Multilevel governance is the dispersion of authority to jurisdictions within and beyond national states. Three literatures frame the study of multilevel governance. Economists and public policy analysts explain multilevel governance as a functionalist adaptation to the provision of public goods at diverse scales. Political economists model the effects of private preferences and moral hazard. Sociologists and political scientists theorize the effects of territorial identity on multilevel governance. These approaches complement each other, and today researchers draw on all three to explain variation over time and across space. The tremendous growth of multilevel governance since World War II has also spurred research on its effects. Multilevel governance has gone hand in hand with subnational and supranational elections, and has greatly diversified the arenas in which citizens can express their preferences. The effects of multilevel governance for ethno-territorial conflict are double-edged. On the one hand, multilevel governance provides resources for separatist movements; on the other, it opens the possibility for accommodation through shared rule. Finally, multilevel governance leads to greater subnational variation in social policy, yet also makes it possible for central and regional governments to coordinate policy.