Historicizing Polycentric Governing

Kurzfassung/Abstract

This chapter adopts a historical perspective on polycentric governing, taking into consideration a hitherto under-addressed question: to what extent are the characteristics of polycentric governing a new phenomenon? Most scholars regard polycentric governing to be a novel form of governance, often associated with the 1980s or even later. Can we however identify past forms of governing with comparable features to those ascribed to the umbrella term of polycentric governing today? While it is true that few historians have used the term polycentric governing, this chapter demonstrates that the substantive features of polycentric governing are nothing new, but have a long though little-acknowledged past. Drawing on three examples - the global history of the world church, the history of governance in early modern Spain and Portugal, and power relations in early modern Spain and its overseas territories - this chapter shows that polycentric forms of governing can be traced back many centuries. Polycentric governing’s long history offers new research avenues; besides providing ample empirical material for diachronic comparisons, it also raises a whole series of new questions: Has polycentric governing in the past necessarily led to fragmentation or dismemberment? What have been the advantages and disadvantages of historical examples of polycentric governing, given that we can look at those instances with the benefit of hindsight? Overall, this chapter pursues a twofold aim_ it details instances of polycentric governing in the past and identifies a series of new research enquiries that follow from it.