WAS IST UND WOZU GOVERNANCE?

摘要

Sich auf das Governance-Thema einzulassen und dann auch noch mit der Fragestellung „Was ist und wozu Governance?", ist nicht ganz ungefährlich. Dem Begriff Governance haftet - insbesondere bei der „begriffskonservativen Rechtswissenschaft" - das Etikett des Modischen an, und auch in der Politikwissenschaft finden sich Empfehlungen, diesem „notoriously slip-pery"-Konzept mit Vorsicht zu begegnen. Der Governance-Begriff steht aber nicht nur unter Modeverdacht, er wird inzwischen auch nahezu ubi-quitär verwendet, und es ist nicht leicht, hinter all seinen Bedeutungsfacetten und Verwendungskontexten so etwas wie einen konsentierten Begriffs-term zu erkennen.%One of the greatest challenges within the field of administrative law involves finding a consensus for the meaning of the term "governance", a word freighted with an astonishing array of connotations. Part A of this article will explore how the meaning of governance has evolved from the difficulties associated with other concepts, such as steering, management and government. It is therefore crucial to recognise the "hidden" distinctions within the governance field. A narrow understanding of governance, one that excludes hierarchical structures, fails to answer the core question as it exclusively focuses on non-classical modes of governance and cannot explain their interactions with classical bureaucratic administration. For the same reason, it is preferable to keep the analytical focus free of too much normative content. Part B proposes three different conceptualisations of governance, as "structure", ,"mode" and "process". Structure focuses on institutions as opposed to actors. Mode refers to different types of governance instruments, primarily, market, hierarchy, negotiation and networks, as well as the interactions between and among them. Process concerns the inherent dynamics of governance structures. By means of these distinctions, Part C analyses the correlation between different historical and geographical state structures, including different government levels within multilevel arrangements, and various governance types. Part D provides an outline for future research on the public-private "co-production of statehood". Privatisation, hybridisation and transnationalisation of state structures present a wide field of questions to be analysed under the governance paradigm. Finally, Part E argues that the attractiveness of the concept of governance is based mainly on its intermediate position between actors and institutions as well as its interdisciplinary analytical strength. However, the interdisciplinary challenge can only be met by affording the rule of law a more important position in the analysis.