ABSTRACT
In the current debate on collective government in Western societies, increased community involvement is frequently cited as a remedy for the perceived crisis of legitimation as well as effectiveness of political institutions. On the other hand, there is an increasing awareness of the normative problems relating to participatory mechanisms in ‘governance’ systems. While possibly strengthening the overall societal capacity for collective action, governance arrangements are often perceived as wanting in terms of democratic accountability and representativeness. It is argued that selective and unsystematic inclusion of organised actors, in combination with increasingly dispersed, fragmented and polycentric systems of decision making, are eroding the legitimation basis of collective institutions.
