ABSTRACT
When a new term is brought into use to replace a long familiar one it is always desirable to be sceptical about whether it is really necessary. This is certainly the case in respect of the development of the use of the term ‘governance’ to encompass the policy-making process instead of government. It is not helpful that those who write about governance either supply multiple alternative usages (see for example Kooiman, 1999, who identifies 10 different meanings
Whilst throughout the book attention has been given to arguments that the policy process in the modern world needs to be seen as having a complexity to which the label ‘governance’ rather than ‘government’ should be attached, this has not been examined in any detail. This chapter starts by exploring that argument a little more and then proceeds to look at the two main manifestations of the alleged change: inter-organisational complexity within the nation state and changing relationships between states which impact upon internal policy processes. The former phenomenon involves both complex vertical and horizontal relationships between institutions and the formation of networks (none of these by any means new phenomena, but probably now more important). The latter ranges across various issues: the impact of global institutions, the development of groupings of nations like the European Union and the sharing of common problems.
