Program Overview

Master's Program in Bestuurskunde: Kwaliteit van Besturen

The Master's program in Bestuurskunde: Kwaliteit van Besturen is a critical examination of good governance. The program focuses on the functioning of public administration and teaches students to deal with the complex reality of steering societal issues.

Program Overview

• The program is offered in Dutch.
• The duration of the program is 1 to 2 years.
• The program is available in both full-time and part-time formats.
• The start date of the program is September 1.

Program Description

The Master's specialization in Kwaliteit van Besturen examines the role of the government in a broad sense. Governance is about solving problems, with the public administration focusing on societal issues. However, the complexity of these societal issues is high. Found solutions create new problems, and there are many different parties and administrative layers involved. Additionally, there is a diversity of values, interests, dilemmas, and overlapping policy areas.

In this program, students learn to recognize and deal with this complexity. The program looks at how the public administration works in practice: what citizens, organizations, businesses, government, and politics do. The program also pays much attention to the normative aspect of governance. When is there good governance? What does good governance require from administrators, civil servants, and citizens? Students are challenged to develop scientific knowledge and their own vision on these topics.

Interactive Education

• Both lectures and workgroups in this program have an interactive character.
• Students learn not only from teachers but also from each other.
• The program expects students to have a self-study attitude and provides feedback at the right moments.

Part-time Option

• The Master's specialization in Kwaliteit van Besturen can be followed part-time.
• A part-time student attends a full day of lectures at the VU every Friday and does about 20 hours of self-study per week at home.
• The program is well combinable with a job and takes two years to complete.

Research Areas

The teachers of the specialization Kwaliteit van Besturen are leading researchers in the field of good governance, public values, craftsmanship, public leadership, intergovernmental and political-administrative relations, integrity, and social safety.

Program Structure

The program is part of the Master's in Bestuurskunde at the VU, which looks at themes around the governance and organization of the public domain from various perspectives. Students deepen their knowledge of substantive solutions and methods of administrative advice and analysis. Theory is never separate from practice in this program.