The Scientific Council for Government Policy (
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
: Wetenschappelijke Raad voor het Regeringsbeleid, WRR) is an independent
think tank
A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...
of the
Government of the Netherlands
The politics of the Netherlands take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, a constitutional monarchy, and a decentralised unitary state.''Civil service systems in Western Europe'' edited by A. J. G. M. Bekke, ...
based in
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
, whose members include prominent social scientists, economists and legal scholars.
Mission
The Council's objective is to identify and advise the government on "future trends and developments" on issues that are of great importance for society by taking a
multidisciplinary approach. In addition to its 88 reports, it has published more than 170 preliminary studies and investigations as well as more than 250 working documents; several of the reports and studies on agriculture, development cooperation, and foreign policy have been disseminated internationally.
[
]
History
The WRR was founded by the "Act Establishing a Scientific Council on Government Policy of 30 June 1976" (known as "''Instellingswet WRR''") and began activity on 20 November 1972, as a temporary advisory council of the government. The first council took a predominantly theoretical approach based on science as well as the "emerging disciplines of political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
and public administration
Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit est ...
".[
In the 1990s, under the chairmanship of Piet Hein Donner, a number of changes were formalised—WRR's focus shifted "from substantive policy...to shaping those parameters of policy". The first external evaluation of WRR was carried out in 2001 by the Alexander Rinnooy Kan Commission, after which WRR "raised its public profile"—meaning its composition became more flexible, with foreign experts invited in addition to Dutch ones. It also started delivering oral presentations of reports to various stakeholders.][
]
Membership
The Council consists of five to eleven members and is a working council, this means the members themselves do research and write reports. They do this in cooperation with the scientific staff. Decisions of the Council are made collectively. Council members are appointed for a term of five years. They may serve a maximum of two terms. The present Council term expires at the end of 2017.
Chairs
Council chairs have been:
* Sjeng Kremers (1972–1977)
* Wim Schut (1977–1978)
* Theo Quené (1978–1985)
* Cees de Wit (1985)
* Wil Albeda (1985–1990)
* Frans Rutten (1990–1993)
* Piet Hein Donner (1993–1997)
* Michiel Scheltema (1998–2004)
* Wim van de Donk (2004–2009)
* André Knottnerus (2010–2017)
* Corien Prins (2017–present)
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scientific Council For Government Policy
Government agencies of the Netherlands
Think tanks based in the Netherlands