An Actor-Centred Approach to Multi-Level Governance: Expectations of Scotland's Role in Europe

All by themselves? Legislative regions and the use of unmediated access to the European level

“…So far, much of the research that argues that regions interact autonomously with European institutions (without the mediation of the central state) has an empirical focus on distributive policies, most notably regional and cohesion policy (cf. Sloat, 2002). However, structural policy is one of the rare distributive policies of the European Union (EU).…”

“…First, distributive policies differ from regulatory policies in that they have an inherent potential for an enabling impact on regions – they provide resources (Moravcsik, 1994: 53). Second, regional policy makes some form of involvement of regions at the implementing level nearly inevitable, so the policy area represents an ideal case for MLG (Sloat, 2002: 50). Third, the policy is based explicitly on a partnership principle and thus requires the mobilization and inclusion of sub-state actors – which is not the case for other EU policies (cf.…”

“…Second, this interaction will to some extent undermine the authority of central governments (cf. Sloat, 2002: 37–38).…”

Beyond Fires and Deforestation: Tackling Land Subsidence in Peatland Areas, a Case Study from Riau, Indonesia

“…In complex disaster and environmental problems, an actor-centered approach is considered an adequate approach since it puts various and multi-level actors into the center of the debate. This approach may help to understand various factors to deal with problems that originates from various actors [27]. It also considers actors interventions and measures from state and non-state actors as vital in dealing with a problem [28].…”

The Preparation of the Governance White Paper

“…Views were elicited through restricted dialogue with working groups, structured hearings, and wide consultation by questionnaire; spontaneous reactions were conveyed through over 500 e-mails (European Commission, 2001b). The governance team identified five main categories of respondent, each of which held slightly differing conceptions of governance and illustrated the difficulty of rationalising such an amorphous concept (see Sloat, 2002ab). First, regional and local actors requested greater involvement, noted the contrast between political responsibility and active subsidiarity, and cited the cumbersome nature of EU institutions.…”