the four-year plan, that they have two main vision that they want to accomplish. Both visions are based on the concept of movement. The municipality has made a figure (1) that illustrates this movement between the fields of bedoeling, leefwereld and
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field and move to the outer fields if necessary. The informal caregivers and care without
indication are situated in the smallest circle. The smallest circle must be sustained and improved by supporting informal caregivers and volunteers with coaching, advice and emotional support. The second field consist of more professional support that is customized and local. The
municipality wants to improve this field by innovative ideas and products, which the clients can use at home. The third field looks at the institutional support for people that cannot live at home anymore. Furthermore, they want to change the care from complicated to easy. This is done by creating care system that is close to the client and by frequently communicating with the
organization that provide the care. The desirable end-result should be the main focus in providing the right care to the client and not the rules of the system (WMO beleidskader 2015-2018, 2015).
Figure 1: (Maarten het Hart, verdraaide organisaties)
The four-year plan still has a wide range of detailed WMO policies. Discussing these policy goals and guidelines will deepen the knowledge about the actieve overheid (gedeelde
verantwoordelijkheid) frame and allow this study to compare these details to the views of the political parties. The following three goals are based on the visions of the municipality:
1. Facilitation and support the self-reliance of the citizens.
2. Offering a support package if the clients are no longer able to support themselves. 3. Providing (temporary) safe housing for the weakest inhabitants, who cannot stay in their current home situation.
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They want to achieve these visions and goals by following six guidelines. The first guideline stresses the importance of a freedom of choice for the clients in the selection of the healthcare providers. The healthcare providers should also focus on the individual situation of the client to create a custom-made care plan. The second guideline emphasis that the care should be provided close to the citizens. This would be especially applicable to the day care facilities, as it limits the financial cost of the transportation. The simplification of the technical and administrative support is the third guideline that will help accomplish the goals and visions of the municipality. The fourth guideline reflects national WMO emphasis on stimulating the use a lightened and practical form of care if possible. This can be achieved by combining the support in domestic work and the individual coaching. However, combining the care should not lead to a decline in the quality of the care. The implementation of this guideline should be monitored very carefully. The fifth guideline focusses on the financial balance of the policy of the WMO. The overhead costs and the cost of the implementation should be sensible. The level of quality of the care is the sixth
guideline, which will enable the municipality to reach their goal and vision. The quality of the care is the responsibility of the municipalities and will be monitored using the indicators that have been set by the VNG. These indicators are defined in the following manner: client satisfaction, quality, use, speed and budget.
The final and sixth guideline focusses on the need to integrate innovative ideas in the implementation phase of the WMO. The kenniscentrum SmartHomes is the main innovative idea, which will be implemented in the Alkmaar. This kenniscentrum SmartHomes is used as a
location for discussion with a wide range of actors that share knowledge, ideas and opinions about the WMO. The location is also used as an example of a space that demonstrates the possibilities for adapting a house to the needs of client. This innovative idea could allow for people to stay at home for a longer period (WMO beleidskader 2015-2018, 2015).
The main concern of the municipality was that they want to support the citizens in being independent. This support will enable inhabitants to support themselves and their fellow citizens.
‘Alkmaar is een gemeente die aan al haar inwoners ruimte, mogelijkheden en waar nodig ondersteuning biedt om hun (sociale) leven naar eigen inzicht, zelfstandig en zelfredzaam in te richten. Een gemeente waarin de inwoners zich kunnen ontwikkelen en ontplooien, met een overheid die mensen helpt ‘het zelf te doen’ (WMO beleidskader 2015-2018, 2015, p.9).’.
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bij de burger frame. In practice, this bal in burger frame might not be applicable to the
municipality of Alkmaar, as the municipality stills wants to collaborate with their citizens. This became apparent in both the four-year plan and the interview with the civil servant. The emphasis is only visible in the beginning of the four-year plan and it seems to have been used as an
introduction. The importance of the participation of the inhabitants does not appear throughout the four-year plan as a central topic (WMO beleidskader 2015-2018, 2015). The municipality of Alkmaar expresses that they feel responsible for the care of their inhabitants. They will support the clients that ask the municipality for help. The municipality believes that most clients don’t ask for help if they are able to do something for themselves. Approaching the municipality for the care is often a last resort for the inhabitants. The municipality should not turn them down and they stress that they are responsible for the care of the citizens (Interview Beleidsadviseur
Alkmaar, 6 December). The municipality has an ‘open eind regeling’, to assure that the
municipality can take their financial responsibility. The importance of this open eind regeling was obvious in the interview with the WMO civil servant;
Het is een open eind regeling WMO. Dat is cruciaal! Het betekent dat er meer aanvraag is, dan wordt het altijd gegeven. Wij gaan niet zeggen: wij hebben 10 miljoen voor begeleiden dit jaar, oo u bent nummer 1120. En wij zijn over de 10 miljoen. Nee, die persoon krijgt gewoon de zorg (Interview Beleidsadviseur Alkmaar, 6 December).’.
