State-Centric vs. Multi-Level Governance (summary of Marks; Hooghe; Blank: 1996) + additional ideas & comments

Reflecting on from political (nationalist) parties nowadays often asked question "Democracy or European Integration?" the processes going on within the European arena from the 80ties on might give a hint on the basic theories or ideologies that led to this dominant assumption. What are theories that represent a stronger state perspective or a shared, collective power?

Many articles can be found online where actors ask things like: “EU: is Britain still a sovereign state?" (see below for link) and that discussion leads us right into conceptualizing these two theories of governance in European Union policy making process.

What is state-centric governance?

European Integration shouldn't challenge the autonomy of nation states. Supranational actors exist to fist, aid member states and second, to share information and come up with basic arguments. The policy outcomes show the interests and relative power of the member states. States are seen as ultimate decision makers which have individual and collective control over outcomes. No one is forced to integrate themselves deeper than they want. The actors are state executives and they come together in a European arena.

What is multi-level governance?

The authority and policy making influence is shared across multiple levels (which are subnational, national and supranational level). Through multi-level governance bits of direct control and authority slipped away from member states; it means the modes of political control over things have changed. There is a basis for collective decision making. EU Integration has weakened the states as they don't have any longer a monopoly over the policy arena. European Parliament, European Commission and the European Court are independent, supranational institutions which have an influence in policy making. States do not any longer monopolize the links between domestic and European actors but they are still an integral and powerful part of the EU.

Policy making in the EU from a state-centric and multi-level governance perspective:

Policy making in the EU: policy initiation → decision making → implementation → adjudication.
(see ordinary legislative procedure based on community method)

State-centric model: There is a pattern of state executives that dominate policy making. European Institutions should be controlled by states. National governments should and are maintaining sovereignty and control the mobilization process of supranational interests.

Multi-level governance model: The European Council and the Council of Ministers have shared decision authority with supranational institutions. The individual state must decide collectively with others to deliver the outcomes they wish. The mobilization of supranational interests happens in the political arena/ the European Union as public space and pressures state executives.

What benefits and challenges might there be for choosing a multi-level governance perspective?Are states/national governments nowadays the key actors in European Union decision making, should they be?

If your personal answer to that question is maybe and no, then a multi-level governance perspective might be helpful. But many argue that nation states are still the key actors of the Union: “the EU is far from a unified state and far from a satisfactory Europe-wide democratic order, while substantial sovereignty still remains with the EU's member governments" (Global Policy Forum 2015).

A huge benefit of this perspective is that in the long term, political decisions agreed on -in different European levels where nation states are not the key actors, would limit short term actions of national actors that have in mind their own benefits and voting cycle. Yes, states are powerful institutions and they emerged due to good reasons and they have control over people in their territory, but what about goals that a larger community has, what about unpopular decisions or topics like environmental goals that might not be tackled by national parties? The European Union is at a point where it needs to be an active global actor as well, as normative power would many argue and this role might not be identifiable when a state-centric model would be favored.

The questions that came up when thinking about those two dominant positions was as so often more a discussion on basic principles, values and visions about societies, individuals living within a territory (EU) that could be utopian. Like on the national level people or groups on the European level follow different ideologies and goals. But it seems like a new polity emerged that can no longer be explained only by state-centric theories.

Are State-centric and multi-level governance the only appearing modes of governance within the EU?

Remembering a book I once red, Policies and Policy Processes of the European Union (Buonanno, Laurie; Nugent, Neill: 2013), I know that there are in fact other modes of governance. Supranational centralization, intensive transgovernmentalism or the so called “new modes of governance”. When thinking in general about the European Integration process, one will see that the beginning definitely was based on state-centric ideas, following modes in which states cooperated more- maybe intensive transgovernmentalism, then multi-level governance and even later supranational centralization and new modes of governance could have followed. But even if this assumption is wrong about the evolving process of governance models I think it is important that all those modes are still part of the practice and especially those theories that decrease state control are not met completely in their constellation and goals. State-centric and multi-level governance are probably just the two extremes on a range of far more modes of governance and therefore important to be informed about.

Sources:

This blog post (summary) is largely based on Marks, Gary; Hooghe, Liesbet; Blank, Kermit (1996): European Integration from the 1980s: StateCentric Vs. Multi-Level Governance. In: Journal of Common Market Studies 34, 3 (1996): 341-378.

Global Policy Forum 2015: Political Integration and National Sovereignty. https://www.globalpolicy.org/nations-a-states/political-integration-and-national-sovereignty-3-22.html [access: 10.3.2015]

Example of media representation mentioned in the beginning:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/6198513/EU-is-Britain-still-a-sovereign-state.html