Theories of Democratic Network Governance

Theories of Democratic Network Governance

Also by Eva Sørensen POLITICIANS AND NETWORK DEMOCRACY (in Danish) ROLES IN TRANSITION (co-author with Birgit Jæger) (in Danish) NETWORK GOVERNANCE: From Government to Governance (co-author with Jacob Torfing) (in Danish) Also by Jacob Torfing DISCOURSE THEORY IN EUROPEAN POLITICS: Identity, Policy and Governance (co-editor with David Howarth) NEW THEORIES OF DISCOURSE POLITICS, REGULATION AND THE MODERN WELFARE STATE

Theories of Democratic Network Governance Edited by Eva Sørensen Professor of Public Administration Roskilde University, Denmark and Jacob Torfing Professor of Politics Roskilde University, Denmark

Editorial matter, selection, Introduction and concluding chapter Eva Sørensen and Jacob Torfing 2007 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2007 978-1-4039-9528-5 All remaining chapters respective authors 2007 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published in 2007 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-0-230-22036-2 ISBN 978-0-230-62500-6 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9780230625006 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Theories of democratic network governance / edited by Eva Sørensen and Jacob Torfing. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Political planning. 2. Policy sciences. 3. Public private sector cooperation. 4. Public administration. I. Sørensen, Eva, 1957 II. Torfing, Jacob. JF1525.P6T43 2007 351.01 dc22 2006047274 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07

Contents List of Tables, Figures and Boxes Foreword Notes on Contributors xi xii xiii Introduction: Governance Network Research: Towards a Second Generation 1 Eva Sørensen and Jacob Torfing The rise of governance network research 3 The aims of this book 7 Defining governance networks 8 Merits and problems of network governance 11 First and second generation research 14 Plan of the book 20 Part I Governance Network Dynamics 1 Theoretical Approaches to Governance Network Dynamics 25 Eva Sørensen and Jacob Torfing Introduction 25 Historical institutionalism 31 Rational choice institutionalism 33 Social constructivist (or normative) institutionalism 35 Poststructuralist institutionalism 38 Similarities and differences 41 The structure of Part I 42 2 Mechanisms of Governance Network Formation a Contextual Rational Choice Perspective 43 Nils Hertting Introduction 43 Interpretation, rational choice and mechanisms 45 Contextual mechanism: perceived interdependencies 47 v

vi Contents Actor calculation mechanism: preference for informal networks 50 The game mechanism: the problem of continuous cooperation 51 Collective actors and vertical games 56 Conclusion 57 3 Virtuous and Viscous Circles in Democratic Network Governance 61 B. Guy Peters Institutionalization and deinstitutionalization 62 Factors associated with virtuous and viscous spirals 65 Political factors 66 Functional factors 69 Social pressures 70 Other factors in explaining success 71 Characteristics of the members 71 Operating environment 73 Tasks 74 Summary and conclusions 74 4 Decentred Theory, Change and Network Governance 77 Mark Bevir and R. A. W. Rhodes Introduction 77 Positivist approaches to network governance 78 Decentring network governance 80 The analysis of change in networks 81 Managing change in networks 83 Conclusions 87 Part II Governance Network Failure 5 Theoretical Approaches to Governance Network Failure 95 Eva Sørensen and Jacob Torfing Interdependency theory 98 Governability theory 102 Integration theory 104 Governmentality theory 106

Contents vii Similarities and differences 108 The structure of Part II 110 6 Closure and Governance 111 Linze Schaap Introduction 111 Governance networks: open, closed, or both? 112 A systems theoretical contribution? 113 Governance networks and types of social systems 117 Two types of closure 118 Three explanations for closure 121 The relations between explanations for closure 123 Governing closed networks? 124 Governing veto power? 125 Governing closed frames of reference? 128 Governing closed policy communication systems? 129 Some concluding remarks 131 7 Consensus and Conflict in Policy Networks: Too Much or Too Little? 133 Joop F. M. Koppenjan Introduction 133 Consensus and conflict: an exploration of two ambivalent concepts 135 The first face of policy networks: a surplus of consensus 138 The second face of policy networks: insufficient consensus 143 The true face of policy networks and its implications for network governance 147 Conclusion: managing the consensus conflict dimension in network-settings 151 8 Network Governance: Effective and Legitimate? 153 Tanja A. Börzel and Diana Panke Introduction 153 Networks as governance 154 The demand for effectiveness and legitimacy 156 Effectiveness and legitimacy: a trade-off? 163 Conclusion 165

viii Contents Part III Metagovernance 9 Theoretical Approaches to Metagovernance 169 Eva Sørensen and Jacob Torfing Introduction 169 Interdependency theory 170 Governability theory 172 Integration theory 175 Governmentality theory 178 Similarities and differences between the theories 180 Where to go from here? 181 10 Governing the Formation and Mobilization of Governance Networks 183 Peter Triantafillou Introduction 183 Governmentality and advanced liberal government 185 Mobilizing agency 187 Governing through the formation of autonomy and interdependencies 190 Governing the performance of networks 194 Conclusion 196 11 Meta-governance as Network Management 199 Erik-Hans Klijn and Jurian Edelenbos Introduction: a network management perspective on meta-governance 199 Process design and management: setting up and facilitating network interactions 201 Institutional design: changing the network 206 Good network management: skills and competencies 211 Research challenges 213 12 Governing Outputs and Outcomes of Governance Networks 215 Laurence J. O Toole, Jr Framing the subject 215 Two notions of meta-governance 218 Meta-governance in action 221

