François Mathieu-Poupeau
Analyzing Multi-Level Governance
PUG, 2017, 262 p.
Who governs this polycentric world? A unique synthesis to better understand public action, based on the different political and administrative levels that comprise it.
The establishment of new public facilities, development choices, the management of public services, institutional reforms (decentralization, transformation of local government, development of inter-municipal cooperation), the implementation of public policies, etc. Our daily lives are punctuated by decisions that involve actors from distinct but interdependent political spheres (local authorities, the State, the European Union).
This multiplicity of actors and centers of power can leave us feeling helpless when we seek to understand public action, assign responsibility, exercise our rights and duties as citizens, or defend a cause that is important to us. Aimed at a wide readership (students, researchers, practitioners, and ordinary citizens), this book seeks to shed light on these issues by providing an overview of the main theoretical approaches that have focused on the analysis of multi-level institutional relations.
François-Mathieu Poupeau is a CNRS researcher at the Laboratoire Techniques, Territoires et Sociétés (LATTS, Université Paris-Est). He also teaches at the École des Ponts.