The budget will not play a direct role in the care that the inhabitants receive. A separate financial budget is made, which can be used if the official budget is no longer sufficient. This ‘open eind regeling’ assures that every person that needs care from the municipality will receive it. The civil servant argued that the people do not like to go the municipality for support but are in dire need;
‘De trend is al van: dat regel ik wel zelf. Het is ook een beetje armoe als je naar de gemeente gaat. Zo leuk is dat niet: om te vragen voor een rolstoel, om huishoudelijke hulp, om beschermd wonen. Dus het idee dat men hier komt omdat zij zogenaamd profijt willen hebben is kul
(Interview Beleidsadviseur Alkmaar, 6 December).’.
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already the norm in society. The people that do come for help should be taken seriously
(Interview Beleidsadviseur Alkmaar, 6 December).
The bal bij de burger frame seemed to be applicable to the municipality when looking briefly at the beginning of the four-year plan. This observation is challenged by an in-depth study of the four-year plan in combination with the interview. The analysis shows another side to the frame that the municipality has its own responsibility. They find it important that the municipality share their responsibility with the citizens. Terms like doe-democratie and participation society don’t have an extended or crucial position within the rest of the four -years plan. The
municipality expresses that they want to take part of the responsibility of the care of the
inhabitants. They want to provide more than just the minimum level of care towards their clients. The civil servant was very explicit about the responsibility of the municipality. These findings support the conclusion that the municipality of Alkmaar has an actieve overheid (gedeelde verantwoordelijkheid) frame, when the views of the civil servant are taken very seriously.
The WMO frame has changed towards the view that citizens should take a fair amount of the responsibility for providing their own care. However, the municipality still shows the
ambition to provide for their inhabitants to a certain extend.
The political structure
Figure 2: based on the information from Kiesraad (2014). % 5 10 15 20 25 30
PvdA OPA SP VVD CDA D66 GL
Alkmaar
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The political structure of Alkmaar has changed during the last couple of years. The votes that the PvdA received in the elections of 2006 were cut in half by the time of the elections in 2014. OPA gained more votes in the election of 2010 and 2014. The other party that has grown in the
election of 2010 and 2014 is D66. The straight forward conclusion could be that the municipality of Alkmaar has become more liberal, as a traditional left wing party has lost a large portion of their votes. However, the local party has received more votes and they are considered to have a left wing ideology (Interview Beleidsadviseur Alkmaar, 6 december). The municipality of Alkmaar did not have a drastic shift towards a more liberal ideology in the municipality council.
The views of the parties that had more than ten percent of the votes in the elections in the year of 2014 will be discussed in detail. The onafhankelijke partij Alkmaar (OPA) became the biggest party in the municipality council with 22 percentage of the votes. This party is
independent and has no direct relationship to a party in the national government. The OPA is a local party that believes in decency and does not view the politics in the typical right or left-wing way. The policy advisor of the municipality did think that this party has a political colour. He expressed that they are a party which is left wing oriented (Interview Beleidsadviseur Alkmaar, 6 December).
The party has several views that they find important that can be related to the bal bij de burger frame. They stress the issue of the responsibility of the inhabitants; ‘They believe in a ‘doe
democratie’ as explained in the following text out of their election-program: ‘‘OPA is voor een doe-democratie, waarbij Alkmaarders -als zij dat willen- zich actief inzetten voor hun buurt of stad en waarbij de overheid helpt als dat nodig is (Onafhankelijke Partij Alkmaar, 2014, p. 7).’.
