16/17 March 2006 - Chancellors Conference Centre

Papers presented at the conference are available for download here.

Across the world, citizens feel disengaged from institutions and people that govern them. Part of the reason for this is that the world of politics at each level of governance appears to be highly complicated, hard to find out about and conducted in a highly secretive manner. In the subnational, national, European and international arenas of governance, there are many organisations, institutions and groups that share in the key decisions that affect citizens. Decisions are made in these networks, but there seems to be no way of communicating them to citizens or for citizens to hold decision-makers to account. Given this set of problems, the Hallsworth 'Opening Up Governance' conference aims in the first instance to explore this terrain of governance, and to assess whether it is indeed as complex and impenetrable as is often thought.

Underlying the problem of complexity, and central to the concerns of this conference, is the issue of reform. Given the role of informal networks, is it possible to think of ways in which the system can be more open and responsive to those citizens to whom it is ultimately responsible? Can governance be transparent? How are forms of communication between citizens and decision-makers practicable? Who are the reference groups and key actors in each element and sphere of governance? What institutions can work best to help open up governance? This conference seeks to provide answers to these questions, through both exploring what contemporary governance looks like and suggesting ways in which it might be improved.

The conference brings together a collection of panels looking at governance in its different spatial manifestations. The spheres of governance range from the local and city forms of 'regional' governance, to the national level, supranational regional organisations such as the EU, and the vast array of groups, institutions and organisations that compromise what we tend to term 'global governance'. Other panels accommodate perspectives on region-specific forms of governance in the Americas, Asia, & Europe, as well as the many critical 'issue-area' arenas of governance, such as corporate governance, the environment & development.

Participants include:

• Professor Andrew Gamble
• Professor Robert Boyer
• Professor Guy Peters
• Professor David Hulme
• Professor Vivien Lowndes
• Rt Hon Hazel Blears MP