The democratic problems and potentials of network governance

Governance networks play a central role in the production of public policy. While governance network theorists have discussed and analysed their importance for governance efficiency they have not given the same amount of attention to the democratic implications of governance networks. It is not possible to make a meaningful assessment of the democratic problems and potentials on the basis of a traditional liberal approach to democracy. What is called for is the development of a post-liberal model for the democratic anchorage of governance networks that combines representative democracy with other forms of democratic anchorage. © 2005 European Consortium for Political Research.