Journal ArticleDOI
Cooperative forms of governance: Problems of democratic accountability in complex environments
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In this paper, the authors focus on issues of democratic accountability and responsiveness with these governance arrangements, arguing that until recently the legitimacy of governance networks was not at the forefront of theoretical developments, even though the "democratic deficit" of governance is problematic both for normative and for pragmatic reasons.Abstract:
. Various schools of research in public policy (the literature on ‘governance’ and its continental counterparts) are converging to focus on the growth of policy styles based on cooperation and partnership in networks, instead of on vertical control by the state. This article focuses on issues of democratic accountability and responsiveness with these governance arrangements. It argues that until recently the legitimacy of governance networks was not at the forefront of theoretical developments, even though the ‘democratic deficit’ of governance is problematic both for normative and for pragmatic reasons. There is now increased sensitivity to this problem, but the remedies presented in the literature are unsatisfactory, and critiques of governance presuppose a somewhat idealised image of representative democracy in terms of accountability or responsiveness of decision-makers. They also fail to offer adequate solutions to some of the central legitimacy problems of policy-making in complex societies.read more
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Reassessing Legitimacy in the European Union
TL;DR: The EU's appearance of exceptional insulation reflects the subset of functions it performs - central banking, constitutional adjudication, civil prosecution, economic diplomacy and technical administration - for normatively justifiable reasons as mentioned in this paper.
Journal ArticleDOI
Reassessing Legitimacy in the European Union
TL;DR: The European Union is legitimate as discussed by the authors and its institutions are tightly constrained by constitutional checks and balances: narrow mandates, fiscal limits, super-majoritarian and concurrent voting requirements and separation of powers.
Journal ArticleDOI
Governance and Governance Networks in Europe
TL;DR: The most important traditions in European governance network literature in the last ten years, and highlights the different foci within the field, particularly between European and American researchers, are described in this article.
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Democracy and governance networks: compatible or not?
Erik-Hans Klijn,Chris Skelcher +1 more
TL;DR: The relationship between representative democracy and governance networks at a theoretical level is investigated in this article, where four conjectures and their implications for theory and practice are identified in relation to power in the policy process, the public interest, and the role of public managers.
Journal ArticleDOI
Problems of Democratic Accountability in Network and Multilevel Governance
TL;DR: In this article, the authors define the concepts of multilevel governance and accountability, and then identify the various dimensions of the latter, and argue that MLG generates novel forms of accountability, but undermines its democratic dimension mainly for the following reasons: the weak visibility of MLG networks, their selective composition and the prevalence of peer over public form of accountability.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
The New Governance: Governing Without Government
TL;DR: The term "governance" is popular but imprecise. It has at least six uses, referring to: the minimal state; corporate governance: the new public management; good governance; socio-cybernetic syste...
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The joint‐decision trap: lessons from german federalism and european integration
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored the similarities between joint decision making in German federalism and decision-making in the European Community and argued that the fact that member governments are directly participating in central decisions, and that there is a de facto requirement of unanimous decisions, will systematically generate sub-optimal policy outcomes unless a "problem-solving" (as opposed to a "bargaining") style of decision making can be maintained.
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Deepening Democracy: Innovations in Empowered Participatory Governance
Archon Fung,Erik Olin Wright +1 more
TL;DR: In the twenty-first century, as the tasks of the state have become more complex and the size of polities larger and more heterogeneous, the institutional forms of liberal democracy developed in the nineteenth century (representative democracy plus technobureaucratic administration)seem increasingly ill suited to the novel problems we face.
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European integration from the 1980s: State-centric v. multi-level governance
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the sovereignty of individual states is diluted in the European arena by collective decision-making and by supranational institutions, and that European states are losing their grip on the mediation of domestic interest representation in international relations.
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Linkages between Citizens and Politicians in Democratic Polities
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore theories of linkage choice between voters and political elites in new democracies and established democracies, and develop conceptual definitions of charismatic, clientelist, and programmatic linkages between politicians and electoral constituencies.