Beyond social regulation? New instruments and/or a new agenda for social policy at Lisbon?

The consistent failure to match EU market integration with social policies provoked the development of new modes of European governance for welfare provision in the early 1990s. Based on policy co-ordination rather than integration, these new governance modes were consolidated as the 'Open Method of Co-ordination' (OMC) at the Lisbon Summit in 2000. This article analyses the scope and limits of the OMC, locating it in the context of broader trends and tendencies in governance and social provision. Indeed, the perceived 'success' of the OMC may reflect a deeper trend in social policy across western Europe and beyond, towards 'active' welfare policies. In many ways the OMC is consistent with the influential 'regulatory state' vision of the EU. Yet by 'activating' welfare the OMC may challenge market liberal theories of European economic regulation. The first seeks to integrate economic and social policies while the latter is premised on their separation.     

The extraterritorial dimensions of biofuel policies and the politics of scale: live and let die?

Despite criticism, global biofuel production continues to rise, using primarily food crops. Between 2001 and 2012 it increased nearly six-fold, driven primarily by domestic policies, yet raising strong international concerns, eg over impacts on global food prices. Nevertheless, little international biofuel governance has emerged. This article examines the various extraterritorial dimensions of domestic biofuel policies and investigates why international biofuel governance has remained vague, despite its controversial nature. It uses the politics of scale to analyse why countries may wish to frame it as a global or domestic issue. Three extraterritorial dimensions are identified: global environmental impacts, global socioeconomic impacts, and attempts at extraterritorial control over biofuel production abroad. While major producers have successfully avoided liability for impacts by preventing the scaling up of much biofuel governance to the international level, major importers have tried to fill perceived governance gaps using policies aimed at extraterritorial control. We show that both the rise of nationally oriented development policies with extraterritorial impacts and of unilateral sustainability rule making primarily affect weaker countries, making global inequalities more pronounced. It is essential that adaptation governance take into account both environmental and global socioeconomic changes, such as higher agricultural commodity prices.     

WAS LOCAL GOVERNANCE SUCH A GOOD IDEA? A GLOBAL COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE

The idea of local governance has gained much prominence but can elected local government be sustained in a role as network coordinator alone? To investigate this question this article focuses attention on four societal roles that local government systems undertake. They can support political identity, underwrite economic development, facilitate social welfare provision or act as a lifestyle co‐ordinator through the practice of community governance. Tying our investigation to the embedded societal roles of local government in different systems opens up the opportunity for a global comparative perspective. It also supports an argument that a sustainable system of local government is likely to be one that is able to combine societal roles to a substantial degree and those systems left with community governance as their key societal function are particularly likely to find themselves pushed to the sidelines of governing arrangements.     

Reinventing Governance for Performance in South Asia: Impacts on Citizenship Rights

Abstract

In line with the global trend of “reinventing governance” based on market‐driven policies and structures, South Asian countries have adopted some major reforms in governance during the recent two decades. While this market‐led shift in governance is largely intended to enhance its performance in terms of greater efficiency and quality, there is a tendency to overlook its implications for the rights and entitlements of citizens in these countries. The article examines the basic tenets or features of this transition in governance, encompassing the replacement of public sector by private sector and the transformation of public management based on business principles. The main objective, however, is to examine the critical impacts of this new mode of governance on the political and social rights of citizens in South Asia. The article concludes by stressing the need for paying adequate attention to citizenship rights in pursuing such reforms in governance.     

Civil society, social capital, and development: Dissection of a complex discourse

This article tries to understand the ongoing intellectual discourse on civil society and related concepts in political science, other social science disciplines as well as among policy-makers and practitioners. It suggests that there are four prominent philosophical lineages going back to the nineteenth century from which most of the contemporary debate draws its inspiration. Thus, there are at least four major schools or approaches to the study of civil society, social capital and development that compete for recognition. The article also draws attention to the need for analyzing these issues, not only at the national but also the associational and global levels. The interaction between these three levels has become increasingly important in the light of the globalization of many conservation and development issues. Finally, the author identifies the principal challenges facing students interested in doing research in this area, focusing, among other things, on the varying implications for civil society that different regime types have. Goran Hyden is professor of political science at the University of Florida. His research interests include issues of governance, particularly as they apply to the interface between politics and development. He has published several books and articles in this area. These includeBeyond Ujamaa in tanzania (1980),No Shortcuts to Progress (1983),Governance and Politics in Africa (co-edited with Michael Bratton, 1992).Human, Rights and Governance in Africa (co-edited with Ronald Cohen and Winston Nagan 1993), andAgencies in Foreign Aid: China, Sweden and the United States in Tanzania 1961–95 (co-edited with Rwekaza Mukandala, forthcoming).     

