Bulletin n. 2/2015
September 2015
CONTENTS
  • Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government
  • Section B) Global governance and international organizations
  • Section C) Regional integration processes
  • Section D) Federalism as a political idea
    • Terhalle Maximilian
    Warum das Governance-Axiom gescheitert ist – eine notwendige Kritik
    in Zeitschrift für Politik , Jahrgang 62, Heft 3, 2015 ,  2015 ,  263-288
    Abstract The so-called governance turn has been widely accepted by German IR. The concept’s underlying assumptions, however, have turned out to be misleading. Why? Because questions both in regard to balance-of-power and normative aspects of managing the global order have prematurely been disregarded during the ongoing re-negotiations of the foundations of the order. Ironically, all of this has occurred despite the widely believed predominance of the governance paradigm, which is why the era of the governance turn may now come to an end. In fact, it might already have turned into a Lakatosian obstacle to progress in research. A conceptual analysis of the governance turn powerfully confirms this. Following a brief discussion of the key contributions of distinguished scholars (e.g. Risse, Zürn), three assumptions underlying (and connecting) their research agendas on governance have been identified that need to be problematized: its social purpose, the role of great powers in it and leadership in global governance. In line with the diffusion of global power, Chinese perspectives were integrated in the analysis. The third section addressed two influential German research traditions that might further hinder any developments towards reforming existing schools of thinking in IR (e.g. regime theory, Habermasian theory of communication). The conclusion briefly hints at the notion of »global order«, which might require much more attention in the years to come. Otherwise, German IR will remain trapped in a constraining set of assumptions introduced some 20 years ago.
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