Power and Governance: Metropolitan Governance in France

Abstract

The system of metropolitan governance in France has undergone a series of rather dramatic changes over the past 40 years. Where central cities and their powerful mayors once enjoyed a privileged position over other territorial actors, they now find themselves depending upon these other authorities to fulfil many basic governance tasks. Moreover, a layer of organisations, agencies and networks has formed to co-ordinate the collective action of these actors in areas of mutual concern. The increased importance of co-operation and partnerships in metropolitan governance has led to the prominence of the concept of functionalist power (interdependency and co-operation) in many of the analyses of metropolitan governance. By contrast, distributive conceptions of power (hierarchy and conflict) have largely been suppressed, weakening the abilities of scholars to account for a key component responsible for shaping the relational space of actors. The objective of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework that accounts for both aspects of power, and to use this framework to explain changes in the French governance system. In addition, the paper presents the case of Toulouse to provide a concrete illustration of how local actors have responded to changes in their governance systems.