“Governance” is a topic characterized by both the multiplication of academic works from the 1990s, and by the polysemy of the word. This systematic use of the term “governance,” particularly about sustainable development, with a non-explicit positive approach, confirms the observed increase in power of the members of civil society. It now seems necessary to have a more normative discussion concerning these kinds of practices. Which types of coordination can be called “governance?” Can these new methods of coordination replace previous ones? Gathering the actors of the public sector, the private sector, and civil society, “governance” is not considered in this paper as a new paradigm designed to substitute for “government.”
JEL Codes: Q01, R5