"Interactive governance: Regions in the network of European politics"

Kohler-Koch, Beate. (1997) "Interactive governance: Regions in the network of European politics". In European Union Studies Association (EUSA) > Biennial Conference > 1997 (5th), May 29-June 1, 1997, pages 37, Seattle, WA.

Abstract

This paper presents in a condensed version the theoretical approach, the research outline and the main findings of a collaborative research project on the resurgence of territorial politics in Europe. It starts from the assumption that regionalization, i.e. the growing importance attributed to regions, is part of an encompassing restructuring of political space. There is an interdependent process of regionalization and Europeanization which might not just end up in a more complex system of multilevel governance but produce a transformation of the prevalent mode of governance. What we are interested in is the kind of bottom-up institutional change that comes about by the intentional or unintended action of a multitude of decentralized actors and that rests on the dissemination of shared concepts of appropriate and legitimate governance.