Experiencing Multi-Level Meta-Governance

Abstract

This article analyses the outcome of dividing the meta-governor role among various levels of governance and describes local actors' experiences under multiple meta-governors. The empirical case presented here involves Danish local action groups in contemporary EU Rural Development and Fisheries programmes. This article takes its theoretical point of departure from the four types of meta-governance that Sørensen identified. The data analysed are derived from a survey sent to all Danish local action group board members and coordinators. The article demonstrates that authorities at the sub-national level in the context of multi-level meta-governance engage in various types of activities and identifies important differences between board members' and coordinators' perceptions of meta-governance.

Key Words:

• Multi-level meta-governance
• self-governance
• local action groups

Notes

1. LEADER is an acronym for the French term, Liaisons Entre Actions de Développement de l'Economie Rurale (links between actions for the development of the rural economy).

2. The Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries’ speech at the regional meeting in Skørping, 25 January 2007.

3. Board members are elected to 2-year terms.

4. Up to €40,000 has been earmarked for the appointment of a coordinator in the outskirts and in rural municipalities, and up to €20,000 has been allocated for the appointment of a coordinator in the intermediate municipalities. These amounts, however, must not in total exceed 20% of the budget of the action groups (MFAF 2007a, § 15). In the fisheries areas, a maximum of 10% of the total budget may be earmarked for administration, including a coordinator (MFAF 2007b, § 15).

5. The local government reform reduced the number of municipalities from 271 to 98 and the number of regions from 14 to five. Consequences of this could be that the municipalities and regions have felt a need to profile their new organisations on the rural development arena in 2007 and 2008.

6. In 2008, at the time of the survey, 55 LAGs existed. However, the final number of LAGs in Denmark is 57.

7. The basic characteristics of the respondents were described by Thuesen (2010). The respondents are mostly male, their average age and their educational level is high and a large percentage is self-employed.

8. In terms of expenditure, the municipalities’ share of public expenditure was to increase from 46 per cent to 48 per cent after the local government reform in 2007. The regions’ share of public expenditure was to drop from 14 per cent to 9 per cent. State expenditure was to increase from 40 per cent to 43 per cent (going to the police, defence, the legal system, higher education and research, etc.) (ISM 2006).