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Concept in short

Research programme 2011-2014

In its first phase the CRC 597 has described structural patterns of state transformation in OECD countries since the 1970s. Different paths of internationalization, transnationalization and privatization of governance have been identified. These transformations which resulted in the constellation of a diffused statehood were explained in the second phase by analyzing driving forces and frame-giving forces.

In the third phase the consequences of this new constellation of statehood are to be examined.

• How has the transformation of statehood altered social reality in OECD countries?
• How should these changes be evaluated from a normative perspective?
• And what kind of retroactive effects do these changes have onto the new constellation of transformed statehood?
• Does the described diffusion of statehood indicate fragility and instability of the new constellation?
• Or does it rather provide a basis for a stable evolution of this new constellation with power no longer being monopolized by the state but wielded by a diverse network of relatively autonomous, partly governmental, partly non-governmental actors (Milner & Moravcsik 2009)?

Social consequences, normative evaluation, and the tendency towards a stabilization of the new constellation are main topics of the third phase. The research of the CRC is supposed to answer the following three central questions:

• What consequences does the transformation of statehood have?
• How should these outcomes be evaluated on a normative dimension?
• How do these outcomes affect the stability of the new constellation of statehood?

At first the following section describes the central aims of the CRC for the third phase. Afterwards the analytical framework is introduced, which is supposed to guide the work of the projects and we will explain how it can help to reach the objectives. Conclusively we pose three essential theses for the third phase, which shall give the research work its direction and perspective.