ABSTRACT
This chapter illustrates how public sector reform should not be regarded merely as a top-down exercise, practiced in splendid isolation. Major transformations in the public sector reflect major social changes and require a new type of organization and new type of public sector leadership. Reforms in the Dutch public sector and in welfare state services in particular, will be used to illustrate these transformations. Reforming the public sector often entails shifting away from drawing-table plans and centrally planned design and implementation. This is especially the case in a social and political context where various countries appear to be moving away from systems in which the central government is the core actor. Public sector reforms changing welfare state arrangements are intended to simultaneously cope with major social changes, a need for cost containment and political pleas for increasing individual responsibilities. Social change requires intersectoral cooperation at a local level, allowing crossovers among healthcare, labor and educational policy and service delivery.