The local inhabitants will be able to give more satisfying and personal support to their fellow citizens. The local government doesn’t have the insight about the specific circumstances of the individual citizens and their neighbourhoods. The inhabitants of Alkmaar should support each other to improve their neighbourhood. This general view of the responsibility of the inhabitants is not reflected perfectly in the WMO section of the election program. The informal caregivers should be supported by the municipality. They should receive a yearly compensation for the effort and troubles. The OPA also wants to keep the PGB active as it allows people to gain freedom in their choice of caregiver. The care should be close to the clients, which is especially important for elderly with dementia. The municipality should also invest in the professional domestic support to ensure and stimulate that elderly can live at their own home and not in an
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institute. They want to invest around one hundred million euro’s in the professional home care. The OPA also wants to encourage innovative ideas to improve the efficiency of the care sector. They do express their concerns about the cut backs in the number of public officers of the last years. A further reduction of the number of officials would not be possible because the citizens should be able to count on a social government. The lack of public officials would damage the quality of the care for the clients (onafhankelijke partij Alkmaar, 2014).
The PVDA became the second largest party in the city council after the elections. The PVDA has a different view than the OPA about the WMO policy design and are more reluctant towards moving all the responsibilities towards the citizens. They are very concerned about the quality of the care for the citizens. This quality of the care should be measured, and the results must be discussed in the council (Interview Beleidsadviseur Alkmaar, 6 December). The PVDA wants to support the informal caregivers by increasing the budget in the elderly care to ensure the quality of the care. They do acknowledge the need to encourage healthcare reforms where the elderly persons are stimulated to live at home and not in an elderly care centre. They stress that a support system and day care should be provided even if the elderly should live at home (PVDA Alkmaar, 2014).
The VVD has gained the third place in the elections of the municipality councils and wants the inhabitants to take their own responsibility. They also want the elderly to live at home and not in an institution. There are differences between the view of the PVDA and the VVD in the amount of level of support that they want to give the elderly. The VVD made the following statement that showed their nuances in their view; ‘De gemeente Alkmaar biedt ondersteuning
waar nodig, zodat iedereen zo lang mogelijk zelfstandig kan wonen (VVD Alkmaar, 2014).’. The
PVDA Alkmaar want to ensure that the quality of the care is secured, while the VVD wants to ensure that the inhabitants can live at home for as long as possible. The VVD wants to ensure that the inhabitants can live at home by coaching them to reinvent themselves and relearn the skills to do domestic work, improve their physical health and doing daily activities. The informal
caregivers should also be supported to ensure that the clients can live at home. The municipality should take responsibility for some administrative and organizational task, so the informal caregivers could focus on the person that requires the care (VVD Alkmaar, 2014). The policy of the WMO should be clear and transparent. The inhabitants should easily find how the money of the municipality is spend (Interview Beleidsadviseur Alkmaar, 6 December).
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The CDA is the fourth biggest party in the local elections of 2014. The CDA Alkmaar believes that it is important to ensure that the clients get their necessary care, even if the national government has made financial cuts in the budget. The following citation makes this wish explicit: ‘Onze verantwoordelijkheid voor en solidariteit met kwetsbaren, zieken, gehandicapten
blijft onverminderd van kracht (CDA Alkmaar, 2014).’. They will not let people go underneath
the social poverty line because a certain level of income is a public right in the eyes of the CDA, and so they want the municipality to take an active position. However, the informal care-giver is still an important asset to society. These informal caregivers should be stimulated and supported and by collaboration between municipalities and the other actors; ‘De gemeente zal in nauw
overleg met mantelzorgers, vrijwilligers en hun organisaties ervoor moeten zorgen dat iedereen kan participeren in de Alkmaarse samenleving (CDA Alkmaar, 2014).’.
D66 and Groenlinks both gained ten percent of the votes in the elections. D66 emphasises the importance of their duties as a municipality with the following sentence: ‘De gemeente neemt
haar verantwoordelijkheid (D66 Alkmaar, 2017).’. This suggest that D66 Alkmaar feels the
obligation to support their inhabitants. This claim is supported by their other goals and views. They want to make the municipality a central actor in the implementation of the decentralized social policy. The municipality wants to do this by employing ‘zorgregisseurs’. These
zorgregisseurs speak for the municipality and must ensure that the right care is provided to the clients (D66 Alkmaar, 2017).
Groenlinks Alkmaar stresses the importance that the clients have the control of the
decisions surrounding their care. Part of the elderly community in Alkmaar wants to stay at home for a longer period. Groenlinks Alkmaar wants to create a policy that supports the elderly or sick to stay at home until they want to go to an institute. They want to invest in this home care support system and relieve informal caregivers from financial cost associated with their duties as
caregivers. Furthermore, local community centres should be led by the inhabitants of these neighbourhoods (Groenlinks Alkmaar, 2014).
