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Collaboration in Crisis? Governmental Responses to Challenging Contexts

Executives
Governance
Government
Migration
Public Administration
Climate Change
P051
Julia Fleischer
Universität Potsdam
Jan Boon
Eva G. Heidbreder
Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg

Building: BL27 Georg Sverdrups hus, Floor: 3, Room: GS 3513

Friday 09:00 - 10:40 CEST (08/09/2017)

Abstract

Traditional governments in Europe are built on governing principles of the 19th century with the state representing its citizens and governments for the citizens. Today we witness a turn towards the citizens representing their state, alongside a transformation into governments by the citizens. Various dynamics and features cause and shape this transformation; among others critical episodes but also new ICT permeate and influence the formulation of government policies and the delivery of public services. Therefore, this panel raises the crucial question of how collaboration in and by governments is accomplished – especially when facing critical and challenging environments? The 'holy grail' of collaboration in and by governments is a perennial quest for practitioners, receiving unanimous approval but also constant requests for improvement. Likewise, collaboration is a core theme in public administration and public management research. Yet it is also an elusive concept and often used interchangeably with other terms such as coordination or cooperation. Not surprisingly, there is no primary theoretical perspective to explain collaboration. Instead, research on collaboration applies different definitions and is very often confined to provide collaboration typologies. Early authors discuss collaboration types as a ladder of various steps, whereby the effectiveness of higher levels of collaboration such as establishing common priorities depends on the effectiveness of lower levels of collaboration such as communication and consultation. Other authors focus on the actor constellations and alternative options available, distinguishing two ideal-types of collaboration. Various studies emphasise the type of actors involved and their modus operandi, differentiating three ideal-types of collaboration, i.e. hierarchy, networks, and markets, although empirical research concludes that collaboration is most often a combination or hybridisation of these three. Lately, authors discuss collaboration for its scope, formality and intensity: The scope of collaboration refers to the policy process phases when its means are applied (policy design versus service delivery), their timing (temporary versus permanent), and the types of actors involved and their relations (governmental, private, and societal actors, in horizontal and vertical linkages). The formality of collaboration emphasises the rules guiding these practices, ranging from highly formalised to very informal collaboration. The intensity of collaboration distinguishes between strong collaboration (sharing responsibilities), medium collaboration (sharing work), weak collaboration (sharing resources), and absent collaboration (sharing information only). This panel examines how public administrations are transformed to enhance collaboration in policy design and service delivery, within government but also through the participation of public, private and societal actors. It analyses collaboration in and by governments, with a special emphasis on the contextual challenges of critical episodes, novel information technologies, and transboundary challenges such as cyber security, migration or climate change. The panel invites papers assessing the institutional and individual drivers and barriers for collaboration practices; the mechanisms, tools and practices of collaboration within governments (internal) and between public, private and societal actors (external). Likewise, it is interested in contributions studying the effects of collaboration for legitimacy, accountability and government efficiency. We welcome papers with a comparative perspective and are open to research designs employing qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods.

Title Details
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