APCS, A NEW MEANS OF PUBLIC-POLICY - THE EXAMPLE OF PROTECTING THE INDUSTRIAL-ENVIRONMENT

A typology of APCs (activites publiques conventionnelles), which compr ise public contracts, conventions, partnerships, charters, etc., is pr oposed by distinguishing between: informal, unpublished agreements; in formal published agreements; and formal published agreements. This cla ssification is based on the agreement's degree of opacity and binding force. Underlying the assertion that APCs are a new means of public in tervention is the debtable hypothesis that public decision-makers are prepared to assess possible forms of public action and choose among th em. Herein, it is argued that what is new about APCs has less to do wi th the agreements themselves than with their being made visible throug h the emergence of a new rationality of administrative action.