=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-3049/paper25
|storemode=property
|title=The Impact(s) of European Integration on Portuguese Local Governance Models. Porto and Sever do Vouga Municipalities Cases
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3049/Paper25.pdf
|volume=Vol-3049
|authors=Ana Melro
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/egov/Melro21
}}
==The Impact(s) of European Integration on Portuguese Local Governance Models. Porto and Sever do Vouga Municipalities Cases==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3049/Paper25.pdf
The Impact(s) of European Integration on
Portuguese Local Governance Models. Porto and
Sever do Vouga Municipalities Cases
Ana Melro
Author Contact Information Missing
Abstract. In a very specific way, the year 1986 marks a different stage in the Portuguese
governance forms at various levels. The integration into the European Economic Community
(EEC), the current European Union (EU) was not the beginning of this change, since it happened
a few years earlier, when it started to reflect on the forms of integration and potential
consequences. This paper makes a theoretical and contextual analysis (at the municipal level) to
what were the main transformations that occurred in the local governance. In addition, it points
out consequences that have already been seen (loss of state sovereignty, but, paradoxically,
increased autonomous autonomy) and potential future impacts in different, but interconnected
dimensions.
Keywords. European integration; European Union; local governance; new local governance
models.
1. Introduction
If the governance theme has been widely debated over the years, either because some authors
believe that the model is changing (Bilhim, 2017; Dias, 2015; Gray & Jenkins, 1995), or because other
authors share the opinion that, even if there are changes, they are nothing more than the “freshening
up” of old models and their adaptation to the demands of the market, society and citizens (Bauer,
Jordan, Green-Pedersen, & Héritier, 2012; Ferreira, 2015), the truth is that changes have occurred. In
the specific context of Portugal, these changes are based, among other reasons, on integration in the
European Economic Community (EEC), which provided (not to mention the word “obliged”, since
it may imply that there is no voluntary accession) an adaptation to the European model and to the
wider context of integration into a Union.
The paper reflects on how European integration has impacted Portuguese local governance
models (municipal level). Therefore, it starts from the assumption that there was, in fact, a change
suggested and provided by European integration at the local level, whether this change was felt in
terms of citizen participation (the most concrete example is participatory budgets), by the level of
market and society demands (for example, with regard to social responses and even the way that
Copyright ©2021 for this paper by its authors. Use permitted under Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
258 Reflections & Viewpoints
entities that start to concentrating public and private sectors) or even at the level of the local
authorities management, with the creation of new departments, new managers and new ways of
managing.
In the context of this paper, governance means the way in which a specific entity / institution
chooses to manage its resources, whether human or material; it chooses to communicate with
shareholders and stakeholders, but also with its clients (using a mercantilist logic here, in the sense
of citizen-client) or even society as a whole, which will, directly or indirectly, experience the impact
of its decisions; it chooses to organize itself internally and this influences its interinstitutional and
intra-institutional relations; finally, it also includes the influences it is suffering from exogenous and
endogenous factors (Bevir, 2009; Gjaltema, Biesbroek, & Termeer, 2019; Gray & Jenkins, 1995; Rossel
& Finger, 2007).
In addition, it will be important to note that the governance here is related to a very precise
context: that of municipal administration, that is, local governance. The choice for this context was
related to the fact that it is an example that is already influenced by several supralocal and even
supranational structures, which is making its governance even more complex and more difficult to
implement.
2. Impacts of the European Integration at the Municipal Governance
Level
The concept of Public Administration (PA) is polysemic, either referring to the activity performed,
that is, its material or objective sense or to the organic or subjective sense, referring to whoever does
the Public Administration. In an organic or subjective sense, the PA includes the primary public
legal entities (public entities), those who, unquestionably, are public, their existence is mandatory,
resulting directly from the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic (CPR). They are the State, Local
Authorities and Autonomous Regions (article 267 of the CRP).
The public entities of specific purposes (public institutes, public foundations, public business
entities, public associations, independent regulatory authorities) are also part of the PA. And, the
private legal persons over whom the instituting public entity exercises dominant public influence
and the private entities to which the exercise of public tasks has been delegated or granted. This
paper will not address these.
