INTRODUCTION

As introduced in Chapter One, this book adopts a “governance theory” approach to understanding the structures and dynamics of environmental politics with reference to experiences in Singapore during the last fourteen years. Of particular relevance to the study is the governance arena in which the state and civil society interact on key issues of environmental policy, largely through the activities of various government and non-government actors. Accordingly, it is necessary from the start to address concepts and ideas of governance concerning the state, civil society, governmental and nongovernmental organizations, and environmental politics. First, in macro terms with reference to the meanings and roles these concepts are awarded in the governance literature; second, from a more micro perspective in which government and non-government organizations are seen to be prominent actors; and third from a more mezzo perspective with specific reference to the dynamics of environmental politics.

The focus and perspectives identified in this chapter underpin the propositions set out in Chapter One, later revised in Chapter Seven when the study is revisited. Here, they are elaborated on as an analytical framework to guide and inform the discussions in the subsequent chapters. Thus, this chapter is designed to review the relevant literature while at the same time offering the conceptual underpinnings that guide the succeeding examination of the country and case studies.

GOVERNANCE CONCEPTS AND IDEAS

Governance remains a fuzzy concept needing much more theoretical and intellectual justification to explain practical and political changes. In the last fifteen years, political scientists have mostly come to the agreement that changes in post-modern societies require a shift from a “rowing” to a “steering” function of the state (Kooiman 1993; Pierre and Peters 2002). Thus, processes of interpenetration among different governance domains, of political and administrative decentralization, and of international interdependencies seem to be needed and their existence acknowledged as alternatives to the traditional “top down” approach to governing (Greca 2002). This is best summarized in Table 2.1 where the five concepts envisioned by Salamon representing this paradigm shift are diagrammatically presented.

Contested Meanings

Scholars argue that governance is a concept that better captures the institutions and relationships involved in the post-modern process of governing.