Following criticism of NPM and the enterprise (corporate–market hybrid) mode of governance in public service provision, network governance has become a significant new model in public service delivery. Network governance – based on self-organizing inter-organizational and cross-sectorial collaborations – entails strong partnerships between governmental and non-public stakeholders. In some ways, network governance replaces competition and emphasizes building trust through the creation of a shared organizational culture in which clients, suppliers, and producers act together to provide better public service (Klijn and Koppenjan, 2000; Powell, 1990).
In the current era, public policy makers increasingly rely on networks to achieve public goals and provision of public goods and services. However, inter-organizational and cross-sectorial collaborations involve less control of official government over individual network actors’ adherence to public policies. Autonomous stakeholders are not directly subject to public officials, raising questions about accountability, cost effectiveness, and the quality of public services. As such, network management is one of the biggest challenges facing contemporary public service provision (Osborne, 2010).
Taking the above into account, recommended topics and questions include, but are not limited to, the following:
- How should public administration rebalance the use of control vs inclusive strategies in service provision?
- How can we probe the challenges and complexities of network public service delivery – such as accountability and governability – inherent in the ‘many hands’ approach to service provision led by network governance?
- What roles do the public play in network governance?
Furthering network governance theory development: challenges/opportunities, new theoretica
AnnaUster__proposal_forIRSPMdocx.pdf 