A Patchwork of Governance for a Complex World

Session Submission Type: Virtual Full Paper Panel

Session Description

This panel examines how different levels of government tackle governance challenges. Our nation is ruled by nested layers of institutions, including states, regional compacts, federal agencies and international organizations. Each paper on the panel examines one of these layers and presents research that compares approaches within the layer. Taken together, the panel demonstrates how a plurality of efforts to create processes for policymaking, corruption management and constitutional governance reveals creative and effective solutions (and likewise identifies less successful endeavors). The panel brings together the studies of state politics, federalism, bureaucratic politics and international relations to emphasize the value of a pluralistic governing approach for addressing complex issues in a transforming world.

The first paper on the panel examines the varying characteristics of state constitutions to better understand how these differences affect meaningful policy and governance outcomes. The second paper investigates the role of interstate compacts in filling governance voids left by the federal government. The third paper uses an original dataset to analyze how the relationships between federal agencies and their advisory committees affect policymaking. Finally, the fourth paper compares how intergovernmental organizations are tackling corruption to promote effective governance and sustainable development. Taken together, the panel highlights the contributions of each level of government toward solving difficult problems in different governing contexts.

Sub Unit

• Division 28: Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations

Individual Presentations

• State Constitutions: Successes and Pitfalls - Jennifer Bachner, Johns Hopkins University; Benjamin Ginsberg, Johns Hopkins University

• Filling the Void: How Interstate Compacts Address National Interests - Kathy Wagner Hill, Johns Hopkins University

• Speaking Truth to Bureaucracies - Collin Paschall, Johns Hopkins University; Benjamin Ginsberg, Johns Hopkins University

• Applying International Anti-Corruption Criteria to the U.S. - Sarah O'Byrne, Johns Hopkins University

Chair

• Jennifer Bachner Johns Hopkins University

Discussant

• Dorothea Israel Wolfson Johns Hopkins University