Municipalities and parishes are included within the local autonomous administration, their
essential elements being the territory, the population group (residents), the satisfaction of their own
common interests, with local impact and the representativeness of their bodies and electivity, which
culminates in the idea of self-government and self-administration. The collegiate executive body of
the municipality is the City Council (Article 56 of Law No. 169/99, of September 18, updated by Law
No. 71/2018, of December 31).
The relevance of this brief framework is related to the fact that it is at the level of the City Council
referred to in the paper when mention is made of local government or local authority.
Reflections & Viewpoints 259
It is also important to refer to the Administrative Procedure Code (APC), since this document
will be the legislative, executive, governmental and organizational basis of local authorities. The
scope of this document includes entities that, regardless of their nature, adopt the exercise of public
powers and are specifically regulated by provisions of Administrative Law (Article 2 of the APC). It
is immediately referred to in the same legal precept that the local authorities and their associations
and federations of public law are part of the PA (article 4, paragraph b) of the APC).
Once again, this brief legislative framework aims to understand where the local authorities are
located within the PA and where, specifically, the City Councils are located, which will be the
interest of the paper.
In the preamble of the APC the following can be read: “[…] New demands […] were placed on
the Public Administration and, more than that, on the exercise of the administrative function, and
the alteration of the framework in which the latter was exercised, under the law and European Union
Law, required that these demands be matched in the text of the Code. ” (Republic Diary, 1st series
— No 4 — January 7, 2015, pp. 50-51).
These requirements and the reflection of what is the influence of Portugal’s European integration
in municipal governance can also be seen in the basic principles that govern administrative activity.
In fact, going back to the preamble of the APC, “the innovation regarding the cooperation between
the Portuguese Public Administration and the European Union, […] covers the growing
participation of the Portuguese Public Administration in the decision-making process of the
European Union, as well as the participation of European Union institutions and bodies in national
administrative procedures […] ”(Republic Diary, 1st series — No 4 — January 7, 2015, pp. 51-52).
Finally, it should be noted that one of the principles (of those mentioned above) in which this
inevitable influence and connection to the European Union Law is verified is the one predicted in
article 19 of the APC, with the heading Principle of loyal cooperation with the European Union. But
even more so, due to those influences and links, the principles of responsibility (article 16), open
administration (article 17), data security (article 18) were included in the APC reform, as well as
principles related to electronic administration (article 14). Basics of PA governance and, as will be
seen, modelers of current municipal governance.
2.1 Current Governance Models
In this subtopic, it is intended to reflect on the current governance models existing at the municipal
level. This reflection will be made using two concrete examples of municipal governance, in the form
of analysis of case studies, namely, the case of Porto Municipality (a large municipality) and the case
of the Sever do Vouga Municipality (a small municipality).
According to the 2011 Census, the resident population of Porto was 237,591 inhabitants and the
resident population of Sever do Vouga was 12,356 inhabitants. A difference that will also be reflected
260 Reflections & Viewpoints
in the way it is governed at the local level and how resources are managed and communicated with
citizens1.
Another difference between the two municipalities is their location. Porto is located in the
northern region of mainland Portugal. Sever do Vouga is located in the Central Portugal mainland
region. The two municipalities are about 80 km apart from each other.
In terms of analyzing current governance models, the websites of both municipalities were used.
Sever do Vouga can be found here http://www.cm-sever.pt/pages/1; Porto can be found here
http://www.cm-porto.pt/. What one sought to find with this analysis was, precisely, the elements
that constitute the definition of governance used in the paper:
• Human or material resources management;
• Communication with shareholders, stakeholders, customers (inhabitants) and with society as
a whole (including tourists, for example);
• Internal organization;
• Influence of exogenous factors (from the stakeholders themselves, customers and society, but
also from national and supranational decisions) and endogenous factors (from employees,
their own political decisions and the public-private companies they manage).
The characteristics that Andrew Gray and Bill Jenkins (1995) suggested for the revolution that
was felt in terms of a paradigm shift from Public Administration to Public Management were used
to carry out this analysis. Although they are characteristics defined some years ago and specifically
applied to the case of the United Kingdom, it is considered that, today, they are still characteristics
that are found in the current models of municipal governance and, concretely, in the Portuguese
case.
