Hyper-active Governance : How Governments Manage the Politics of Expertise

Hyper-active Governance is a new way of thinking about governing that gets beyond simplistic debates about whether the state is more or less powerful. It focuses on tensions between the need for expertise and its inherent contestability. The book develops a new typology of governing approaches, using innovative social theory.

Hyper-active Governance is a new way of thinking about governing that puts debates over expertise at the heart. Contemporary governing requires delegation to experts, but also increases demands for political accountability. In this context, politicians and experts work together under political stress to adopt different governing relationships that appear more ''hands-off'' or ''hands-on''. These approaches often serve to displace profound social and economic crises. Only a genuinely collaborative approach to governing, with an inclusive approach to expertise, can create democratically legitimate and effective governance in our accelerating world. Using detailed case studies and global datasets in various policy areas including medicines, flooding, water resources, central banking and electoral administration, the book develops a new typology of modes of governing. Drawing from innovative social theory, it breathes new life into debates about expert forms of governance and how to achieve real paradigm shifts in how we govern our increasingly hyper-active world.