Decision-Making Patterns in Multilevel Governance: The contribution of informal and procedural interactions to significant multilevel decisions

To come to decisions in a multilevel setting, informal as well as procedural interactions are of importance. In this paper, we explored in a case study the decision-making patterns between informal interactions and procedural interactions, and the significance of the decisions resulting from different patterns.We discovered five patterns of multilevel decision-making: top-down processes, bottom-up processes, collaborative decision-making, synchronization by procedures, and synchronization by interactions. We conclude that these patterns do have different results. Top-down and bottom-up processes often result in mutually extinguishing decisions, whereas the other patterns can result into decisions that matter, depending on the relationships between levels.