Observations on Multi-level Governance and democracy

Abstract

The concept of Multi-level Governance (MLG) emerged in the early 1990s to describe policy-making in the European Union (EU) in the context of enlargement and integration. Today the concept is usually taken to refer to the diffusion or dispersion of authority, decision-making and, more generally, changes in governance structures to enable governments at all levels to address the complexity and interdependence of contemporary policy problems. The inclusion of non-governmental actors in policy-making processes (ideally) involves collaborative decision making and aligning interests of public and private actors. Enabling non-government actors to participate in policy-making processes is expected to increase confidence in and satisfaction with democratic institutions and ideals but instead wide-spread disaffection with democratic institutions and governments seems prevalent. While evidence points to the possibility of gains in satisfaction with democratic institutions at a local level through the application of MLG, it remains unclear whether that can translate into a broader positive effect.