Université de Poitiers, France, November 15-17, 2012.

CFP deadline: April 15, 2012

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

Organized by the Universities of Poitiers (MIMMOC), Caen (ERIBIA), Paris Ouest Nanterre (CREA) and the University of Maine (3L. AM) Le Mans.

Université de Poitiers, Maison des Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société, November 15-17, 2012.

CALL FOR PAPERS 

"Who governs in the Americas and in Europe?"

At the beginning of the 1960s, a controversy about the nature of domestic American political power opposed C. Wright Mills author of The Power Elite (1956) and Robert A. Dahl, Professor of Political Science at Yale University. C. Wright Mills, a radical sociologist, suggested that the American democratic system was merely an illusion. According to him, power was confiscated by an elite consisting of a restricted social group where financial, military and political interests formed an intertwined closed systemthat he called “the Power Elite” in his famous book. Robert Dahl countered, from the so-called 'pluralist' perspective, arguing that in a democracy, decision-making bodies are far from being monolithic and that elites are not homogenous. In his book, Who Governs? Dahl defines the American democratic system as a 'polyarchy' where the separation of powers is the rule, and where political power is split between the different competing dominant groups seeking to have their choices and ideas accepted and implemented. The point he made then predated the emergence of the notion of 'governance' which has become more widely used since the 1990s. The notion of “governance”, which was initially used to designate the way in which a government exercises its economic, political and administrative powers and manages its resources and development, was subsequently extended to cover other areas. This explains why the concept has been widely used by theoreticians of public policy, political scientists and sociologists. In fact, “Governance” serves as a means to legitimize political processes, the relationship between political institutions and the body politic, and their inter-relations and the relations between society and the different economic actors. It is a theory of social regulation that can be applicable at all levels of government, hence the genesis of the term local governance, urban governance, territorial governance, European governance, world governance. The notion is also applied to non-state organizations in the local, national and international arenas.

Critics of this notion denounce it as the ideological underpinnings of the 1980s neo-liberalism that continues to weaken the Welfare State. It is for this reason that some academics see “governance” as a theoretical justification for the 'dismantling' of the State. They denounce the replacement of the term 'government' by that of “governance”, explaining that the new term indicates the diminishing of the decision-making powers of the State as a guarantor of popular sovereignty in favor of a “participatory democracy” which has no real political attributes. For the latter, the shift from government to governance demonstrates the existence of a transition from a culture of popular sovereignty enshrined in republican law, the guarantor of the public interest, to a pragmatic and utilitarian society, that safeguards special economic interests, where the notion of the common good has become irrelevant.  

Thus, the notion of governance remains within the contours of the debate started by C. Wright Mills and Robert A. Dahl on the nature of power. The debate is far from over. The question now is to determine whether the passage from the notion of 'government' to that of 'governance' is indicative of a mere semantic modification or rather implies a major ideological shift. Is governance really grounded in 'responsibility', 'transparency', the 'rule of law' and 'participation' as its proponents maintain or does it lead instead to the erosion of the notion of public good to the benefit of that of private interests embodied in the activities of lobbies and other special interest groups? Does the splintering of decision-making centers and the multiplication of actors involved in the elaboration and the implementation of public policies lead to the emergence of a real participatory democracy or does it on the contrary contribute to the weakening of public authorities, the sole and unique guarantors of the equality of all citizens before the law? Sheldon Wolin’s theory that 'democracy incorporated' has led to new forms of totalitarianism can also be of a reference (Democracy Incorporated; Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism,2008).

These questions and many others are key to the main issues to be discussed in the conference.

This multidisciplinary conference will be of interest to specialists in a variety of fields, including but not limited to, political science, sociology, cultural studies, area studies, history and others. In addition to political philosophy and theory, papers with a country-specific or comparative studies’ focus are equally welcome.

Languages: French and English.

Proposals (maximum 500 words, with a short CV) should be sent by 15 April 2012. Accepted papers will be notified by 15 June 2012.

Contacts: Salah OUESLATI (salah.oueslati@univ-poitiers.fr )

Pierre GUERLAIN (pierre.guerlain@u-paris10.fr)

Taoufik DJEBALI (taoufikd@gmail.com )

Eliane ELMALEH (eliane.elmaleh@univ-lemans.fr)