Multilayered Governance, Pluralism, and Moral Conflict

The quest for multilayered governance faces the problem of endemic tensions and disagreements in international relations and doubts as to whether nations truly share common values upon which an international society can be solidly built. Values, however, are equally controversial within the nation-state. We find similar tensions within domestic and regional layers of governance. In any system of governance, diverging and competing values are inevitable. There are differences in degree, but not in principle, when comparing traits of domestic and international governance. Legal experience in the fields of human rights and international trade regulation indicates that under such conditions, procedures are of prime importance. On all levels alike, procedural instruments and guarantees play a key role in arbitrating between competing values, interests, and rights. These guarantees today are unevenly developed, not only in comparing different layers of government, but also foremost in comparing different countries forming part of the international system. They are far from perfect, but offer the way forward for further work toward a coherent legal theory of multilayered governance.