01866pab a2200193 454500 180718b2007 xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d Borghi, Vando New modes of governance in Italy and the Netherlands: the case of activation policies 2007 p.83-101. This article discusses the growing importance of operational reforms in the context of welfare state transformation processes, and the role that principles of new governance play in shaping these reforms. It focuses specifically on one social policy area considered crucial in reforming welfare states; the provision of activation services that aim at increasing the employability and labour-market participation of people dependent on benefits or social assistance. The article argues that besides the reforms of the programmatic aspects of social policies and social services (formal policy reforms), reforms of the way in which policies and services are organized, administered and delivered (operational policy reforms) have received increasing attention as a `second strand' of welfare state reforms. It illustrates this by analysing and comparing reforms of the provision of activation services in two European countries: Italy and The Netherlands. The article not only reveals the growing emphasis in both countries on operational policy reforms which are to an important degree inspired by principles of new governance, but also shows significant similarities and differences in their concrete manifestations, which could be interpreted as pointing out processes of `path-dependent convergence'. - Reproduced. Administrative reform - Netherlands Administrative reform - Italy Administrative reform Berkel, Rik Van Public Administration N 74673 74673 74673 0 0 0 0 IIPA IIPA 2018-07-19 Volume no: 85, Issue no: 1 AR75133 2018-07-19 2018-07-19 AR