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- Title
“New Governance” and Associative Pluralism: The Case of Drug Policy in Swiss Cities.
- Authors
Wälti, Sonja; Kübler, Daniel
- Abstract
Throughout the 1990s, hierarchical administrative governance structures have been replaced by self-governing networks for various motives, one of which is to improve the authenticity and democratic quality of public decisions. Thus, “new governance” has been praised for its propensity to provide a plurality of civil society organizations with access to the decision process. This article explores these claims based on the case of drug policy in Swiss cities. We show that self-governing networks indeed seem to have increased the involvement of civil society organizations in the policy process. However, we also find evidence that self-governing networks may in the longer run induce state control over civil society organizations, thus ultimately reducing associative pluralism. They do so either by imposing a policy paradigm or by excluding actors who do not comply with the dominant paradigm from the networks. We conclude by arguing that self-organizing networks should not be dismissed, given that former hierarchical bureaucratic approaches to drug-related problems have failed even worse. Rather, their long-term effects should be subject to further examination aimed at developing adequate responses to their shortcomings.
- Subjects
SWITZERLAND; PHARMACEUTICAL policy; PLURALISM; STATE supervision over local government
- Publication
Policy Studies Journal, 2003, Vol 31, Issue 4, p499
- ISSN
0190-292X
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/1541-0072.00040