scholarly journals Political Leadership as Meta-Governance in Sustainability Transitions: A Case Study Analysis of Meta-Governance in the Case of the Dutch National Agreement on Climate

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 110
Author(s):  
Menno Ottens ◽  
Jurian Edelenbos
Keyword(s):  
Climate Policy ◽  
Political Leadership ◽  
Network Governance ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
Sustainability Transitions ◽  
Theoretical Assumption ◽  
Case Study Analysis ◽  
Societal Actors ◽  
Governance Strategies ◽  
Governance Processes

Sustainability transitions are of an inherently political nature. In particular, discussions on climate policy are dominated by national and international politics. Furthermore, sustainability transitions involve network governance in which both private, public, and societal actors are involved. These governance processes call for closely scrutinizing their performance in terms of democratic legitimacy. To study and assess the democratic quality of governance processes regarding climate policy, this article focuses on the role of political leadership, conceptualized as political meta-governance, in enhancing the democratic legitimacy in the field of sustainability transitions. In doing so, it examines the case of the Dutch National Agreement on Climate (“Nationaal Klimaatakkoord”). The findings of this study underline the theoretical assumption that governments seek to use network governance to address climate change and develop policies. Seeking to address the application of political meta-governance, this study finds that political leaders struggle to bring about a fully-fledged, deliberative, and integrative meta-governance approach. However, disparate meta-governance strategies are reported. Although democratic legitimacy concerning the Dutch Agreement on Climate in terms of accountability can be regarded as high, values concerning voice (inclusiveness) and due deliberation (transparency) score comparatively low. As such, this study further justifies the close attention governance scholars and practitioners pay to the democratic values at stake when governing through governance networks.

scholarly journals Local Political Leadership in Urban Governance and Public Administration Modernisation: The Role of the Mayor and Councillors in a Spanish Municipality (1979-2007)

2010 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-201
Author(s):  
Ángel Iglesias Alonso ◽  
Manuel Villoria Mandeta
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Urban Governance ◽  
Political Leadership ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Governance Strategies ◽  
Administrative Change ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Governance Processes

Implementing urban governance strategies to improve local democracy and to regulate local economic growth is an important determinant of effective local administrative change and performance. The underlying hypothesis adopted here is the assumption that the adoption of urban governance processes requires political leadership. It inevitably results in the introduction of innovations within the administrative apparatus in order to improve its performance. Indeed, understanding the interaction between these three aspects (political leadership, urban governance, and administrative modernisation) is of fundamental importance for the effectiveness of most, if not all, policy interventions directed at the introduction of democratic innovations and public administration modernisation initiatives in local governments. To bring out the importance of those interactions, case study1 research is used. KEYWORDS: • local government • urban governance • administrative modernisation • public policy • political leadership • Spain

scholarly journals A Methodological Framework to Initiate and Design Transition Governance Processes

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 844 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Halbe ◽  
Claudia Pahl-Wostl
Keyword(s):  
Learning Objects ◽  
Integrated Analysis ◽  
Sustainability Transitions ◽  
Methodological Framework ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Targeted Interventions ◽  
Transition Governance ◽  
Learning Factors ◽  
Governance Processes

Abstract: Sustainability transitions require societal change at multiple levels ranging from individual behavioral change to community projects, businesses that offer sustainable products as well as policy-makers that set suitable incentive structures. Concepts, methods and tools are currently lacking that help to initiate and design transition governance processes based upon an encompassing understanding of such diverse interactions of actors and intervention points. This article presents a methodological framework for the initiation and design of transition governance processes. Based upon a conceptualization of sustainability transitions as multilevel learning processes, the methodological framework includes participatory modeling, a systematic literature review and governance system analysis to identify social units (learning subjects and contexts), challenges (learning objects) and intervention points (learning factors) relevant for initiating case-specific transition governance processes. A case study on sustainable food systems in Ontario, Canada is provided to exemplify the application of the methodological framework. The results demonstrate the merit of combining stakeholder-based and expert-based methods, as several learning factors identified in the participatory process could not be found in the general literature, and vice versa. The methodological framework allowed for an integrated analysis of the diversity of existing initiatives in the case study region and specific intervention points to support place-based sustainability innovations. Initiators of transition governance processes can use the results by designing targeted interventions to facilitate and coordinate existing initiatives or by setting new impulses through purposeful action.

