As shown by the growing popularity of the concept of governance in recent years, there is a global urge to adapt our regulation practices, our institutions and our forms of social cohesion to the dynamics at work in our contemporary societies, growing ever more complex and interconnected. The Chronicles of Governance 2007 respond to this challenge by proposing a state-of-the-art review of governance practice throughout the world, and by combining theoretical insight with practical wisdom from the field. Rather than defending the Western approach as the only valid one, the Chronicles take the position that effective governance may build upon various schools of thought and cultural traditions.

The Chronicles are conveived as a practical guide for all those interested in recent, global developments in the field of governance. They offer five complementary entries into this issue:

• actors of governance and their legitimacy
• regulation processes
• institutionnals reforms
• modes of participation in public life
• multiplies levels of gouvernance

While this first issue is available only in French, the Chronicles 2008 is published simultanously in French and English.