Calling Attention to the Nature of Professional Knowledge and Its Impact on Perceptions of Performance Measures

Nations around the globe are increasingly facing tough challenges when dealing with environmental problems. The limited success of government interventions to protect the environment is a testament to the growing concern about government's inability, or insufficient capacity, to address environmental issues. As a response, scholars note that promoting environmentally responsible behavior (ERB) on the part of the citizenry is critical for the growth and development of efficient environmental governance. However, despite the introduction of a variety of measures by governments to encourage greener practices, influencing citizens' behavior remains a major challenge. Using social capital theory, this article examines the effects of various social relation components on the promotion of pro-environmental behavior in five key public policy areas—recycling, food purchasing behavior, gasoline, energy conservation, and water use. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

The governance of urban regeneration: a critique of the 'governing without government' thesis

This paper offers a critique of the concept of governance as networks. Using the complementary concept of regime governance, it argues that networks are not the primary mode of governance in the politics of urban regeneration in the UK. Drawing on primary and secondary material, it is argued that Central Government is becoming more influential in the local policy arena. In the 'mix' of market, hierarchy and network, hierarchy is more pervasive than network. It is therefore argued that partnerships should be treated as a distinct mode of governance. These conclusions demonstrate that despite the fashion for copying urban policies from the USA, local politics in the UK remain very different. Ironically, the transfer of policies developed in the USA has tended to entrench divergent practices and outcomes. The UK does not, therefore, appear to be moving toward the US model of regime politics. It is concluded that the partnership and network/regime models of governance should be subjected to rigorous comparative studies.     

The Integration of Best Environmental Management Practices in Corporate Strategy: Empirical Evidence From Italian Local Governments

Local governments represent an important moving force in promoting sustainable development policies as they make up the level of governance closest to the citizens. The aim of this article is to examine whether Italian local governments exercise de facto their vital role in fostering sustainable development policies. In particular, we analyzed municipality behavior about adopting “green management strategies.” We investigated the main factors identified in management literature which might boost the adoption of these strategies. Several implications ensue from our findings. In particular, the research provides information to improve local government attitudes toward the sustainable development challenge.     

Conceptual Reflection on Responsive Environmental Governance

This article discusses the conceptual base of the term of responsive environmental governance. Theme is important, as combining the greater demand for material wealth and sustainable use of natural resources is difficult. Successful and sustainable environmental management is possible only when active local support exists, that is, when governance is responsive. The article argues that action space for citizens on eco-social dependency is called for. People’s participation in decision-making and public debate; clear responsibilities and accountability measures of duty-bearers; and clearly articulated rights of citizens make governance responsive.     

NEW MODES OF GOVERNANCE IN ITALY AND THE NETHERLANDS: THE CASE OF ACTIVATION POLICIES

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’.     

Crowding Out Civil Society: State Management of Social Organisations in Putin’s Russia

There is considerable debate about the impact of the 2006 NGO Law and related Kremlin policies on social organisations in Russia. This article uses interviews with members of organisations focusing on human rights, women, and youth to assess the effects of these policies on civil society. It finds that groups that are critical of the regime have been systematically pushed out of the public sphere and supplanted by groups that are either neutral to, or in favour of, the regime. This finding has implications for the future development of Russian civil society and demonstrates a way that non-democratic rule has been ‘upgraded’ in Russia.     

Toward Disorganized Governance in Public Service Provision? The Case of German Sickness Funds

Over many years now, the concept of “network” or “new governance” pervades the literature on public administration. It suggests a growing role for network-based governance downgrading both command-and-control bureaucracy and, if more implicitly, New Public Management (NPM). Challenging this reading, the article explores the relationship between network-based and (quasi-)market governance by investigating the policies of German health care insurance organizations, the so-called sickness funds, epitomizing the international movement towards focal agencies run at arm's length of Government. These policies reflect new forms of hybrid coordination in public service provision, leading into what can be coined disorganized governance and be characterized as a regime of hybrid coordination shaped by a nervous interplay of partnership-building and disruptive segregation, with important repercussions on the overall outcomes in the provision of health care.     

META‐GOVERNANCE: VALUES,NORMS AND PRINCIPLES,AND THE MAKING OF HARD CHOICES

Meta‐governance – or governance of governance – is a concept that raises questions regarding how values, norms and principles underpin governance systems and governing approaches. Values, norms and principles pertain both to substantive governance issues, for instance, related to sustainable resource use, and to governance system issues in themselves, for instance, regarding their institutional design. This article deals primarily with the latter. Thus the interactive perspective serves as basis for developing a coherent set of meta‐governance principles. We argue that an explicit, deliberated and decided upon set of meta‐governance principles as an integral part of governance can help in making hard substantive governance choices easier. Interactive learning plays a key role in governance processes when public and private governing actors have to make such hard choices. In the article, examples from natural resource governance will serve as illustrations for the more conceptual argumentation and reasoning.     

