Multi-Level Governance: The Missing Linkages(v.4 Critical Perspectives on International Public Sector Management)

Multi-Level Governance (MLG) is a highly influential, supple and ductile framework for interpreting governance in complex polities. Yet, criticisms have been aimed at its allegedly overly 'descriptive', rather than explanatory, power. This volume argues that progress in both the study and the practice of MLG may derive from developing linkages with disciplines, perspectives and issues that have so far not been explored in connection to MLG. By discussing cases ranging from nuclear power policy to environmental policy in both the Western world and in Eastern Asia, and by engaging different theoretical perspectives and issues of practical significance, such as legitimacy in public decisions or the management of risk in multi-level settings, the book proposes ways forward for advancing the understanding of MLG - a framework of reference in the analysis of contemporary governance.The book will provide scholars and students in the fields of public administration, public policy and political science with key concepts for the analysis of contemporary governance issues, and will be a source of ideas for practitioners and policy-makers engaged in making public decisions in complex polities.

Table of Contents:
Multi-Level Governance: The Missing Linkages. Multi-Level Governance, EU Public Policy and the Evasive Dependent Variable. Revisiting the ‘Management Deficit’: Can the Commission (Still Not) Manage Europe?. The Independent EU Commissioner: An Administrative Analysis. EU Agencies and the European Multi-Level Administrative System. The Interaction between Agencies, Networks, and the European Commission in Emerging Regulatory Constellations: A Comparative Analysis of the European Telecom Sector and the European Patent System. Multi-Level Governance, the EU and Civil Society: A Missing Link?. Administrative Reforms in the Intergovernmental Setting: Impacts on Multi-Level Governance from a Comparative Perspective. Bridging the Gaps in Multi-Level Governance: New Spaces of Interactions and Multiple Accountabilities in English Sub-National Governance. Metagovernance, Risk and Nuclear Power in Britain. Politics and Political Strategies in Multi-Level Systems. Multi-Level Governance of Hydropower in China? The Problem of Transplanting a Western Concept into the Chinese Governance Context. Multi-Level Governance: Underplayed Features, Overblown Expectation and Missing Linkages. Acknowledgements. Copyright page. Editorial Advisory Board. Multi-Level Governance: The Missing Linkages. List of Contributors. Critical Perspectives on International Public Sector Management. Multi-Level Governance: The Missing Linkages. Author biographies. Preface. Postface.

Review :
The volume brings together academics of the first rank in political science, public policy analysis and public management to systematically revisit the concept of multi-level governance. The collection constitutes an exciting invitation to engage in an intellectual dialogue between sub-disciplinary fields and geographical areas about how to tackle urgent problems of interdependence, coordination, capacity building, and managing organizational change across territorial levels and political arenas. An excellent read for all who are interested in theory advancement as well as for those who are seeking to advance administrative arrangements at subnational, national and international levels in view to improve policy outputs. Michael W. Bauer, Jean Monnet Professor of Comparative Public Administration and Policy Analysis and Member of the German Research Institute of Public Administration German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer, Germany. Europe and its institutions have several challenges ahead: the development of Multi-Level Governance can provide crucial answers to the needs for aligned public policies, better delivery, and the building of a shared vision and trustful relations for Europe, based on the principles of subsidiarity, proportionality, and partnership. This impressive book is one of the first systemic attempts to bring into the MLG literature a whole range of theories and models that may provide ways forward to the understanding and usage of MLG. The publication is an important step forward to deepen cross fertilization between the academia and political and societal actors. It comes at the right time and offers genuine guidelines for better and more responsive governance in the European Union and abroad. Luc Van den Brande, former president of the EU Committee of the Regions, initiator of the White Paper on Multi-Level Governance and rapporteur.