Theoretical Approaches to Metagovernance

Abstract

An increasingly important issue for governance network theory is how and to what extent it is possible for governors to regulate self-regulating networks. It is generally recognized that governance networks must be regulated if they are to contribute to the efficient governing of society. But since a constitutive feature of governance networks is self-regulation, it is not possible to regulate governance networks by means of traditional sovereign forms of detailed, hierarchical and bureaucratic regulation. Sovereign forms of regulation would inevitably undermine the self-regulating capacity of the networks. Governance network theory describes how efforts to harvest the governing capacity of self-regulating networks, while still being able to ensure an overall societal governance, has brought with it a growth in new forms of governance, and suggest ways in which such forms of regulation can be developed further (Mayntz & Marin 1991; Kooiman 1993; Scharpf 1997; Pierre & Peters 2000, 2005; Rhodes 2000b; Milward & Provan 2000b; Richardson 2000; O'Toole & Meier 2000; Van Heffen, et al. 2000; Goss 2001).KeywordsNetwork ActorGovernance ProcessGovernance NetworkInterdependency TheoryPublic AdministratorThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.