Four of these main political parties have made an agreement to form the coalition of this municipality. This coalition is formed by the OPA, VVD, CDA and D66. Together they form a coalition that is traditionally defined as a central coalition. They made a coalition agreement for the period that they govern in the municipality. The coalition agreement emphasises local and
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personalized care for the clients. They briefly discuss the several specific goals that they want to achieve. These goals focus on raising the quality of the domestic cleaning services, by investing one million euro’s in the period between 2014 and 2018. The care for the elderly with dementia should be local and the venerable people should be practically supported. The informal caregivers should get a free volunteering insurance. They should not be hindered by rules that limit their possibilities in providing the care for their neighbours, family or friends (OPA, VVD. CDA, D66, 2017). The PVDA and Groenlinks were not included in the coalition and became part of the opposition together with the other smaller parties. So, the political structure of the municipality council consists of these six main political parties. All the parties with more than ten percent of the votes think that the informal caregivers are extremely important. Most of them use the term participation society or doe democratie actively. However, the PVDA, CDA, D66 do believe that there is a role for the municipality in ensuring a level care for the clients.
Relevant actors
Several other relevant actors have been discovered during the analysis of the interviews and the policy documents in Alkmaar. The alderman that is responsible for the WMO policy is part of the OPA. The views of the alderman do not match perfectly with the views of the party. The
alderman does not believe in words like the ‘doe democratie’. The following sentence highlights the vision of the alderman; ‘De wethouder zegt: de mensen die ondersteuning nodig hebben
moeten dat ook krijgen. Dat is een andere manier. Zij is niet mee gegaan in de taal dat mensen het zelf moeten gaan doen (Interview Beleidsadviseur Alkmaar, 6 december).’. The alderman
even states that eigenkracht and doe democratie are fake words. The general views of the parties and the alderman do align in their conviction of the importance to support the informal caregivers and provide simple and local care (Interview Beleidsadviseur Alkmaar, 6 December). She did provide several books that focused on providing simple care. These books were clearly used as an inspiration for the four-year plan. One book focusses on the movement between the fields. This book is called Verdraaide organisaties and the auteur is Wouter het Hart. Figure 1 already showed the main thought of this book. The alderman was also inspired by another piece of
literature named Hoe simpel kan het zijn and is written by Richard Engelfriet. This book wants to make people aware that complicated problems can have simple solutions. He stresses that the current society must tackle problems in a simple matter (Interview Beleidsadviseur Alkmaar, 6
25 December).
Even the civil servants in the municipality are dependent on the political structure in the council. The public servants try to create stability throughout the years; ‘Ambtelijk proberen wij
het los te ontwikkelen van de verkiezingen. Ik ben nu bezig met een zorg nota, het debat gaan wij inbrengen in de raad. Die er dan aanmerkingen bij kunnen zetten. Anders begin je elke keer bij 0 en dat gaat niet goed (Interview Beleidsadviseur Alkmaar, 6 december).’. The current coalition
has chosen to have a different relationship with the public servants of the municipality. They have not given certain task and responsibilities to their public servants;
Dat is afwachten wat de samenstelling is. Er komt een nieuwe coalitie en dan gaan zij met elkaar praten en dan heb je een overdracht systeem. En dan kijkt het nieuwe college of zij zich daarin kunnen vinden. Deze coalitie wou geen overdrachtssysteem. Die hebben een coalitie akkoord zelfgeschreven, zonder ambtenaren. Dat is een trendbreak (Interview Beleidsadviseur Alkmaar, 6 December).
This trend break is also visible when focusing on the WMO policy. The alderman has a very clear view of what the hierarchical order should be within the municipality. The public servants should not have a leading role in the creation of the WMO policy. This strict view is illustrated by the citation; ‘De wethouder zegt: ‘Wij bepalen!’ (Interview Beleidsadviseur Alkmaar, 6 December).’.