Contents ix Possibilities for public authorities to shape network outputs and outcomes 223 Meta-governance via policy formulation 223 Assisting in the play of the game 224 Linking and segmenting games 225 Changing the game: active meta-governance by public authorities 226 Conclusion 228 Part IV Democratic Network Governance 13 Theoretical Approaches to Democratic Network Governance 233 Eva Sørensen and Jacob Torfing Introduction 233 Governance networks and liberal democracy 234 Governance networks and postliberal democracy 236 Similarities and differences between the theories 245 Where to go from here? 246 14 Governance Networks and Participation 247 Allan Dreyer Hansen The common good 249 Learning democracy 251 Equality 254 Conclusion 258 15 Networks and Democratic Ideals: Equality, Freedom, and Communication 262 John S. Dryzek Applying the standard democratic principles to networks 263 Beyond lingering statism in democratic theory 264 Networks and the communicative aspect of democratic theory 266 Who communicates 268 Beyond models of democracy 269 The contribution of governance networks to democracy 271 Conclusion 273

x Contents 16 Democratic Accountability and Network Governance Problems and Potentials 274 Anders Esmark Democratic network governance? 274 Accountability as a democratic norm 276 Accountability and inclusion 278 First challenge: finding the holders and holdees 282 Accountability and publicity 284 Second challenge: sufficient publicity 287 Accountability and responsiveness 290 Third challenge: adequate responsiveness 293 Conclusion 295 The Second Generation of Governance Network Theory and Beyond 297 Eva Sørensen and Jacob Torfing Governance networks are here to stay 297 A multi-theoretical approach to network governance 299 Contributions to our understanding of governance networks 303 Where next? 310 Bibliography 316 Index 343

List of Tables, Figures and Boxes Tables I.1 Overview of four different governance network theories 17 1.1 Overview of four different approaches to institutional analysis 30 7.1 Implications of the level of consensus and conflict within networks 151 9.1 Differences between the four governance network theories 181 13.1 Four theoretical approaches to postliberal democracy 236 Figures 2.1 Perceptions, calculations and games in governance network formation 57 6.1 Types of closure 120 6.2 Relationships between clarifications for closure 124 7.1 Policy games and arenas that cut across various policy networks 148 Boxes 4.1 Ten lessons on how to manage your network 84 4.2 Local practical solutions 84 xi

Foreword This volume is a part of a small series of books that aims to analyse how governance networks contribute to the governing of our increasingly complex and fragmented societies. The book series consists of three books: Theories of Democratic Network Governance edited by Eva Sørensen and Jacob Torfing, Methods in Democratic Network Governance edited by Peter Bogason and Mette Zølner, and Democratic Network Governance in Europe edited by Martin Markussen and Jacob Torfing. The three books are self-contained volumes that can be read independently, but they are all part of the same endeavour to develop a second generation of governance network research that focusses on new and important questions about the dynamics of governance networks, the conditions for their success and failure, the attempt to metagovern governance networks and their democratic problems and potentials. The contributing authors are either members of the Centre for Democratic Network Governance that was established at Roskilde University in 2003, or have been associated with the Centre as guests or visiting research fellows. Anonymous reviewers have provided valuable comments to earlier versions of the chapters. Our student assistants have collected data and gathered material for the books, and Andrew Crabtree and Jon Jay Neufeld have helped to improve the language. We thank them for their excellent work. Jacob Torfing Series Editor Roskilde xii

Notes on Contributors Mark Bevir, Professor, Department of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley, USA. Tanja A. Börzel, Chair of European Integration, Otto-Suhr-Institute for Political Science, Centre for European Integration, Free University of Berlin, Germany. Allan Dreyer Hansen, Associate Professor, Department of Social Science, Roskilde University, Denmark. John S. Dryzek, Professor of Social and Political Theory, Australian National University, Australia. Jurian Edelenbos, Research Fellow, Department of Public Administration, Erasmus University of Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Anders Esmark, Associate Professor, Department of Social Sciences, Roskilde University, Denmark. Nils Hertting, PhD in political science and Research Fellow at the Institute for Housing and Urban Research, University of Uppsala, Sweden. Erik-Hans Klijn, Associate Professor, Department of Public Administration, Erasmus University of Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Joop F. M. Koppenjan, Associate Professor, The Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, The Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands. Laurence J. O Toole, Jr, Professor of Public Administration, Department of Public Administration & International Affairs, The University of Georgia, Athens, USA. Diana Panke, PhD Student, Otto-Suhr-Institute for Political Science, Centre for European Integration, Free University of Berlin, Germany. B. Guy Peters, Maurice Falk Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Pittsburgh, USA. R. A. W. Rhodes, Professor, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. xiii

xiv Notes on Contributors Linze Schaap, Leader of Centre for Local Democracy, The Faculty of Social Science, Erasmus University, The Netherlands. Eva Sørensen, Professor of Public Administration, Department of Social Science, Roskilde University, Denmark. Jacob Torfing, Professor of Politics, Director of Centre for Democratic Network Governance, Department of Social Science, Roskilde University, Denmark. Peter Triantafillou, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Science, Roskilde University, Denmark.