Governance Framework

Governance is about in line with ways in which society develop decisions-making in regard of collective problems, the ways they create norms, rules, and institutions. In policy research, governance has become an important focus of attention; but debates show a lack of clarity at the conceptual level and a confusion between the use of the concept for prescriptive and analytical purposes. In a governance framework the rational is based on the hypothesis that using a clarified, non-normative governance perspective in policy research can contribute to an improved understanding of political processes, including formal and unrecognised ones, those embedded in larger and smaller social systems, as well as both vertical and horizontal political arrangements(1). The analysis is the result of a collaborative engagement with the concept of governance within several networks, leading to the development of the Governance Analytical Framework (GAF). The GAF is a practical methodology for investigating governance processes, based on five analytical tools: problems, actors, social norms, processes, and nodal points. The conceptual sources and analytical purpose of these five tools, presents examples of how the GAF can be operationalised.

 

Keywords: Governance, governance processes, social norms, institutions, nodal points

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(1): Hufty, Marc, Investigating Policy Processes: The Governance Analytical Framework (GAF) (2011). RESEARCH FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: FOUNDATIONS, EXPERIENCES, AND PERSPECTIVES,