Law, legitimacy and EC governance: Prospects for 'partnership'

This article is concerned with the 'partnership' principle which has emerged in the context of Community structural funding. It explores the possibilities and limitations inherent in this concept. It draws, by way of exemplification, upon a case study of partnership in action in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. The article has its origins in a fundamental dilemma which troubles many engaged in European Community studies, regardless of disciplinary perspective. This takes the form of a tension between effectiveness and democracy in conceptualizing governance in Europe. The article deploys, as a framework for analysis, civic republican conceptions of democracy.