The aim of this paper is to present the case for collaborative governance in mitigating and addressing the wicked challenges of governance which manifest across the process, context and period of governing. This paper shall begin with an overview of the conditions that led to the emergence of the concept of governance. Thereafter, the strength and weaknesses of governance shall be examined in order to make sense of the need for advancing governance. The case study of collaborative governance in the United Kingdom (UK) shall be examined. Collaborative governance is construed in this paper as an analytical framework which explains how the challenges and wicked problems of public service(s) delivery can be understood and addressed. Consequently, collaborative governance shall be defined as the process of providing public services through partnership across sectors and actors based on clear operating rules. It is imperative to note that collaborative governance signifies a change for the method of governing society since it is concerned with the way in which public services and public goods are delivered through structures of governance involving state and non-state actors based on clear operating rules and trust (Evans, 2007: 15). There is the argument for the clear operating rules to be set up by the government due to its perceived steering role in order to ensure stakeholders abide by the rules of the game so as to achieve set goals. This distinctive feature of collaborative governance ensures that a development driven relationship is fostered between the government and concerned stakeholders. Based on the findings from the analysis of the literatures on collaborative governance and deductions from the data collected in the UK using triangulated research methods, this paper shall present the argument for adopting and implementing collaborative governance in places experiencing any of the challenges of governance.