Enhancing Policy Implementation through Interactive Political Leadership

2020 ◽  
pp. 82-93
Author(s):  
Eva Sørensen
Keyword(s):  
Policy Implementation ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Political Leadership ◽  
The Political ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Efficiency And Effectiveness ◽  
Societal Actors ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Private Actors

The legitimacy of representative democracy hinges on its ability to implement the policies that politicians make. Citizens may experience that their interests and viewpoints are taken into account in the political process, that the political process is fair, and that policies made are relevant and convincing responses to the problems they experience and aspirations they have. If policy implementation fails, it is likely to have a negative effect on citizens’ assessments of the efficiency and effectiveness of the political system, its executive institutions, and the competence and skill of incumbent political authorities. It reduces the political system’s outcome legitimacy. New theories of co-production and co-creation and research into how public and private actors work together to promote public value suggest that successful implementation of policy outcomes is more likely when relevant and affected societal actors are involved. This involving approach to getting things done leads to the formulation of a concept of socio-political implementation referring to co-created policy-implementation. Most of the socio-political implementation research tends to overlook the important role of politics and political leadership for successful co-creation of policy implementation. Chapter 7 argues that politicians have a crucial role to play as interactive political leaders of co-created policy implementation.

Capturing the dynamics of interorganizational governance implementation: a process and cybernetic based conceptualization

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tao Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Future Research ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Research Directions ◽  
Chain Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Governance Strategies ◽  
Future Research Directions ◽  
Governance Processes

PurposeThe effectiveness of interorganizational governance is one of the most significant concerns of firms involved in supply chain management. Previous studies have extensively examined various interorganizational governance strategies. However, the dynamic and implementation details of interorganizational governance receive little attention, which leads to the defects of interorganizational governance literature. This study tries to explore this issue.Design/methodology/approachBased on the process and cybernetic view, this study conceptualized four interorganizational governance processes and their respective critical activities to capture the dynamic and implementation details of interorganizational governance. Furthermore, this study investigated the mapping of governance strategies into different critical activities, which unveil the various manifestations of governance strategies across these critical activities.FindingsFour interorganizational governance processes and their respective critical activities would overarch the dynamic and implementation details of governance strategies. Furthermore, various governance strategies also would have different manifestations across the critical activities of the four processes.Originality/valueThis paper fills the gaps in interorganizational governance literature in which the dynamic details of governance strategies are unclear. The new conceptualization provides a new paradigm for researchers to zoom in on the subtle dynamics of interorganizational governance. The new conceptualization indicates a few promising future research directions.

scholarly journals Systemic Representation: Democracy, Deliberation, and Nonelectoral Representatives

2016 ◽  
Vol 110 (2) ◽  
pp. 308-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
JONATHAN W. KUYPER
Keyword(s):  
Deliberative Democracy ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
Study Analysis ◽  
Case Study Analysis ◽  
Systemic Level ◽  
Democratic System ◽  
The Relationship

This article explores the relationship between non-electoral representatives and democratic legitimacy by combining the recent constructivist turn in political representation with systemic work in deliberative theory. Two core arguments are advanced. First, non-electoral representatives should be judged by their position in a wider democratic system. Second, deliberative democracy offers a productive toolkit by which to evaluate these agents. I develop a framework of systemic representation which depicts the elemental parts of a democratic system and assigns normative standards according to the space occupied. The framework gives priority of democratic analysis to the systemic level. This helps mitigate a central concern in the constructivist turn which suggests that representatives mobilize constituencies in ways that are susceptible to framing and manipulation. I engage in case-study analysis of the collapsed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement to unpack the different spaces occupied by non-electoral representative and elucidate the varied democratic demands that hinge on this positioning.

New Policy Instruments

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony R. Zito
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Policy Instruments ◽  
Policy Instrument ◽  
The State ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
Trading Systems ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Societal Actors ◽  
Reduce Emissions