Thus, the authors (1995) consider the following characteristics of public management:
• The distinction between the public and private sectors (government as a company) is blurred
(when not even eliminated) and the public sector is treated as homogeneous;
• Organizations become more flexible and adaptable, with structures that encourage
entrepreneurship;
• They replace more bureaucratic management with more flexible human resource regimes;
• There is a reinvention of the government with structures that are guided by the mission instead
of by the rules;
• There is, at the same time, the decentralization of structures, who are also given autonomy to
promote entrepreneurship.
In this myriad, concepts such as responsible and responsive management, performance
evaluation, quality, empowerment and entrepreneurship are highlighted.
Combining the two analyzes (the cases of the local authorities of Porto and Sever do Vouga and
the characteristics pointed out by Gray and Jenkins (1995)), the following table was created:
1https://www.pordata.pt/Municipios/Popula%C3%A7%C3%A3o+residente+segundo+os+Censos+total
+e+por+grandes+grupos+et%C3%A1rios-22, visited on 27 July 2020.
Reflections & Viewpoints 261
Table 7: Porto and Sever do Vouga local governance analysis
Governance elements Porto Sever do Vouga
Human or material It is clear the existing blurring of the Some services are public-private
resources management boundaries between public and private, with management, such as Águas da Região
public-private companies managing public de Aveiro (AdRA).
material resources (for example, the housing
company Domus Social or even Águas do But, unlike the municipality of Porto, the
Porto). Environment, Culture and Social
Housing are no longer in public-private
However, the local authority is not management, but in the municipality
considered to have become more flexible and alone.
less bureaucratic in terms of human resource
management, with tendering procedures Due to the PCC and APC rules, hiring
taking between three and six months (if not human resources and suppliers is also
longer), due to compliance with the rules of time consuming and bureaucratic.
the Public Contracts Code (PCC) and APC.
The same happens when it comes to hiring
service providers.
Communication with The organization is, in fact, more adapted to The municipality makes all necessary
shareholders, current requirements. This can be seen information available on its Internet
stakeholders, customers through the analysis of the services available page to citizens, stakeholders,
(inhabitants) and society to citizens on the Internet page, such as the shareholders and society in general. All
Virtual Counter, through which citizens and information is available on a single
companies can access a wide range of online online site (the local authority page),
services. with external communication becoming
more accessible, quick and transparent.
There is a set of tourist and city information
that anyone visiting Porto, whether for
leisure or work, will find on the website. For
example, the company Ágora also manages
all the information on culture, sport and
animation in the municipality and makes it
available, duly updated.
Internal organization The municipality is divided into 24 organic The municipality is divided into 14
units: organic units:
- Presidency Support Office; - Presidency Support Center;
- City Council Support Office; - Administrative and Financial
Department;
- Municipal Directorate of the Presidency;
- Administrative Office;
- Municipal Directorate of Finance and
Heritage; - Human Resources Office;
- Municipal Directorate of Human Resources; - Financial Office;
- Municipal Directorate of Urbanism; - Public Procurement Office;
- Municipal Department of Cultural - Assistance and Informatics Office;
Management;
- Municipal Works Division;
- Municipal Directorate of Legal Services;
- Technical Office for Municipal Works;
- Municipal Police;
- Territory Administration Division;
262 Reflections & Viewpoints
- Battalion of Firefighters; - Planning, Urbanism and Building
Office;
- Municipal Directorate of Mobility and
Transport; - Local Development Division;
- Municipal Directorate of Education; - Local Development Office;
- Municipal Directorate of Services to the - Office of Environment and Urban
Citizen; Services.
- Municipal Department of Planning and The organization is easier to perceive,
Environmental Management; with fewer subdivions in departments
and offices, which will make
- Municipal Department of Green Spaces and communication with the citizen more
Infrastructure Management; agile and faster.
- Municipal Inspection Department;
- Municipal Department of Economics;
- Municipal Department of Tourism and
Commerce;
- European Funds and Financing Instruments
Management Office;
- Municipal Department of Social Cohesion;
- Municipal Department of Information
Systems;
- Municipal Service of Civil Protection;
- Municipal Department of Data Protection;
- Municipal Youth Division.