The bureaucracy tries to accommodate the other actors and parties in the decision making process, to create and build broad support for their policy choices: ‘Wij hebben een inspraak
periode gehad. Daar hebben wij met de instellingen overlegd. Met de professionals en die hebben daaraan mee gedaan. Er zijn ook participatie avonden (Interview Beleidsadviseur Alkmaar, 6 december).’. The public servants do influence the specific guidelines of the WMO frame. There
are also other stakeholders that influence the WMO frame; ‘Je hebt dan groenlinks en die gaat
heel erg voor de WMO raden, de doelgroep. Als die maar goed gehoord zijn. Daar let ik dan op. Dan neem je de WMO raden meteen mee (Interview Beleidsadviseur Alkmaar, 6 December).’.
Groenlinks finds the inclusion of the inhabitants of the municipality valuable. The input of the inhabitants should be acquired during the process of designing the WMO policy to satisfy Groenlinks Alkmaar. The public official provided this opportunity by listening to the WMO council in Alkmaar. The municipality arranged meeting with the people of WMO council before
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the process of writing the four-year plan. The WMO councils gave several advices to the municipality after this meeting. Extra attention should be given to the weakest of the clients, as they might not be able to formulate their ‘goal’. Their lack in language and/or computer skills may further limit their chances to get the right care. The municipality should be aware of these problems and should give these clients extra attention. The WMO council should also be
consulted during the implementation of the WMO. The quality checks of the WMO will be done during the implementation and with the support of the WMO councils. The WMO councils have a vast amount of knowledge because of their close connection to the clients. This knowledge about the clients enables them to advice the municipality on the client satisfaction (WMO beleidskader 2015-2018).
The regional partners and the insurance agencies are only briefly mentioned in the policy document of the municipality of Alkmaar. The insurance agencies are part of the transition table, that is organized on a regional level. This transition table is created because of the wishes and with the support of the national government (WMO beleidskader 2015-2018, p. 5). The regional coalition was also used for the public tender for some care facilities from the welfare organization (WMO beleidskader 2015-2018, p. 17). The municipality also expressed that they had to
collaborate with the welfare organization. They mostly discussed the policy details with the welfare organization and to lesser extend the overarching frame (Interview Beleidsadviseur
Alkmaar, 6 December). So, the alderman had an important say in the WMO frame of the
municipality. The strict division of tasks limited the influence of the civil servants on the content of the policy document. They did enable other actors, such as the individual political parties and the WMO council to influence the WMO frame to a certain extend.
Observable relationship
A relationship between the political structure of the council and the WMO frame is observable in the municipality of Alkmaar. However, the relevant actors also influenced the WMO frame.
The Alderman has a very prominent role in the web of actors that create the WMO frame in the municipality. She has gained this role by taking a leading position, which allowed her to influence different processes and actors. She influenced the political acceptance of the four-year plan by creating a strong and good story about how the WMO should be designed.
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democratie. Even if some political programs of the parties (including her own) were in favour of using these words and stimulating these ideas. The doe- democratie is only very briefly discussed in the four-year plan even than it mostly in relation to the national WMO law (WMO
beleidskader 2015-2018, 2015). The Alderman further influenced the WMO frame by introducing two books. These books were highly significant in the creation of the four-year plan, these
relevant actors even created the visions of the WMO policy. The first vision emphasises the need to change the movement between the fields. The goal should be central and then the environment and finally the system. This movement between fields is the main on the book of Wouter het Hart. The second vision in the four-year plan wants to tackle complicated problems with easy solutions. This is also the main subject in the second book written by Richard Engelfriet (WMO beleidskader 2015-2018, 2015). The relation between these books that inspire the Alderman and the policy frame in the municipality is apparent, as she has a different view on the responsibility of the municipality towards the inhabitants than her party (Interview Beleidsadviseur Alkmaar, 6 December).
This strong vision was one of the reasons why the political parties agreed on the grand vision of the four-year plan (Interview Beleidsadviseur Alkmaar, 6 December).
This could explain the similarities in the overall vision of the political parties; Wij hebben een
uitstekende raad en die gaat voor de inhoud en daar kunnen zij zich in vinden van links tot rechts (Interview Beleidsadviseur Alkmaar, 6 December). The individual parties still influenced the
nuances in the policy, even though the Alderman has been able to gain a relatively strong influence on the main argument of the policy. The civil servants take the wishes of the parties seriously as becomes evident in the following citation; ‘Elke partij heeft zo zijn vragen en
opmerkingen. Daar moet je ook goed opletten. Wat voor vragen zijn het (Interview
Beleidsadviseur Alkmaar)’.’The influence of political parties can also be seen when comparing
the WMO frame with the views of these parties. The political parties agreed on some views towards the WMO frame. Most of the election programs of the parties in the council express the value of citizens that participate in society. Each political party (above 10%) in Alkmaar
expresses they appreciation for the effort the informal caregivers undertake to provide the care to their fellow citizen. The importance of local care for demented elderly has also been one of the important issues in the programs of several political parties. These issues have been
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WMO frame. The political parties didn’t always agree on the amount of responsibility that the municipality should take on. Several political parties stressed that the municipality should be active and take their responsibility. These parties were mostly left wing but the D66 and the CDA also want the municipality to take their responsibility.
