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How Democratic Is “Governance”? Lessons from Swiss Drug Policy
Author(s) -
Wälti Sonja,
Küjbler Daniel,
Papadopoulos Yannis
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
governance
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.46
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1468-0491
pISSN - 0952-1895
DOI - 10.1111/j.0952-1895.2004.00238.x
Subject(s) - scrutiny , deliberation , criticism , corporate governance , democracy , accountability , public administration , subject (documents) , citizen journalism , deliberative democracy , political science , sociology , law and economics , law , economics , politics , management , library science , computer science
Public action increasingly takes place in self‐organizing networks that are remote from direct governmental control. While these transformations have been subject to scrutiny in regard to their efficiency, less attention has been paid to their democratic quality. This article discusses governance‐induced problems of democracy by isolating two major criticisms. Deliberative criticism argues that governance, rather than allowing for true deliberation in the public space, may lead to a loss of accountability. Participatory criticism stresses that governance impinges on participatory venues. The article discusses these criticisms theoretically and empirically, drawing from research on drug policy in Switzerland. The findings show that the criticisms are relevant, albeit not entirely justified.