This paper develops a model of ‘governance’ as an aid for comparing such governance structures and applies these to a particular policy arena: policies on the protection of groundwater and on drinking water quality in the Netherlands and Florida. The research questions examined by this paper are: 1. Which elements make up a governance structure? 2. In what ways do these elements influence each other? 3. What are the differences between the multilevel structure of protection for aquifers in Florida and the Netherlands, and how do these differences relate to other differences in the governance structure? The analysis in this paper has shown that ‘governance’ involves more elements than policy objectives and the means to implement policy. These elements are not simply the sum of individual aspects but are closely interlinked. We have tried to illustrate how these interrelations work. The case study we used for this was the comparison between the Netherlands and Florida regarding the protection of the quality of groundwater and drinking water. The high degree of similarity between both states highlights the differences, which exist as well. The interrelations between these differences can be understood by using our hypotheses of the mechanisms by which they work.