Good governance beyond Europe's borders
In European thinking, good governance means a way of inviting social participation in policymaking and reinforcing institution-building. The concept is regarded as a 'soft norm'; previous EU research has studied such norms in terms of expanding the federation. The EU-funded EUTRANSGOV (Transferring good governance in the EU's neighbourhood) project examined diffusion of norms across the EU's borders. Specifically, the study identified successful and unsuccessful case studies reflecting EU external relations. Three goals included: clarifying the concept of policy transfer; providing an analytical framework; and enhancing knowledge on the transfer of good governance outside the EU. Researchers achieved the first goal via library research, the results of which were presented at various meetings and workshops. A reworked version of the project's analytical framework was published in a major European political journal. Other work formed the basis of a book. The second goal involved presentation of the project's analytical framework and methodology at several gatherings. The team published the results in a special issue of a French political journal. The remaining goal consisted of a literature review concerning good governance, plus data collection via interviews. The results became the basis of teaching activities and conference presentations. Creation of a new research group also helped promote the transfer of knowledge. Other results include additional presentations, policy papers and miscellaneous other publications. Dissemination was targeted at academics, decision makers and the general public. The EUTRANSGOV project developed the topic of norms relating to good governance. Such work may apply to EU expansion.
Keywords
Good governance, policy transfer, soft norm, EU's borders
