Introduction: Conceptual elements

Governance-as opposed to government-defines the phenomenon of societal problems (in our case water) appearing to be too interlinked, too complex, but also too overwhelming for any single nation-state to address them alone. Multi-level or simply multi-governance relates to the fact that such problems need to be tackled simultaneously at all relevant policy levels, i.e., from the local via the regional and the national to the supranational levels, and that these levels further need to be interconnected. For the purpose of defining a concept of multigovernance, case studies of the governance of four river basins have been conducted following a single conceptual framework. The basis of this conceptual framework is set in general terms in the introduction and then discussed and further developed in the conclusion that focuses on transboundary river basin governance. The conceptual framework developed in this book builds on the analysis of the process of globalization, which has already-and independently of any particular issue-altered the way in which traditional politics works. This process has touched upon the way in which the State operates and is involved simultaneously both of the level above and below the nation-state, together with nongovernmental actors. The term governance therefore emerges as the concept that allows one to reconceptualize this changing role and functioning of politics. As such, "governance" defines a function-i.e., the function of collectively solving societal problems-, as opposed to government (local, national, and to a limited extent international), which defines a structure. In other words, this chapter, which is structured into four sections, aims precisely at doing this, i.e., defining how collective problem-solving is best conceptualized once the nation-state is considered to be too limited to warrant results. In the first section of this chapter, we will present the implications of globalization on the nation-state. The argument, here, is that the nation-state is undergoing substantial changes as a result of globalization and that, therefore, governance emerges as a new phenomenon in order to solve collective problems, especially in the case of transboundary water issues and river basins. In the second section, we will discuss the two currently dominant theories in the area of governance of resources, namely regime theory and Common Property Resources Management Theory. The third section will then introduce the issue of water and river basins, as well as their management. The fourth section will summarize the overall conceptual framework for our study.