EUROGOV
No. N-06-01
Stijn Smismans
New Modes of Governance and the Participatory Myth
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Published: March 7, 2006
Abstract
One of the most common arguments about ‘new governance’
is that it is characterised by heterarchy rather than by hierarchy,
creating horizontal modes of governance among a multitude
of actors – public and private – involving all
relevant stakeholders. Often implicitly, but sometimes explicitly,
this argument is linked with a normative democratic claim
that praises the particular participatory features of ‘new
governance’ as compared to ‘old governance’.
Using as a case study Community occupational health and safety
policy, characterised by a clear shift from ‘old’
to ‘new governance’ since the 1990s, this paper
warns us that one should be very cautious in making normative
claims on new governance. More horizontal and heterarchical
governance does not mean automatically more participatory
governance in normative democratic terms.
Keywords:
civil society, governance, interest representation, legitimacy,
open coordination, comitology, expert committees
Stijn Smismans
– Faculty of Sociology, University of Trento
e-mail: Smismans@libero.it
http://users.pandora.be/stijnsmismans
© 2006 Stijn Smismans
Citing this EUROGOV
paper:
Smismans, Stijn. 2006. New Modes of Governance
and the Participatory Myth. European Governance
Papers (EUROGOV) No. N-06-01,
http://www.connex-network.org/eurogov/pdf/egp-newgov-N-06-01.pdf
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