ABSTRACT
With ‘the transformation of governance’ this volume is returning to a theme that has preoccupied scholars of the European Community since the early days of its existence. Early analyses focused on the shifting power relations between different levels of government and in public-private relations as the primary dimension of governance (the leading works being Haas 1958 and Hoffmann 1966). In the light of an increasingly acute awareness of, on the one hand, the complexities of the process, interactive structures and the institutional design in Europe, and, on the other, a growing concern with the problem-solving capacity of national and supranational governing authorities confronted with the complex, diverse and dynamic nature of ‘modern’ policy problems (Kooiman 1993b), recent studies of European governance have begun to examine not only the distribution of competencies but also modes or practices of governance (Jachtenfuchs and KohlerKoch 1995; Kohler-Koch 1996).
