IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jcmkts/v38y2000i5p795-816.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Optimality and Authority: A Critique of Neoclassical Theory

Author

Listed:
  • Gary Marks
  • Liesbet Hooghe

Abstract

The extent to which authority is centralized varies greatly across time and space, as the experience of Europe over the past half century illustrates. This article initiates a dialogue between two literatures: the neoclassical theory of authority and the analysis of multi‐level governance. Neoclassical theory examines the tension between the benefits of centralization and the costs of imposing uniformity across diverse territories. It implies that multi‐level governance is the optimal response to this trade‐off. This article critically examines the assumptions of neoclassical theory, and offers some building blocks for an alternative approach.

Suggested Citation

  • Gary Marks & Liesbet Hooghe, 2000. "Optimality and Authority: A Critique of Neoclassical Theory," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(5), pages 795-816, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:jcmkts:v:38:y:2000:i:5:p:795-816
    DOI: 10.1111/1468-5965.00265
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5965.00265
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/1468-5965.00265?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jussi Laine, 2013. "Building a Transnational Space for Action," International Studies, , vol. 50(1-2), pages 184-202, January.
    2. Goran Dominioni & Alberto Quintavalla & Alessandro Romano, 2020. "Trust spillovers among national and European institutions," European Union Politics, , vol. 21(2), pages 276-293, June.
    3. Libman, Alexander Mikhailovich, 2009. "Эндогенные Границы И Распределение Власти В Федерациях И Международных Сообществах [ENDOGENOUS BOUNDARIES AND DISTRIBUTION OF POWER In the Federation]," MPRA Paper 16473, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Tiziana Caponio, 2021. "Governing Migration through Multi‐Level Governance? City Networks in Europe and the United States," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(6), pages 1590-1606, November.
    5. Liesbet Hooghe, Gary Marks, 2002. "Types of Multi-Level Governance," Les Cahiers européens de Sciences Po 3, Centre d'études européennes (CEE) at Sciences Po, Paris.
    6. Samuel Adams & Kingsley Agomor, 2020. "Decentralization, Partisan Politics, and National Development in Ghana," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 351-366, June.
    7. Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Andrey Timofeev, 2008. "A fiscal perspective of state rescaling," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 2(1), pages 85-105.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jcmkts:v:38:y:2000:i:5:p:795-816. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0021-9886 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.