2. Transformation of the State and Multilevel Governance

This chapter reconsiders recent theorizing on the transformation of the state and the rise of multilevel governance. Both represent changing configurations of political authority. The state constitutes an institutional order, which transforms in processes of regionalization and internationalization of power. Multilevel governance evolves as dynamic pattern of coordination, cutting across territorial and functional jurisdictions defined by the state, but is still affected by institutions and power of the state. The chapter suggests considering transformation as a continuous process simultaneously affecting both the state and multilevel governance. Moreover, it presents a theoretical framework, which takes into account the path-dependence of institutional change, the power of actors to revise rules and patterns of interaction, and the impact of societal forces. All these forces interact and thus cause increasing territorial differentiation of political power and growing interdependence between levels of politics, while power disseminates to different corporate actors within and beyond the state.