ABSTRACT
Most of the Western governments that are currently involved in governance renewal operations are attempting to move away from a reliance on the coordinative model of governance and its associated central government control. The coordinative model is increasingly seen to be incompatible with the challenges of our complex and plural societies. Governance renewal operations have therefore been initiated with the hope and ambition that they will expand the societal capacity to govern. Traditional approaches to governance are now being replaced, sometimes swiftly, by new approaches. Common changes involve strategies such as decentralization, deregulation and privatization in the context of increasingly popular collaborative or communicative rational approaches, whilst they also mean to increase room for approaches that are dynamically responding to local circumstances. As a result, regional and local governments are gaining importance in developing and delivering on policies, whilst power and responsibility are partially transferred to the private sector and the community.
