Tilburg University Public credibility Wisse, E.P. Publication date: 2014 Document Version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Link to publication in Tilburg University Research Portal Citation for published version (APA): Wisse, E. P. (2014). Public credibility: A study of the preferred personal qualities of cabinet ministers in the Netherlands. Eburon Academic Publishers. 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Download date: 05. okt. 2021 Public Credibility A Study of the Preferred Personal Qualities of Cabinet Ministers in the Netherlands Eva Wisse Eburon Delft 2014 ISBN: 978-90-5972-830-1 (paperback) ISBN: 978-90-5972-847-9 (ebook) Eburon Academic Publishers, P.O. Box 2867, 2601 CW Delft, The Netherlands Cover design: Esther Ris, e-riswerk.nl © 2014 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission in writing from the proprietor. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Having finished this PhD thesis, it is finally time to say a few much deserved words of thanks to those who have been of tremendous help in the process of researching, analysing and writing the materials in this dissertation. Four research organisations have been indispensable. The ROB and NWO have funded parts of the research project. The ROB funded the PhD project as part of their interest in how to invest in “recognisable” and “appealing” politics, the NWO funded quantitative surveys that led to insights on the citizen’s thoughts on the public credibility of cabinet ministers in the Netherlands. Two organisations at the University of Tilburg have tirelessly helped me in every way necessary to complete my research assignments: the Tilburg School of Politics and Public Administration (TSPB), and CentERdata, the administrators of quantitative surveys on public credibility. Without them this dissertation could never have been established. Within the TSPB there are two key persons that have stood by me whenever I needed them, have motivated me with their true interest in my writings (no matter how premature they once were), and have stimulated my excitement during every meeting, for which both of them always showed up, using their superior knowledge and skills: my promotor Prof. Dr. Frank Hendriks and co-promotor Prof. Dr. Marcel Boogers. Thank you both! And thank you Marcel for making time in your busy schedule more than once to help sorting out the more complicated statistical materials analysed for this thesis. Three professors in the United States have shared their methods and research materials with me for use in this dissertation, and have taken the time to sit down and share their theories, research materials, ideas and thoughts. Two of them are James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner, who allowed me to utilize parts of their questionnaire for credibility research in the Netherlands. III I also thank Aubrey Immelman, who has taken the time to educate me in his own field, political psychology, and on the MIDC method in particular. Many people who work in political and public organisations in the Netherlands such as the Parliament, ministries and research organisations have tirelessly explained to me their work, thoughts, ideas and observations on matters of public credibility, operational performance of political leaders and the role of the media. Their intellect and humour brought lots of fun into the possibly otherwise boring task of data-collection and -analysis. They have asked to remain anonymous, so I will not ‘out’ them here, but nevertheless, thanks to all secretary-generals, director-generals, directors, political assistants, political advisors, policy makers and communications advisors who were willing to sit down for lengthy interviews. This book is as much yours as it is mine! That brings me to another group of ‘owners’ of the stories told in this book. These are the cabinet ministers this dissertation is about. Even though the cabinet ministers are just ‘cases’ meant to be studied for the greater good of social science, rather than for journalism-like exposure purposes, those involved may feel uncomfortable being spoken about the way they are in this thesis. They have been ranked on public credibility, their performance - as observed by their inner circle trustees - has been exposed, and their reported media blunders have been listed and scrutinized again. At the end of the thesis, this leads to hypotheses on the reasons behind their victories and losses in terms of public credibility. In spite of their possible discomfort with all of this, I hope they will read this dissertation and I hope they will enjoy it. I certainly have very much enjoyed writing it. The tangled mess of variables around public credibility may be a little less messy now. Thanks to all involved, (including the cabinet ministers of Balkenende IV who have worked very hard to make the Netherlands an even better place), this dissertation is IV here to be read by those who are interested in higher-public credibility leadership and the struggles these special, gifted people go through in order to attain it. Thanks to my dear friends and paranymphs Daphne Bantjes and Malu Vermeer. Daphne was my earliest school buddy, Malu my University girlfriend. Having them by my side at the PhD ceremony reminds me of the difference between the girls we once were and the women we have become. May our friendship take us through many more stages in life together! I would like to thank my loved ones for being truly interested in the research project, praising me and making me feel like writing a PhD thesis is quite an accomplishment. It would be easy to forget that this is a big deal, if it wasn’t for my sweet friends, my wonderful parents Jan Pieter and Bella, and lovely brother Koen and his girl Marjo-Anne. Last but not least, I owe thanks to my very patient boyfriend who, through the years, simply kept saying ‘get it done!’ Well Mark, it is done, and the few times I thought about quitting, I kept going only to make you proud. Thank you for your never ending support. Tilburg/Fort Lauderdale, January 2014. V EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This dissertation shows how Dutch cabinet ministers attain public credibility, and what causes them to lose it. In Part I the thesis starts with a survey in which approximately 5000 citizens are asked which qualities are those of a higher-credibility (in Dutch: geloofwaardige) cabinet minister. Over the course of two years,1 the prototype of a higher-credibility cabinet minister remained surprisingly stable: Dutch citizens are looking for ministers who are first and foremost reliable, honest and competent. This prototype of a desired leader seems fairly deeply rooted in the Dutch political culture. A literature study about political leadership in the Netherlands indicates that the Dutch have long since valued the trust- related traits in combination with competence (meaning ministerial capabilities, skills and dossier- knowledge) rather than celebrity-like inspirational leadership citizens in other countries may be more drawn to. Part II of this dissertation shows what happens when 5000 respondents who represent the Dutch citizenry, are asked to rate sixteen ministers, all in office during the Balkenende IV cabinet term, for every one of the three qualities they chose in Part I. This results in a ranking of cabinet ministers: two of them are considered the most credible (credibility being a combination of perceived reliability, honesty and competence), and two of them have gained relatively little public credibility. One interesting case was found in the middle of the ranking. The cases are referred to as HPC (higher), MPC (medium) and LPC (lower public credibility) cabinet ministers. In Part III the five cases are studied in an attempt to explain the difference: why have several ministers succeeded in attaining public credibility, why have others failed? Two explanatory variables are brought into play: operational performance and media appearance. Operational performance refers to ministerial skills (how capable are the cabinet ministers according to experts?), operational style (how do they do their work?), and performance results (are they finishing their policy goals?). Through 1 2009-2011 A in-depth expert interviews with those who form the inner circle of the cabinet Balkenende IV,2 and through desk-research, both described in Parts III-VI, a few conclusions surface. Little information about operational performance by cabinet ministers trickles down to citizens. The elements of operational performance that do somehow relate to public credibility, are linked to a minister’s media skills rather than their political, policy-making or connective skills. Of all elements of operational performance as defined in this dissertation, policy goal realization seems least related to the ability of a cabinet minister to attain public credibility. The other main explanatory variable, media appearance, explains the difference between HPC and LPC cabinet ministers a lot better. However, not just any media analysis will reveal this. Simply counting positively and negatively tinted media messages (such as newspaper headlines) about cabinet ministers does not reveal any patterns of public credibility.