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Woodward, Alison E. --- "Building velvet triangles: gender and informal governance" [2004] ELECD 27; in Christiansen, Thomas; Piattoni, Simona (eds), "Informal Governance in the European Union" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2004)

Book Title: Informal Governance in the European Union

Editor(s): Christiansen, Thomas; Piattoni, Simona

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781843763512

Section: Chapter 5

Section Title: Building velvet triangles: gender and informal governance

Author(s): Woodward, Alison E.

Number of pages: 18

Extract:

5. Building velvet triangles: gender and
informal governance
Alison E. Woodward

INTRODUCTION
A leading factor in citizen disillusionment with the EU has been the impres-
sion that the European decision-making process is dominated by non-trans-
parent institutions that fail to take up their issues. Proponents of social
movement questions such as gender, the environment and global development
frequently make this argument. Yet despite their limited power resources,
these movements have been uncommonly successful. This is due to their use
of the more informal features of EU decision-making including the social
content of policy networks. By and large, social movements' demands are
taken on board thanks to a patterned dance of needy bureaucrats, dedicated
activists and eager academics who are active at national and international
levels and frequently linked to each other through informal as well as formal
processes. These groups' political marginality and low power resources have
led to a patterning of interactions in policy-making reminiscent of
patron­client relationships, which is a feature of what we here call informal
governance. The informal patron­client relationships in the EU institutions are
a two-way street. The listening ear providing access to the policy agenda also
receives something besides trust and loyalty. These are the new ideas, which
can increase their bureau's internal prestige and resources.
This chapter explores the implications of a paradox of informal governance
in order to assist an understanding of the social dimension of interactions
between EU policy-makers and interest groups. ...