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Linking National and International Administrations – Structures and Coordination (LINK)

Assuming that international public administrations (IPAs) act within a multilevel administrative structure, this sub-project focuses on the relationships between international and national administrations. This perspective is based on the observation that emerging patterns of global governance evolve and operate in close interaction with national institutions of government, particularly public bureaucracies. As a consequence, the effects of administrative policy-making are felt across many levels, and international administrations should be organised accordingly, establishing appropriate linkage structures with national administrations. It is the aim of the research project to identify distinct patterns of multilevel administration and to explain the evolution and change of particular patterns for selected cases. In addition, it will attempt to reveal how national and international administrations coordinate their policies.

During the first research phase, patterns in multilevel administrations will be identified through empirical research. Based on theoretical concepts of multilevel governance, a typology of inter-administrative relations will be elaborated. Empirical research will be conducted to test the appropriateness of this typology and to map the existing patterns of IPAs. Based on comparative case studies of the histories of selected international organisations, the existence and evolution of specific types of multilevel administration will be explained.

In the second phase, research will focus on the modes and effects of coordination in multilevel administrations. Based on theories of multilevel policy-making, this phase seeks to discover the exact mechanisms of coordination in public administration and the conditions affecting their operation.

Team

Link

http://www.politikwissenschaft.tu-darmstadt.de/index.php?id=3361