The commentary returns to the beginning of the career of multilevel governance as a distinct perspective on the European Union and European integration. At the time, multilevel governance allowed a generation of students to overcome the stylised debates between Liberal Intergovernmentalism and Neofunctionalism on how to best capture the ‘nature of the beast’. At the same time, multilevel governance still privileged the role of public authorities over economic and societal actors. While subsequent studies broadened the focus to include the social partners or public interest groups, Hooghe and Marks have retained their public authority bias. The commentary argues that the focus on multilevel government rather than multilevel governance has increased the scope or applicability of Hooghe and Marks’ approach, both within the European Union and beyond. At the same time, the government bias has prevented the multilevel governance approach from unlocking its full explanatory potential.
AcharyaAJohnstonAI (2007) Conclusion: Institutional features, cooperation effects and the agenda for further research on comparative regionalism. In:AcharyaAJohnstonAI (eds) Crafting Cooperation: Regional International Institutions in Comparative Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.244–278.
2.
AndersonJ (1990) Sceptical reflections on a Europe of the regions: Britain, Germany, and the ERDF. Journal of Public Policy10(4): 417–447.
3.
AnsellC (2000) The networked polity: Regional development in Western Europe. Governance13(3): 303–333.
4.
BachDC (1999) Regionalisation in Africa: Integration and Disintegration. London: Routledge.
5.
BachDC (2003) New regionalism as an alias: Regionalization through trans-state-networks. In:GrantJASöderbaumF (eds) The New Regionalism in Africa. Aldershot: Ashgate, pp.21–30.
6.
BacheIFlindersM (eds) (2004) Multi-Level Governance. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
7.
BachtlerJMendezC (2007) Who governs EU cohesion policy? Deconstructing the reforms of the structural funds. Journal of Common Market Studies45(3): 535–564.
8.
BauerMWBörzelTA (2010) Regions and the EU. In:EnderleinHWältiSZürnM (eds) Handbook on Multilevel Governance. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp.253–263.
9.
BickertonCJHodsonDPuetterU (2015) The new intergovernmentalism: European integration in the post-Maastricht era. Journal of Common Market Studies53(4): 703–722.
10.
BolleyerNBörzelTA (2010) Non-hierarchical policy coordination in multilevel systems. European Political Science Review2(2): 157–185.
11.
BörzelTA (2010) European governance: Negotiation and competition in the shadow of hierarchy. Journal of Common Market Studies48(2): 191–219.
12.
BörzelTAHösliM (2003) Brussels between Bern and Berlin: Comparative federalism meets the European Union. Governance16(2): 179–202.
13.
BörzelTARisseT (eds) (2016) The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Regionalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
14.
BörzelTARisseT (2019) Grand theories of integration and the challenge of comparative regionalism. Journal of European Public Policy21(8): 261231–261252.
15.
BörzelTARisseT (2020) Effective Governance under Anarchy: Institutions, Legitimacy, and Social Trust in Areas of Limited Statehood. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
16.
CaporasoJA (1996) The European Union and forms of the state: Westphalia, regulatory, or post-modern?Journal of Common Market Studies34(1): 29–52.
17.
CaporasoJA (1997) Does the European Union Represent an n of 1?ECSA Review10: 1–5.
18.
EberleinBKerwerD (2004) New governance in the European Union: A theoretical perspective. Journal of Common Market Studies42(1): 121–142.
19.
EnderleinHWältiSZürnM, et al. (2010) Handbook on Multilevel Governance. Aldershot: Edward Elgar.
20.
HaasEB (1958) The Uniting of Europe: Political, Social, and Economic Forces 1950-1957. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
21.
HartmannC (2016) Sub-Sahara Africa. In:BörzelATRisseT (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Regionalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.271–294.
22.
HéritierARhodesM (eds) (2010) New Modes of Governance in Europe: Governing in the Shadow of Hieararchy. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.
23.
HettneBSöderbaumF (2000) Theorising the rise of regionness. New Political Economy5(3): 457–474.
24.
HixS (1998) The study of the European Union II: The ‘new governance’ agenda and its revival. Journal of European Public Policy5(1): 38–65.
25.
HoffmannS (1966) Obstinate or obsolete? The fate of the nation-state and the case of Western Europe. Daedalus95(3): 865–921.
26.
HoffmannS (1982) Reflections on the nation-state in Western Europe today. Journal of Common Market Studies20(1-2): 21–37.
27.
HoogheL (ed.) (1996) Cohesion Policy and European Integration: Building Multi-Level Governance. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
28.
