| Summary: | Since the early 1990s, the governing of the EU has been characterized by a growing diversity in forms of policy making. More specifically, after a decade of innovations and new policy developments, the introduction of new types of "policy instruments" were aimed at both rationalising public policies and democratising forms of policy-making. Such tools (e.g., organization charts, framework agreements, European employment strategy, open method of coordination, the so called Bologna process, etc.), which are characterized by their non-hierarchical nature, seek direct involvement from a large variety of social groups and open - at least in principle - new political opportunities for EU institutions, in particular the European Commission. Nevertheless, some recent scholarly work shows how such political opportunities have not always increased the coordination capacity of the European institutions (again, in primis the European Commission), nor has the decision-making process been effectively more open with respect to civil society. In other terms, the overall impact of the new modes of governance on EU policy making still remains contested. Using new modes of governance as an organizing concept, the proposed section aims at addressing the impact of changing patterns of policy making, both in terms of rationalisation and democratization. This focus also enables to address a new important set of questions to be posed with respect to democratization processes within different political systems: to what extent have new modes of governance contributed to the enhancement of the steering capacity of EU institutions and to the democratization of forms of policy making at EU level? Have - and if so, how - 'new' modes of governance redefined the relationship among various levels of government within the EU? Have evolving forms of governance created specific forms of Europeanization? What are the effects of the combination of 'old' and 'new' modes of governance on the production and legitimation of European public action? ...
|
|---|