Cross-Border Integration, Cooperation and Governance: A Systems Approach for Evaluating “Good” Governance in Cross-Border Regions

Abstract

Cross-Border Governance has risen as an opportunity for rethinking integration and development at border regions. However, there is currently not consensus on what can be considered as “good” cross-border governance. From a systems approach, this paper proposes a theoretical framework by establishing a relationship among governance, integration and cooperation and propose criteria for evaluating governance models. The framework is used to analyze the Amazonian cross-border region among Peru, Brazil and Bolivia based on 44 surveys from key cross-border actors. Evidences showed that “environment-oriented” governance models in different scales (territorial, sectorial, etc.) have emerged from the mutual impact between cooperation initiatives and integration processes, where strengthening linkages among governance levels can generate better models.