Paper prepared for ICPP Conference Milan, 1-4/7/2015 T02P07 - Comparing Horizontal Coordination of Policy Sectors Beyond a logic of effectiveness: Horizontal coordination, democratic legitimacy and accountability Eva Lieberherr Institute for Environmental Decisions Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) and Department of Environmental Social Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology Universitätstrasse 22 8092 Zurich, Switzerland +41 44 632 93 36
[email protected] Karin Ingold Institute of Political Science and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Berne and Department of Environmental Social Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology;
[email protected] Abstract Horizontal coordination, where actors join together to accomplish a common task, has been applauded for its output legitimacy. However, such processes often face challenges due to opposition from local actors who raise concerns about democratic legitimacy and accountability. Moving beyond a logic of effectiveness, we aim to show how and why other forms of legitimacy such as input and throughput dimensions also affect horizontal coordination, in addition to output criteria. Beyond the assumed positive relationship between coordination and effectiveness, we additionally expect horizontal coordination to be (a) impeded by local actors’ fear of losing democratic legitimacy; and (b) fostered by accountability in terms of the steering capacity of the state. A comparative case study analysis of water supply structures at the regional level in Switzerland shows, in contrast to our expectation, that effectiveness has mixed impacts on horizontal coordination. Rather than being solely a positive factor for horizontal coordination, certain output criteria such as financial redistribution are found to be a key hindrance.