Meta-governors and their Influence on Network Functioning

This study examines the roles of meta-governors in a European city network and their relation to network functioning. It builds upon the concepts of governance networks and meta-governance and relates different strategies of meta-governance to factors for network functioning. The case-study of the city network “Eurocities” reveals that meta-governance takes place at different network levels. The context in which meta-governors act seems to influence the choice of meta-governance strategies. Moreover, meta-governance is not confined to one actor. Several meta-governors can exist at the same time. Internal and external actors may be dominant meta-governors, possibly with differing roles. Meta-governing activities are found to affect the network functioning in relation to factors including relationships, conflicts, trust, creation of common goals, shared meaning & common action. The study suggests that more than one meta-governance strategy can affect the same factor of functioning simultaneously. Different meta-governance strategies may be combined to influence network functioning.