New policy instruments have come onto the policy agenda since the 1970s, but there is a real question as to whether the ideas behind the design of such tools are actually all that “new” when you assess the role of the policy instrument in its particular institutional and policy context. Taking Hood’s 1983 categorization of instruments as tools that manipulate society to achieve public goals via nodality (information), authority, treasure (finance), or organization, we can find instances where innovations in these areas pre-date the 1970s. Nevertheless, the mention of these instruments in international organizations such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and national institutions and debates as the means for both improving governance and protecting economic efficiency have increased in light of a number of interacting trends: the rise of neo-liberal and new management ideologies, the increasing perception of a number of wicked problems (e.g., climate change) and nested, politically sensitive problems (e.g., health and welfare policy), a rethinking of the role of the state, and other reasons. A typology is offered for differentiating changes and innovation in policy instruments. There have been some very notable and complex policy instruments that have reshaped politics and public policy in a particular policy sector: a notable example of this is emissions trading systems, which create market conditions to reduce emissions of climate change gases and other by-products. Information and financial instruments have become more prominent as tools used to achieve policy aims by the state, but equally significant is the fact that, in some cases, it is the societal actors themselves that are organizing and supporting the management of an instrument voluntarily. However, this obscures the fact that a much more significant evolution of policy instruments has come in the area that is associated with traditional governing, namely regulation. The reality of this “command and control” instrument is that many historical situations have witnessed a more flexible relationship between the regulator and the regulated than the term suggests. Nevertheless, many OECD political systems have seen a move towards “smart” or flexible regulation. In promoting this new understanding of regulation, it is increasingly important to see regulation as being supplemented by, supported by, and sometimes reinforcing new policy instruments. It is the integration of these “newer” policy instruments into the regulatory framework that represents perhaps the most significant change. Nevertheless, there is some reason to question the real impact new policy instruments have in terms of effectiveness and democratic legitimacy.

scholarly journals Network governance and capacity of local governments to deliver LED in Uganda

2016 ◽  
pp. 82-107
Author(s):  
Rose B Namara ◽  
Gerald Kagambirwe Karyeija ◽  
Betty C Mubangizi
Keyword(s):  
Local Governments ◽  
Local Economic Development ◽  
Network Governance ◽  
New Governance ◽  
Local Economies ◽  
Governance Capacity ◽  
Financial Autonomy ◽  
Governance Strategies ◽  
Governance Arrangements

This paper discusses network governance and its contribution to the capacity of local governments (LGs) to deliver local economic development (LED) in Uganda. Although a formal LED policy was only established in Uganda in February 2014, there have been LED-inspired practices in the past decade. Various scholars and practitioners have observed that the autonomy and capacity of LGs to deliver LED is limited, but have been hopeful that new governance strategies like network governance would increase the capacities of LGs. However, neither network governance arrangements among LGs, nor their potential to improve governance capacity, have been documented. In a case study of Kyenjojo District, this paper finds that existing network governance arrangements have been fundamental in improving financial autonomy at this LG, delivering some income to invest in LED activities, although no evidence was found of reduced transaction costs in transforming local economies. The study further reveals that network governance arrangements have not led to the development of specialised skills in regulation or law enforcement, and capacity gaps are evident amongst staff and members in understanding the private sector and how it works. On a positive note, there is clear evidence of attempts by the LG to be innovative. Based on these findings, this study recommends that LGs need to consider a multi-pronged or multi-network governance approach to LED, which in turn will require a refocusing of governance mechanisms to become more dynamic and responsive, and offer incentives to the various actors in the development sector.

scholarly journals From risk perception to risk governance in nanotechnology: a multi-stakeholder study

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Porcari ◽  
Elisabetta Borsella ◽  
Christina Benighaus ◽  
Khara Grieger ◽  
Panagiotis Isigonis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Risk Governance ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
Governance Strategies ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Multi Stakeholder ◽  
Robust Regulation ◽  
Governance Processes

AbstractNanotechnology is widely used in several industrial and consumer sectors and has the potential to grow further and expand globally. An exploration of stakeholder (SH)’s perceptions is essential to ensuring that robust risk governance processes are in place for nanotechnology and nano-related products. In response, numerous studies have been conducted to investigate SH’s perceptions of nanotechnology and nano-related products over the past 15 years. To build on this work and to capture current perceptions across a wide panel of SHs, we conducted a multi-national and cross-sectoral SH study of awareness, perceptions and opinions regarding the use and potential impact on society and the environment of nanomaterials (NMs) and nano-related products, and SH’s expectations about risk governance. The study was conducted using both quantitative and qualitative inquiries and targeted more than 3000 SHs across different sectors in a total of 15 countries. Results showed a tendency towards more convergence of opinions amongst all the relevant SHs and the public respondents than in past studies. There was consensus on the crucial importance of having unbiased, scientific and trustable information regarding the potential impacts of NMs and nano-related products on the environment, health and safety. SHs were interested in having more internationally harmonised and robust regulation for NMs and nano-related products; improved scientific evidence on nanomaterial hazards, exposures and effects; as well as specific guidance on the safe use of NMs. Overall, this work provides an updated scenario of SHs’ perceptions regarding nanotechnology and nano-related products, underscoring the importance of including SH needs in effective risk governance strategies.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document