In other words, it is not an easily understood
organization, with the duplication of some
departments, offices, divisions and
directions, but also with these levels
presenting some complexity for the citizen
who wants to quickly find information.
Influence of exogenous The national and supranational policies of The website has a specific menu which is
and endogenous factors entrepreneurship, transparency, efficiency called Empreender (endeavor), which
and effectiveness are clearly reflected in this redirects the user to the existing business
field. The municipality's website even has a centers in the municipality. In other
menu called transparency, where various words, the information provided is more
tabs can be found. Just to mention some about infrastructure and less about the
examples: public purchases, sale of assets, potential for entrepreneurship that the
economic and financial elements, among municipality allows people to develop
others. internally and externally.
These policies are fed (therefore, influenced) Nevertheless, transparency is also a
by employees and public-private companies. feature here, with a variety of
information to be made available on
public procurement, economic and
financial indicators and the
municipality’s assets (among others).
Source: author creation.
In general (and synthesizing the information in the previous table), as Gray and Jenkins (1995)
considered in the 1990s, the well-defined boundaries between the public and private sectors ceased
to exist, with the emergence of a public-private sector, consisting of companies that manage what
Reflections & Viewpoints 263
were previously public services. This is seen in small and large municipalities. The main reason for
this change is related to the cost structure, since what was sought was, above all, to make
municipalities more efficient, contracting specific services with companies (Fernandez, Carraro, &
Hillbrecht, 2016; Lemos, 2016).
However, what the authors also point to is the poor performance evaluation that is carried out
on the work developed by these companies, which may result in the efficiency that was initially
sought not being achieved and, in addition, the municipalities only perceive that too late (Fernandez
et al., 2016).
The substitution of more bureaucratic management for more flexible human resource regimes
was not found to be a reality in the two cases analyzed. In fact, it appears that, for contracts (whether
human resources or service provision), bureaucracy and legislative compliance requirements remain
almost unchanged in terms of regime, which influences, above all, deadlines, but also the path that
must be taken until the contract is concluded. These rules are closely related to the transparency
requirements to which both the public and public-private sectors are bound.
Thus, in the two case studies, the mission and vision are shaped, albeit in a different way. In
Porto, it is available for the municipality as a whole2; in relation to Sever do Vouga, only certain
services have this indication (namely, the Municipal Library and the Arts and Shows Center). In
other words, in fact, the realization of the values that govern the activities of the local authorities has
been found to be relevant, closely related to the transparency issues mentioned above. However, the
rules cannot be neglected, since they are also what allow the citizen to perceive the existence of this
transparency.
Entrepreneurship is encouraged in both cases, although quite differently. In Sever do Vouga it is
more related to the infrastructures available to the citizen for its implementation. In the Porto
municipality, there are several financing programs available to support citizen entrepreneurship or
even the way in which this service is made available, with a specific office for that purpose. In other
words, the distinction between the dimension of municipalities is also perceived considering this
aspect.
In fact, there is more autonomy in municipal governance, with City Councils taking on a very
relevant role in their own economic and financial management and in the various services they
provide (for example, education), as a result of a decentralization of structures.
All these elements and characteristics are closely related to the dynamics of European
governance. First, because there is a strong dependence (in both cases) on community funds; second,
because the rules, as seen above, are also imposed at European level (the example of applying the
APC); and third, because, although the cases under study are of very different dimensions, the
modes of governance are not that different, since they are based on the concepts of sustainability,
2 Porto Municipality mission: “To promote the well-being and comfort of citizens, economic and
cultural development, promoting the competitiveness and sustainability of the city.”
264 Reflections & Viewpoints
transparency, effectiveness, efficiency, citizen orientation , rigor, etc., which are much of what the
EU promotes.
2.2 Main Differences
With regard to the main differences that can be perceived between what has been the evolution over
the years of local government models, in order to adjust to the demands of European integration, it
can be said that, as stated before, there is a strong European influence, namely, with regard to the
concepts that are the basis of that governance.
