CIAO DATE: 05/2010
March 2010
Governance with/out government has emerged as an alternative or functional equivalent to government. While there seems to be an increasing demand, the promise of governance to compensate for the weakness or failure of government rests on a major premise. Governments have to be strong enough so that non-governmental actors have an incentive to cooperate, and governments are not afraid of being captured. If this premise held, it would result in a serious dilemma for areas of limited statehood: The greater the demand for governance with/out government, the less likely it is to emerge and to be effective, precisely because government is weak. This paper explores to what extent government and statehood are necessary to make governance with/out government work. It discusses various options of how to commit non-governmental actors to the provision of common goods without a shadow of hierarchy cast by government and concludes with suggestions for future research on governance beyond statehood.
Resource link: Governance with/out Government: False Promises or Flawed Premises? [PDF] - 537K