Governance Approaches
Dr Monika Brusenbauch Meislová
IRE110 Theory of International Relations and European Integration
19 March 2019
Governance approaches: introduction
̶ Governance approach: not a single theory of the EU or of European integration (rather a cluster of
related theories emphasizing common themes)
Governance approaches: introduction
̶ Contrasted between the governance school and its rationalist/comparativist/positivist alternative →
governance approach constitutes a distinctive research agenda across four dimensions.
1) governance approach theorizes EU governance as non-hierarchical, mobilizing networks of
private as well as public actors, who engage in deliberation and problem-solving efforts - guided both
by informal and by formal institutions.
2) governance suspicious of the models that advocating the need for a ‘new vocabulary’ to
capture the unique features of EU governance.
3) emphasis on capacity of the EU to foster ‘deliberation’ and ‘persuasion’
4) normative concern with the ‘democratic deficit’ in the EU (focus on the potential for the EU as a
‘deliberative democracy’)
Defining governance
̶ Governance is a slippery term.
Defining governance
Rhodes (1996: 660) defines governance in terms of ‘self-organizing, interorganizational networks’.
̶ Four basic characteristics of ‘governance’ (in contrast to the traditional notion of ‘government’):
1) Interdependence between organizations (governance is broader than government, covering non state actors;
changing the boundaries of the state meant the boundaries between public, private, and voluntary sectors became
shifting and opaque)
2) Continuing interactions between network members, caused by the need to Exchange resources and negotiate
shared purposes.
3) Game-like interactions, rooted in trust and regulated by rules of the game negotiated and agreed by network
participants.
4) A significant amount of autonomy from the state (networks are not accountable to the state; they are selforganizing;
although the state does not occupy a privileged, sovereign position, it can indirectly and imperfectly
steer networks).
Governance turn
̶ Governance turn
̶ turn from government to governance (emerging system of “governance without government).
̶ Key themes of the governance approach
̶ emphasis on non-hierarchical networks
̶ public-private interactions
̶ prospects for governance without government
→ drawing from both comparative politics and international relations.
Main governance perspectives
̶ Four main governance perspectives
Multi-level governance
̶ Roots in the analysis of the EU.
̶ Emerged in the 1990s (a means of analysing the roles of multiple tiers of government in EU cohesion
policy).
̶ Developed by Liesbet Hooghe and Gary Marks
̶ esp. Gary Marks’ (1992, 1993) work on the making and implementation of the EU’s structural funds.
̶ MLG first developed from a study of EU policy and then applied to EU decision-making more
generally.
Multi-level governance
̶ Emphasis on
̶ the increasingly frequent and complex interactions between governmental actors
̶ the increasingly important dimension of non-state actors that are mobilized in cohesion policymaking
and in the EU policy more generally.
→ As such, multi-level governance raised new and important questions about the role, power and
authority of states.
Multi-level governance
̶ The concept of multi-level governance is built on a number of foundations.
̶ European integration means that decision making capacity in the EU rests at a number of different
levels.
̶ European integration has meant a loss of sovereignty for states (national governments).
Conversely however, it has increased the capacity of supranational bodies and sub-national actors
who now operate across national boundaries
̶ The supranational, national and sub-national levels of government are seen to be interconnected
with political developments at one level impacting on the other levels. One level impacts other
levels.
Multi-level governance
̶ EU described as a political system with interconnected institutions that exist at multiple levels and
that have unique policy features.
̶ European layer (European Commission, European Council and European Parliament)
̶ national layer
̶ regional layer.
̶ These layers interact with each other in two ways: first, across different levels of government (vertical
dimension) and second, with other relevant actors within the same level (horizontal dimension).
Multi-level governance
̶ The multi-level governance copcet contains both vertical and horizontal dimensions (Bache and
Flinders, 2004: 3)
̶ ‘Multi-level’ referred to the increased interdependence of governments operating at different territorial
levels, while ‘governance’ signaled the growing interdependence between governments and nongovernmental
actors at various territorial levels.
̶ MLG: "illuminates the intimate entanglement between the domestic and international levels of
authority".
Multi-level governance
̶ Horizontal and vertical interdependence in MLG
Multi-level governance
̶ The European Union: Multilevel Governance in Practice
̶ The Treaty of Lisbon as an important step towards Multilevel Governance
̶ Multilevel governance within the EU as an ongoing process
̶ White Paper on multi-level governance
̶ Charter for Multi-level Governance in Europe
̶ Multi-level governance beyond the EU?
Multi-level governance
̶ Type I and Type II of MLG (Hoodge and Marks)
Multi-level governance
Further development of MLG
̶ Criticism of MLG → certain retreat from the early, and more far-reaching, claims about the
transformative effects of EU structural policy.
̶ Vertical aspect
̶ return to EU regional policies (attempt to explain the substantial variation in the empowerment of
supranational and subnational actors).
̶ Horizontal or network aspects of European integration
̶ describe and explain the workings of transnational and transgovernmental networks.
Multi-level governance
̶ Phenomenon of ‘Europeanization’
̶ Process whereby EU institutions and policies influence national institutions and policies within the
various member states.
Multi-level governance
̶ Discussion: MLG: theory or a useful conceptualisation?
Multi-level governance
Benefits of MLG
̶ providing an interesting model of the EU polity
̶ allows for the utilisation of different theories to explain different parts of the EU integration process and
different aspects of EU politics (X the issue of commensurability)
Criticism
̶ lack of explanatory ability
̶ lack of theoretical focus (offers little in the way of explanatory power)
̶ not much to offer beyond drawing attention to the fact that the EU is complex
̶ not attributing enough influence to the international level
Theories and EU crises
Small-group activity: European integration theories and EU
crises.
Thank you very much for your attention
(brusenbauch.meislova@email.cz)