The individual parties were also able to influence the WMO frame. Groenlinks stimulated the involvement of the councils in the creation of the WMO frame in the municipality. These WMO councils have been and will continue to be a partner in the creation of the WMO frame. The VVD wanted and achieved a clear and transparent policy document, that was readable for the citizens and council members alike.
The power of the civil servants is determined by the norms of the persons in the political structure. The current alderman has a strict view of the position of the civil servants. She argues that the civil servants must follow the views and ideas of the political actors. The effects of this standpoint are visible in the WMO frame of the municipality. The main vision and goals in the four-year plan reflects her view. However, certain tasks are specified as the duty of the civil servants by the political structure. The public servants still have this discretional space in which they can influence the frame even in this strict regime. The civil servants have the task to communicate and negotiate with the welfare organization. The finer details of the budget are discussed among other things. The public servants have been aware of the views of the individual political parties and have acted upon this knowledge. This illustrates that they have an influence on the creation of the WMO frame within the boundaries of the norms of the Alderman and the council (Interview Beleidsadviseur Alkmaar, 6 december).
So, the municipality has an actieve overheid (gedeelde verantwoordelijkheid) frame and this frame is reflected in the views of the different actors. The alderman, books, WMO councils and the civil servants all thinks that the municipality should be responsible for the citizens. The majority of individual parties also want the municipality to keep their responsibility for the clients.
Municipality of Haarlem
Dominant frame in the municipality
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The municipality of Haarlem had to decide on a WMO frame after the elections of 2006. They have made the four-year plan that shows their views and goals that they want to achieve within their discretional space. The following quote shows that they want to change the policy of the last twenty years; ‘Dit systeem functioneerde de afgelopen jaren meestal, maar nu willen we de
gemeentelijke verantwoordelijkheid anders invullen, zodat een burger meedoet in de
maatschappij en de overheid niet langer hoeft te zorgen voor die burger (Haarlem, 2008, p. 19).’.
The four-year plan emphasises that improving and stimulating the participation of the clients and inhabitants in society is the focus of the municipality. They want to encourage the civil society and support the own power of the inhabitants. The municipality express that they have a clear vision; ‘De visie van de gemeente Haarlem op maatschappelijke ondersteuning geeft een
duidelijke richting aan: de eigen kracht van burgers versterken door te investeren in de sociale verbanden tussen mensen en in inclusief beleid (Haarlem, 2008, p. 31).’. This vision is reflected
in the specific policy choices, that the municipality has proposed in their four-year plan. They want to strengthen the position of the volunteers, to gain and keep their resources. Volunteer’s should have the opportunities to develop themselves by the means of training and coaching. The municipality will try to remove the barriers that limit the volunteers in their efforts to support their fellow citizens. The volunteers should be connected to the informal caregivers to
(temporarily) relieve some of the burdens for the informal caregivers. These policy choices and the vision behind these choices suggest that the municipality had a bal bij de burger frame in the years after the election of 2006 (Haarlem, 2008).
The election of 2010 created the need for another policy plan for the WMO and this plan was called Samen voor Elkaar. This plan was heavily based on its predecessor and thus follows the main vision. The organization, volunteers and the clients should act as independently as possible. The municipality will facilitate the connection between the citizens and organization. One of the eight leading visions illustrates the position of the municipality; ‘De burger met een probleem is
zelf verantwoordelijk voor de oplossing (Haarlem, 2012, p. 22).’. The municipality has taken the
position that fits within the bal bij de burger frame, comparable to the earlier policy plans. The policy plans after the election of 2014 will be discussed more exhaustively than the earlier documents, to find the nuances in the WMO frame (Haarlem, 2012)
The WMO frame of the period after the election of 2014 will be discussed more throughout in this section of the results. The civil servant pointed out that the four-year plan
