Public goods in administrative space : outline of problematic aspects

Abstract

The foregoing deliberations lead to several possible conclusions. First of all, it should be noted that public goods have long been an element of the economic analysis of politics at a national level (Connolly, Munro, 1999: p. 36). However, the globalisation process was the reason why many issues once confined to domestic politics have been moved to a level where these issues have a global impact and reference. As a result, one can accept that part of the assumptions concerning national conception of public goods provision currently has a purely historical quality. In view of the arisen doubt towards the adequacy of the appointed concept, a problem appears in relation to the provision of regional and global public goods. A particular role in this area is ascribed to networks, which can not only assist co-ordination and co-operation in the area of global public good production, but also help in understanding and expressing preferences and guarantee a fair form of division. It is worth noting that the network is characterised by flexibility, the ability to self-organise, and by an orientation focused on unveiling problems. It is fully given by W. Reinicke, who emphasises that “networks relate to supranational issues, which cannot be solved by any other group” (Reinicke, 2000: p. 24). As a final word, the role of global administrative law should be indicated, which for the time being does not concentrate on norms of substantive law, but on the usage of principles, process regulations, rules of inspection and other mechanisms related to responsibility, lucidity and the assurance of lawfulness in global administration.