Paul Dekker (1954) is head of the 'policy and polity' department at the Social and Cultural Planning Office (SCP), the Netherlands.

He studied political science at the Catholic University of Nijmegen (the Netherlands) and the Free University of (West-)Berlin. He has published about planning and public administration, social and political attitudes, and political participation in the Netherlands, often in a cross-national perspective. His present research interests include political discontent, volunteering and voluntary associations, nonprofit sector and social capital.

At Globus, he is in charge of the Synthesis research program, 'Civil society and new social tensions and conflicts', supported by the Synthesis Foundation. Some of his recent publications in addition to chapters and sections about politics, participation and environmental issues in SCP publications can be found on the list of some recent publications.