The multi-level governance imperative

Abstract

Governments are facing increasingly complex policy challenges, ranging from climate change, demographic pressures, rising inequalities and discontent, to the global health crisis that countries are presently confronting. Successful responses require more integrated approaches to policy making at all levels of government, so that economic, social and environmental actions reinforce each other rather than compete. They also require effective coordination across levels of government to manage shared responsibilities, mutual dependence and common challenges. This commentary highlights the progress in the multi-level governance concept since its first use, and focuses on some current dynamics driving multi-level governance, in particular the trend towards differentiated subnational governance. It then highlights that the way multi-level governance systems are designed has a direct impact on policy outcomes, hence the imperative to strengthen multi-level governance systems. The commentary offers insight into how the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is tacking this imperative to best support countries in their development processes.

COVID-19 related policies: The role of environmental concern in understanding citizens’ preferences

“…The results of this study offer interesting implications for public management. Overall, policy-makers might exploit the results revealed by our study in order to achieve a more integrated approach to policy-making where economic, health, altruistic, and environmental actions reinforce each other rather than compete among each other ( Allain-Dupré, 2020 ). In times of crisis, such as the one we are currently experiencing, people tend to behave more selfishly and they prioritize economic and health policies that have an immediate effect on their person, instead of pursuing more altruistic approaches that benefit society as a whole ( Margalit, 2013 ).…”

“…Additionally, the resource capacity on the part of nations has been forced to prioritize between supporting social- and health-oriented policies and protecting the economic system. Therefore, an appropriate combination of both types of policies and their associated measures have been shown to be an important antecedent of the successful management of the pandemic ( Allain-Dupré, 2020 ; Haug et al, 2020 ). Policymakers thus have to deal with many different interests, but citizens' acceptance of long-term altruistic policies may be crucial to achieve a more inclusive and sustainable economy and society after the crisis of COVID-19.…”

Social data governance: Towards a definition and model

“…Further studies should expand the model by integrating different scales of, or multilevel, governance (e.g. Allain-Dupré, 2020) that would further examine and identify additional dimensions or variables in the model across different contexts. Third, our comparative analysis is fundamentally based on, and thereby limited by, selected cases with data in English.…”

“…Among many issues, intriguingly, the adoption of a range of digital contact-tracing solutions as epidemiological surveillance, control, and governance strategies has stimulated disparate responses across the globe (for a review, see Akinbi et al, 2021). Concerns that such adoption is “an intrusion on civil liberties” (Bengio et al, 2020: e343) that could trample the right to privacy and data protection have sparked stern criticism and resulted in the slow uptake of contact-tracing apps in countries such as France, the United States (Chan and Saqib, 2021), and Italy (Elkhodr et al, 2021). In contrast, societies such as Taiwan and South Korea have witnessed overwhelming public support for the use—even when it is mandatory—of extensive and fastidious contact-tracing measures to mitigate the public health impact of the pandemic (Akinbi et al, 2021).…”

From ‘de jure’ to ‘de facto’ decentralised public policies: The multi-level governance approach

“…This work features in recent publications which discuss the assignment of responsibilities and how to improve the working of decentralisation. In recent years, the OECD has focused extensively on some current dynamics driving MLG, in particular the trend towards differentiated subnational governance, and has argued that the way MLG systems are designed has an impact on policy outcomes, hence the imperative to strengthen MLG systems (Allain-Dupré, 2018; Allain-Dupré, 2020; OECD, 2019a).…”