It can be said that national administrations are a kind of copy of the European administration,
and it should be said that we are witnessing a dynamic of Europeanization of administrative
governance (both nationally and locally), particularly visible in areas such as public procurement
and environment.
In terms of the existing boundaries between the public and private sectors, this is a reality that,
although it has been around for a few years, has nevertheless been a reality that has been emerging
and growing, that is, there was, in fact, a change that took place local government governance,
closely related to national, but also supranational, governance models, namely, Europeans.
Flexibility, adaptation and the promotion of entrepreneurship are also changes that have
occurred in recent years, especially with the ideas of fostering entrepreneurship and making
municipal organizations close to the citizen, these also European conceptions that translate into
ways of acting and governing of local authorities.
However, although flexibility is an objective to be achieved, it is not always easy to fulfill,
especially due to the bureaucratic demands that still exist. As already mentioned several times, the
APC (very influenced and adapted by European guidelines) governs local municipal activities, being
a very complex document, with references to other legal documents, which requires compliance
with many rules and precepts. These two factors - flexibility and legislative weight - do not help the
first to take effect most of the time.
Over the years, there have been many differences in local governance, as result of European
demands, but also the need that local authorities themselves feel to be close to the citizen and to hear
what they have to say and how they want their city to be governed. If, before the technological
revolution, this proximity was somewhat limited; currently, with the available means (Internet
pages, social networks, with the possibility of interacting almost in real time, chat rooms, among
other means), this proximity is a reality that brings both advantages and disadvantages. Not to
mention the way in which all data on municipalities are now available to citizens who want to be
more involved in their municipality (the era of big data).
Reflections & Viewpoints 265
3. Other Impacts of European Integration and of Local Governance
New Ways
In this section three concrete dimensions of the European integration impacts on local governance
will be analyzed, namely, in terms of the digitization and informatization of Public Administration;
the proximity between the citizen and the Public Administration and of territorial development and
innovation. Dimensions that have already been referred to as being relevant in the way in which
European integration influenced local governance and which are inevitably reflected in the life of
the citizen.
Mention should be made to article 5 of the APC, with the heading Principle of good
administration. This principle was one of those included in the 2015 APC reform, which was very
influenced, as stated in the preamble, by comparative law and European Union Law. Basically, this
principle is the resonance of everything that has been stated so far and the analysis carried out
considering the characteristics of Gray and Jenkins (1995) that were adopted for this analysis.
Numbers 1 and 2 of the article say:
1 — Public administration must be guided by criteria of efficiency, economy and speed.
2 — For the purposes of the preceding paragraph, the Public Administration must be organized in order to
bring services closer to the population and in a non-bureaucratic manner.
Once again, the concepts of efficiency, effectiveness, speed are highlighted, but also, proximity to
the citizen and the reduction of bureaucracy, which implies flexibility and adaptability.
This article summarizes what all of those in Chapter II of Part I of the APC, dedicated to the
general principles of administrative activity, want to highlight. Then, to focus on the perspective
under analysis, the subtopics will address some of the articles that are considered relevant in each
of them. From there, a brief consideration will be made on how the impacts of European integration
on new forms of local governance are quite present.
3.1 Digitization and Informatization of Public Administration
Digitization and informatization of the PA is evident. In the two case studies (Porto and Sever do
Vouga) it can be seen that the use of technological information and communication tools has been
recurrent, either through that communication, which informs citizens of what has been happening
(updated news on the city and events, news in terms of municipal governance, etc.), or through the
services’ relationship with the citizen, making certain administrative acts more accessible.
Article 14, entitled Principles applicable to electronic administration, begins with the duty of the
PA to carry out its activity, which is that of the use of electronic means. The motive for this use is,
once again, the promotion of efficiency, transparency and proximity to the citizen. But here other
key ideas are included, such as “the availability, access, integrity, authenticity, confidentiality,
information conservation and security” (number 4, article 14 of the APC), in the logic of data
protection required at the same time as its availability.
266 Reflections & Viewpoints
Therefore, these electronic means must contribute to the proximity of the PA with the citizen and
this implies giving access to that he/she can “formulate his claims, obtain and provide information,
carry out consultations, present allegations, make payments and contest administrative acts.”
