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Drawing on different theories of democracy, this article distinguishes three dimensions of democratic legitimacy: political accountability, voice, and due deliberation. The article operationalizes each form of democratic legitimacy and then looks at how these various forms influence the outcomes in governance networks. The authors test this with a survey conducted in the first half of 2010 among respondents in environmental projects/water management projects ( n = 166). The analysis shows that democratic legitimacy in general has a significant positive effect on outcomes in governance networks and that voice and due deliberation have a much stronger impact than political accountability.

Urban regeneration companies (URCs) are public‐private entities appearing across Europe. They are created specifically to manage and implement more effectively urban regeneration projects. Core ideas behind the establishment of these newly emerging partnerships aim to tackle the challenging process of restructuring these organizations so as to function at arm's length from political oversight. However, contemporary literature on governance suggests that organizational form may be less a factor than managerial capability. Using survey data obtained from individuals who are heavily involved in Dutch urban regeneration partnerships, this article points out why twin URC organizational characteristics, i.e., functioning at arm's length from politics plus its tight organizational format, are not significant to their effective performance. Instead, use of multiple management strategies is ultimately more relevant to their effective performance.

This paper investigates the relationship between representative democracy and governance networks at a theoretical level. It does so by offering four conjectures and their implications for theory and practice. The incompatibility conjectures rests on the primacy of politics and sees governance networks as a threat. The complementarity conjecture presents governance networks as a means of enabling greater participation in the policy process and sensitivity in programme implementation. The transitional conjecture posits a wider evolution of governance forms towards network relationships. The instrumental conjecture views governance networks as a powerful means through which dominant interests can achieve their goals. Illustrative implications for theory and practice are identified, in relation to power in the policy process, the public interest, and the role of public managers. The heuristic potential of the conjectures is demonstrated through the identification of an outline research agenda.

This article explores some theoretical notions of trust in complex interorganizational networks, especially public-private partnerships. The article begins with a theoretical exploration of the value of trust in complex interorganizational processes. Next, the role of trust in a public-private partnership "Sijtwende" is analyzed. The authors analyze the cooperation process and the organizational arrangements that have been used, as well as the outcomes thus far. They then trace the existence and development of trust in these processes and their influence on the process and outcomes. The authors close with some preliminary conclusions and hypotheses on the manageability of trust.

Initiatives to encourage & stimulate the involvement of citizens but also various societal organizations in decision making can be seen in a wide variety of European countries. Citizen panels, citizen charters, new types of participation, & other forms are being used to increase the influence of citizens on decision making & to improve the relation between citizens & elected politicians. In the Netherlands a lot of local governments have experimented with interactive decision making that is enhancing the influence of citizens & interest groups on public policy making. The main motives to involve stakeholders in interactive decision making are to diminish the veto power of various societal actors by involving them in decision making, improve the quality of decision making by using the information & solutions of various actors, & bridge the perceived growing cleavage between citizens & elected politicians. In this article six cases are evaluated. The cases are compared on three dimensions: the nature & organization of participation, the way the process is managed (process management), & the relation with formal democratic institutions. These organizational features (in terms of both formal organization & actual performance) are compared with the results of the decision-making processes in the six cases. The article shows that the high expectations of interactive decision making are not always met. It also shows that managing the interactions -- called process management in network theory -- is very important for achieving satisfactory outcomes. Tables, Appendixes, References. Adapted from the source document.