HoogheLMarksG (2001) Multi-Level Governance and European Integration. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
29.
HoogheLLenzTMarksG (2019) Community, Scale and International Organization. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
30.
HoogheLMarksGLenzT, et al. (2017) Measuring International Authority: A Postfunctionalist Theory of Governance, vol. 3. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
31.
JachtenfuchsM (1997) Conceptualizing European governance. In:JörgensenKE (ed.) Reflective Approaches to European Governance. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp.39–50.
32.
JetschkeAKatadaSN (2016) Asia. In:BörzelATRisseT (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Regionalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.235–248.
33.
KatzensteinPJShiraishiT (eds) (1997) Network Power: Japan and Asia. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
34.
KelemenRD (2004) The Rules of Federalism, Institutions and Regulatory Politics in the EU and beyond. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
35.
Kohler-KochB (ed.) (1998) Interaktive Politik in Europa: Regionen im Netzwerk der Integration. Opladen: Leske + Budrich.
36.
Kohler-KochB (1996) Catching up with change: The transformation of governance in the European Union. Journal of European Public Policy3(3): 359–380.
37.
Kohler-KochB (1999) The evolution and transformation of European governance. In:Kohler-KochBEisingR (eds) The Transformation of Governance in the European Union. London: Routledge, pp.14–35.
38.
Kohler-KochBJachtenfuchsM (1996) Regieren in der Europäischen Union: Fragestellungen für eine interdisziplinäre Europaforschung. Politische Vierteljahresschrift37(3): 537–556.
39.
Kohler-KochBRittbergerB (2006) The ‘governance turn’ in EU studies. Journal of Common Market Studies44(1): 27–49.
40.
Kohler-KochBLaratF (eds) (2009) European Multi-Level Governance: Contrasting Images in National Research. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
41.
KooimanJ (ed.) (1993) Modern Governance: New Government-Society Interactions. London: SAGE Publishing.
42.
MarksG (1992) Structural policy in the European community. In: SbragiaA (ed.) Europolitics: Institutions and Policymaking in the New European Community. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, pp.191–224.
43.
MarksG (1993) Structural policy and multilevel governance in the European community. In:CafrunyARosenthalG (eds) The State of the European Community II: Maastricht Debates and Beyond. Boulder. CO: Lynne Riener, pp.391–410.
44.
MilwardAS (1992) The European Rescue of the Nation-State. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
45.
MoravcsikA (1991) Negotiating the single European act: National interests and conventional statecraft in the European community. International Organization45(1): 19–56.
46.
MoravcsikA (1998) The Choice for Europe: Social Purpose and State Power from Rome to Maastricht. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
47.
RhodesRAW (1997) Understanding Governance: Policy Networks, Governance, Reflexivity and Accountability. Buckingham; Philadelphia, PA: Open University Press.
48.
Risse-KappenT (1996) Exploring the nature of the beast: International relations theory and comparative policy analysis meet the European Union. Journal of Common Market Studies34(1): 53–80.
49.
SandholtzWSweetAS (eds) (1998) European Integration and Supranational Governance. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
50.
SbragiaA (1993) The European community: A balancing act. Publius23(3): 23–38.
51.
ScharpfFW (1988) The joint-decision trap: Lessons from German federalism and European integration. Public Administration66(3): 239–278.
52.
SchoutAJordanA (2005) Coordinated European governance: Self-organizing or centrally steered?Public Administration83(1): 201–220.
53.
SchulzMSöderbaumFÖjendalJ (2001a) Introduction: A framework for understanding regionalization. In:SchulzMSöderbaumFÖjendalJ (eds) Regionalization in a Globalizing World: A Comparative Perspective on Forms, Actors and Processes. London; New York: ZED Books, pp.1–21.
54.
SchulzMSöderbaumFÖjendalJ, et al. (2001b) Regionalization in a Globalizing World: A Comparative Perspective on Forms, Actors and Processes. London; New York: ZED Books.
55.
SöderbaumF (2012) Formal and informal regionalism. In:ShawTMGrantJACornelissenS (eds) The Ashgate Research Companion to Regionalisms. Aldershote: Ashgate, pp.51–67.
56.
WallaceW (1983) Less than a federation, more than a regime: The community as a political system. In:WallaceHWallaceWWebbC (eds) Policy-Making in the European Community. Chichester: John Willey & Sons, pp.43–80.
57.
ZürnM (this issue) Unraveling multilevel governance systems. British Journal of Politics and International Relations.