(number 4, article 14 of the APC).
Thus, if, on the one hand, there is an urgent need to digitize communications and acts, on the
other hand, even if this digitization implies, necessarily and inevitably, an availability of data and
information placed online (with all the risks that, currently, that holds); on the other hand, the
importance of citizen trust is reinforced and this can only be achieved if it is guaranteed that these
data will only be used within the specific scope of a specific administrative act.
3.2 Proximity between the Citizen and Public Administration
In a way, this proximity between the citizen and the PA will result in the existence of the trust that
is intended to be promoted. The closer they are, it will mean that more information about the
management’s performance is made available and this is reflected in greater transparency, therefore,
more confidence.
Article 11 of the APC (Principle of collaboration with private individuals) is also one of the results
to be drawn from this proximity. Therefore, the Administration should “provide individuals with
the information and clarifications they need, support and stimulate their initiatives and receive their
suggestions and information.” (number 1, article 11 of the APC). The Administration (and the local
authorities even more due to its closer connection to the territory and the populations) should
promote entrepreneurship, empower citizens for territorial intervention and participation.
In fact, article 12 is a continuation of 11, since it promotes the Principle of participation. This
principle is translated “in the participation of individuals, as well as of associations whose object is
the defense of their interests, in the formation of decisions that concerns them”. This takes on
entrepreneurial activities, voting, election, active search for information, attendance at meetings,
among many other activities that, on the municipalities’ side, enhance the citizen presence in the
municipality life and, on the side of the populations, result in their effective interest in the
Administration activities.
4. Territorial Development and Innovation
Because of all the principles, of the impact of Portugal’s European integration and of the concepts
promoted in the new local governance are territorial development and innovation. It will be through
all the means referred to throughout the paper of all the transformations that have occurred that
territories (and, consequently, people’s living conditions) are guaranteed to evolve, become
dynamic, develop and innovate, so that they can also give response to the constant new demands of
life in society.
Article 17 (Principle of open administration), although it does not directly refer to this urgency
for territorial development and innovation, is still a corollary of what is intended with the new
Administration: that it is characterized by being accessible, transparent, reliable, efficient and close.
Reflections & Viewpoints 267
Thus, people have “the right to access administrative files and records, even when no procedure that
directly concerns them is in progress”.
This new Administration, the local authorities in particular, should promote this open
governance through digitization and informatization, which will promote proximity between
citizens and the PA and, consequently, the need for participation of the former, hence, territorial
innovation. This innovation (and development) will be visible through the implementation of local
entrepreneurial practices, in order to solve social, economic and cultural problems.
5. Conclusions
Although, in Social Sciences, using adjectives as inevitably or necessarily is to be avoided, in fact, it
is undeniable that Portugal’s integration into the European Union had consequences, influence and
impact on local governance modes. Portugal is part of a community with its own rules (as well as
the other Member States) and, in order for this integration to be considered full (and this integration
can only be full), there were a series of adjustments to governance that had to be made. This even
has implications for the three state powers - legislative, executive and judicial, which are then
reflected in sub-national governance.
There is a new way of local governance, necessarily because of European impositions, but also
because local authorities have recognized the importance of proximity to the citizen, and, in what is
defended in this paper, this is the motto for the occurrence of change. In fact, it is also considered
that this transformation did not occur in a static way, ending one phase and starting another in a
well-defined way, but it was gradual, with moments even of regression, but many of progress,
always in continuum.
The case studies under analysis here (Porto and Sever do Vouga) allow us to conclude that,
whether it is more large or small governance (in terms of the municipalities’ population size), it does
not have much influence with regard to the way in which whether external and internal
communication is managed or how exogenous and endogenous factors interfere in governance. But
it already has an influence on the internal organization of municipalities, since it is this dimension
that justifies a greater or lesser degree of complexity.
Finally, it should be noted that what advocated, in the early 90s, authors such as Gray and Jenkins
(1995) is still very current and still exists in the reality of local municipal governance. That is, public
and private are merged; organizations become more flexible and adapt to the new demands of
society; mission and vision acquire an importance that they did not have until then and; there is a
decentralization of structures, resulting in a certain autonomy of local authorities.
