What is it about?
The article is a case study of Sweden, characterized by a decentralized and collaborative crisis management system, that have implemented and managed a national Security communications system (SCS). The new system was thought to contribute to improved communication among security and crisis managers. I evaluate this effort as a case of meta-governance understood as effort to facilitate collaboration between multiple organizations. Secure and safe communications are considered to be one important success factor in collaborative crisis management but what happens when the management of if mixes the styles and logic of networks, markets and hierarchy to promote and manage collaboration.
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Why is it important?
Contrary to common belief and previous studies, I find in my study that each of the governance style of hierarchical, market and network oriented governance is based on their own inherent rationality. Thus, rather than working as complement to each other, these different styles of governance can in combination create substantial deadlocks, mistrust and give way for substantial governance failure. I suggest that a more fundamental understanding of the specific nature of networks is warranted.
Perspectives
Network governance is characterized by a discourse of best practices, voluntary engagement, knowledge utilization, deliberation, and emancipation, and it grants important roles to civil society organizations in public policy making. There is, I believe an urgent need to further theorize and specify how power and governance are related to each other. This should be carried out with the recognition of that network governance entails a substantial refurnishing of political spaces within the state and the rationality of network governance is not always applicable, especially not in security and crisis management, or compatible with markets and hierarchical governance.
Oscar Larsson
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Meta-Governance and Collaborative Crisis Management-Competing Rationalities in the Management of the Swedish Security Communications System, Risk Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy, August 2017, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1002/rhc3.12120.
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