Types of Multi-Level Governance

European Integration online Papers (EIoP), Vol. 5, No. 11, October 12, 2001

32 Pages Posted: 13 Mar 2002

See all articles by Liesbet Hooghe

Liesbet Hooghe

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Political Science Department; European University Institute - Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (RSCAS)

Gary Marks

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Political Science Department; European University Institute

Abstract

The reallocation of authority upwards, downwards, and sideways from central states has drawn attention from a growing number of scholars in the social sciences. Yet beyond the bedrock agreement that governance has become (and should be) multi-level, there is no convergence about how it should be organized. This paper draws on various literatures in distinguishing two types of multi-level governance. One type conceives of dispersion of authority to multi-task, territorially mutually exclusive jurisdictions in a relatively stable system with limited jurisdictional levels and a limited number of units. A second type of governance pictures specialized, territorially overlapping jurisdictions in a relatively flexible, non-tiered system with a large number of jurisdictions. We find that both types co-exist in different locations, and we explain some facets of this co-existence.

Keywords: European integration, constitutional change, differentiated integration, europeanization, federalism, fiscal federalism, governance, identity, international relations, joint decision making, multilevel governance, neo-institutionalism, path dependence, regions, state building, political science

Suggested Citation

Hooghe, Liesbet and Marks, Gary, Types of Multi-Level Governance. European Integration online Papers (EIoP), Vol. 5, No. 11, October 12, 2001, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=302786 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.302786

Liesbet Hooghe (Contact Author)

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Political Science Department ( email )

Chapel Hill, NC 27599
United States

European University Institute - Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (RSCAS) ( email )

Villa Schifanoia, Via Boccaccio 121
50016 San Domenico di Fiesole
Florence, Florence 50014
Italy

HOME PAGE: http://https://hooghe.web.unc.edu

Gary Marks

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Political Science Department ( email )

Chapel Hill, NC 27599
United States

European University Institute ( email )

Florence
Italy