However, other features of the administrative governance of the 70s / 80s did not disappear.
Bureaucratization and rules are maintained. It is considered, moreover, that these two characteristics
are essential for what is the promotion of the concepts of transparency, sustainability, trust,
accessibility, innovation, efficiency, among many others that have been mentioned throughout the
paper.
268 Reflections & Viewpoints
Finally, it must be said that this transformative process will continue to occur, since its connection
to society (network society (Castells, 2005)) is evident. This society is increasingly having more and
more ambitious and new demands, which will be reflected in the way it governs and finds solutions
to problems.
References
Bauer, M. W., Jordan, A., Green-Pedersen, C., & Héritier, A. (2012). Dismantling Public Policy (M. W. Bauer,
A. Jordan, C. Green-Pedersen, & A. Héritier, Eds.).
https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199656646.001.0001
Bevir, M. (2009). Key concepts in governance. London: SAGE.
Bilhim, J. A. de F. (2017). Nova governação pública e meritocracia. Sociologia, Problemas e Práticas, (84), 9–25.
https://doi.org/10.7458/SPP2017849462
Castells, M. (2005). A sociedade em rede. In G. Cardoso, A. F. da Costa, C. P. Conceição, & M. do C. Gomes
(Eds.), A Sociedade em Rede em Portugal (1a, Vol. 17, pp. 19–29). Porto: Campo das Letras.
Dias, A. C. da G. (2015). Governação autárquica: Desafios e Oportunidades (Universidade de Coimbra). Retrieved
from http://hdl.handle.net/10316/37163
Dinan, D. (2019). Debating Europe’s future. Irish Political Studies, 34(4), 490–506.
https://doi.org/10.1080/07907184.2019.1647173
Fernandez, R. N., Carraro, A., & Hillbrecht, R. O. (2016). Efficiency, cost and benefits in contracts of public-
private partnerships / Eficiência, custos e benefícios em contratos de parcerias público-privadas. Nova
Economia, 26(2), 369–392. https://doi.org/10.1590/0103-6351/2935
Ferreira, I. (2015). Governação, participação e desenvolvimento local. Sociologia, 30, 97–117. Retrieved from
http://www.scielo.mec.pt/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0872-
34192015000300006&lng=en&tlng=en
Gjaltema, J., Biesbroek, R., & Termeer, K. (2019). From government to governance…to meta-governance: a
systematic literature review. Public Management Review, 1–21.
https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2019.1648697
Gray, A., & Jenkins, B. (1995). From Public Administration to Public Management: Reassessing a Revolution?
Public Administration, 73(1), 75–99. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1995.tb00818.x
Lemos, V. F. (2016). Controlo das parcerias público privadas nas Autarquias Locais. Retrieved from
http://hdl.handle.net/11110/1154
Parsons, C. (2013). Power, Patterns, and Process in European Union History. Security Studies, 22(4), 791–801.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09636412.2013.844512
Piedade, F., Ribeiro, N., Loff, M., Neves, T., & Menezes, I. (2018). Learning about the European Union in
Times of Crisis: Portuguese Textbooks’ Normative Visions of European Citizenship. Journal of Social
Science Education, 17(2), 31–40. Retrieved from
https://eric.ed.gov/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=EJ1189315
Reflections & Viewpoints 269
Rossel, P., & Finger, M. (2007). Conceptualizing e-Governance. Proceedings of the 1st International Conference
on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance - ICEGOV ’07, 399.
https://doi.org/10.1145/1328057.1328141
About the Author
Ana Melro
Ana Melro is a Ph.D. scholar in Public Policies, at University of Aveiro, with a research project funded by
FCT. She holds a Ph.D. in Information and Communication in Digital Platforms, from University of Aveiro
and University of Porto (2013). A degree in Law, at University of Porto. A master degree in Sociology and a
degree in Sociology (2004), from University of Minho. Ana Melro was post-doctoral researcher funded by FCT
(2015-2017) at DigiMedia, University of Aveiro, on the topics of Social Entrepreneurship and Communities of
Practice. Her research interests are Public Policies, Governance, Law, Ciberculture, New Media, Social
Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Territorial Development, Smart Territories.