Participatory Governance: Hope or Danger for Democracy? A Case Study of Local Agenda 21

Participatory governance is a concept that is receiving increasing prominence. However, more empirical research is needed to clarify whether participatory governance is beneficial or detrimental to democracy. The local level is a dynamic field for participatory experiments and, therefore, particularly rewarding for researchers interested in scrutinizing the impacts of participatory governance empirically. In this article, Local Agenda 21 serves as an example to discuss both hypotheses. The study, conducted predominantly in Germany, shows that neither the supporters nor the sceptics of participatory governance are completely right. The findings about Local Agenda 21 demonstrate that this form of participatory governance can improve civic skills and social capital, but has little impact on input-legitimacy and is barely effective, i.e. reaches the goal of enforcing sustainable development only to a limited degree.     

Development assistance on the brink

The international aid regime is currently faced with a major paradox. On the one hand, officials in bilateral and multlateral agencies increasingly agree that 'aid matters' and can contribute significantly to development. This confidence has been reinforced by the fact that, after a decade dominated by the objective of structural adjustment, the much less controversial one of sustainable development has taken over as the new mantra of aid policies. On the other hand, development assistance appears to be a declining priority for foreign policy-makers in the developed countries. The generosity of donors has diminished to the point that aid reached an all-time low in 1997. The aim of this article is to make sense of this paradox. After examining the grounds for optimism within the aid community, the article then explains why there is reason to doubt that foreign assistance can effectively foster sustainable development over the course of the next generation.     

Uneven development,inequality and concentration of power: a critique of Thailand 4.0

This article provides a critique of the Thailand 4.0 strategy to push the country out of the middle-income trap through innovation-driven, inclusive and sustainable growth. First, it argues that the policies have insufficiently analysed the persistence of structural hierarchy and uneven development in the global political economy, which will constrain Thailand’s catch-up success in the future. Second, based on writings about progressive mission-led industrial strategies, it is argued that Thailand 4.0 ought to embed a progressive social and environmental agenda more clearly in its industrial strategy. Third, it is argued that Thailand 4.0 neglects to address the high concentration of political and economic power in the country, and also continues to allow unequal access to the policymaking process that has led to socio-environmental problems. Overall, this article argues that Thailand 4.0 will increasingly aggravate the two-tier fragmented nature of the political economic system of Thailand, where few can reap the biggest shares of the surplus and participate in more advanced sectors of the economy. It also calls for a more progressive industrial strategy and an alternative developmental path.     

Global governance,development and human security: exploring the links

This article draws attention to the convergence of the global development and security agendas at the beginning of the new millennium. It explores the links between global governance, development and human security. It argues that material sufficiency lies at the core of human security. Hence, the problems of poverty and deepening inequality are central concerns, and the unfolding of these problems in the 1980s and 1990s is highlighted. During the closing decades of the 20th century, a neoliberal vision dominated the global development policy agenda, while these problems of inequality deepened. The policy was developed, championed and implemented by a range of global governance institutions, working through state governments. The idea and the institutions of global governance are examined critically, with a view to establishing in whose interest global governance and its associated development policies may be operating, and whether this is in support of human security.     

The promises and perils of subsidiarity in global governance: evidence from Africa

In the messy world of global governance, the principle of subsidiarity has the potential to order relations between different layers of governance as well as compensate for the legitimacy deficit of global governance institutions. However, subsidiarity has received surprisingly little scholarly attention in the discipline of International Relations. This article therefore seeks to examine the promises and perils of subsidiarity in global governance by adducing empirical evidence from Africa, a region which has authored norms and policies that often contest global norms and institutions. Based on two case studies of pro-democratic intervention in The Gambia and court proliferation at the (sub-)regional levels, the article concludes that while subsidiarity may strengthen democracy and the rule of law at the national level, it may also undermine the rule of law at the global level, as well as dilute fundamental global norms that serve to protect basic human rights. At the same time, subsidiarity provides opportunities for normative innovation, which suggests that more attention needs to be paid to the law-generating effects of subsidiarity and to the Global South as an agent of change in international law and global governance.     

Conceptual Issues in Inter-Agency Collaboration

Inter-agency collaboration – or partnership as it now commonly termed – is central to New Labour's agenda, but the general support for a partnership approach conceals disputes about definitions and approaches. This article begins by examining the shift to more complex and ambitious partnerships in health, social care and regeneration, which require new modes of governance. The three main modes – market, hierarchy and network – are briefly described and contrasted, and located within the recent history of public service development. It is argued that they are best seen as overlain and co-existing, resulting in a hybrid mode of governance which is characterised by tension and contradiction. The article goes on to discuss the issues this raises for real partnerships in trying to understand the collaborative imperative and the barriers to its effective achievement. Although the network mode has its attractions, there are complex issues of membership, management and culture which need to be addressed. It is concluded that hierarchy, markets and networks will co-exist better where each acknowledges its own limits and the strengths of others.     

Good governance as a foundation for sustainable human development in sub-Saharan Africa

Data indicate that good governance and human development continue to be major issues throughout sub-Saharan Africa. The findings show a significant relationship between the measures of good governance and human development. The findings suggest that policies and efforts aimed at improving government effectiveness and political stability would have the most significant impact on human development and poverty reduction efforts. The findings lend support to the adoption of integrated policy approaches that take into consideration political development along with economic development to reduce poverty in sub-Saharan Africa.