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Multilevel governance and problem‐solving: Towards a dynamic theory of multilevel policy‐making?
Author(s) -
Maggetti Martino,
Trein Philipp
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
public administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.313
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1467-9299
pISSN - 0033-3298
DOI - 10.1111/padm.12573
Subject(s) - stylized fact , multi level governance , corporate governance , delegation , politics , economic system , multilevel model , state (computer science) , european union , point (geometry) , political science , economics , public administration , computer science , mathematics , law , economic policy , macroeconomics , management , algorithm , machine learning , geometry
In this article, we suggest that the governance of problems shapes the institutional dynamics of multilevel governance (MLG) polities. MLG arrangements—processes and institutions that enable policy‐making across different jurisdictional levels wherein both public authorities and non‐state actors are involved—can or cannot succeed in solving policy problems and at the same time they could create new problems. We argue that the problem‐solving capacity and problem‐generating potential of multilevel arrangements can result in further, downwards, upwards or sideways delegation of political authority, which in turn reconfigure the multilevel architecture of the political system following either centripetal or centrifugal tendencies. We illustrate our point with a stylized account of the dynamics of MLG in the European Union (EU) since the early 1990s. We conclude with some remarks about developing a more general theory of multilevel policy‐making.