IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/cejopp/v13y2019i2p28-39n3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The fuzzy concept of collaborative governance: A systematic review of the state of the art

Author

Listed:
  • Batory Agnes
  • Svensson Sara

Abstract

This article contributes to the consolidation and synthesis of scholarship on collaborative governance by expanding our knowledge of how the term is used in the academic literature and policy documents in a range of European countries. It adds value to the existing reviews of the field by conducting a systematic literature review on a corpus of over 700 article abstracts and a traditional literature review identifying five key analytical dimensions. The article also provides an exploratory analysis of grey literature hitherto outside the purview of researchers and considers the linguistic and cultural connotations that alter the meaning of the term when translated into new contexts in ten EU/EFTA countries. Findings indicate heterogeneity and fuzziness in the way the concept is used. The article argues that explicit positions with respect to five main analytical dimensions and taking into account the national connotations that the term carries across political systems would inject more clarity into the academic discourse. This, in turn, will help policymakers to make informed use of the concept, especially in multi-national policy-making arenas.

Suggested Citation

  • Batory Agnes & Svensson Sara, 2019. "The fuzzy concept of collaborative governance: A systematic review of the state of the art," Central European Journal of Public Policy, Sciendo, vol. 13(2), pages 28-39, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:cejopp:v:13:y:2019:i:2:p:28-39:n:3
    DOI: 10.2478/cejpp-2019-0008
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.2478/cejpp-2019-0008
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2478/cejpp-2019-0008?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John D. Donahue & Richard J. Zeckhauser, 2012. "Collaborative Governance: Private Roles for Public Goals in Turbulent Times," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 9401.
    2. Dominique Jozef Alfons Smeets, 2017. "Collaborative Learning Processes in Social Impact Bonds: A Case Study from the Netherlands," Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(1), pages 67-87, January.
    3. March, James G. & Olson, Johan P., 1983. "Organizing Political Life: What Administrative Reorganization Tells Us about Government," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 77(2), pages 281-296, June.
    4. Albrecht, Juliane, 2016. "Legal framework and criteria for effectively coordinating public participation under the Floods Directive and Water Framework Directive: European requirements and German transposition," Environmental Science & Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(P2), pages 368-375.
    5. Nicola Ulibarri & Bruce E. Cain & Newsha K. Ajami, 2017. "A Framework for Building Efficient Environmental Permitting Processes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-17, January.
    6. John D. Donahue & Richard J. Zeckhauser, 2012. "Private Roles for Public Goals," Introductory Chapters, in: Collaborative Governance: Private Roles for Public Goals in Turbulent Times, Princeton University Press.
    7. Jacob Torfing & Christopher Ansell, 2017. "Strengthening political leadership and policy innovation through the expansion of collaborative forms of governance," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(1), pages 37-54, January.
    8. Carey Doberstein, 2016. "Designing Collaborative Governance Decision-Making in Search of a ‘Collaborative Advantage’," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(6), pages 819-841, July.
    9. Josip Markovic, 2017. "Contingencies and organizing principles in public networks," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(3), pages 361-380, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Miptahul Janah, 2020. "Collaborative Governance Approaches in Dealing with Financial Deficits in the JKN-KIS Program in Indonesia," GATR Journals gjbssr563, Global Academy of Training and Research (GATR) Enterprise.
    2. Kenneth J. Meier & Seung-ho An, 2020. "Sector bias in public programs: US nonprofit hospitals," Journal of Behavioral Public Administration, Center for Experimental and Behavioral Public Administration, vol. 3(1).
    3. Jacob Torfing & Eva Sørensen, 2019. "Interactive Political Leadership in Theory and Practice: How Elected Politicians May Benefit from Co-Creating Public Value Outcomes," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-18, July.
    4. Fernando Filgueiras & Pedro Palotti & Graziella G. Testa, 2023. "Complexing Governance Styles: Connecting Politics and Policy in Governance Theories," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(1), pages 21582440231, March.
    5. Aryal, Kishor & Laudari, Hari Krishna & Maraseni, Tek & Pathak, Bhoj Raj, 2022. "Navigating policy debates of and discourse coalitions on Nepal's Scientific Forest Management," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    6. Kelman, Steven J. & Myers, Jeff, 2009. "Successfully Executing Ambitious Strategies in Government: An Empirical Analysis," Scholarly Articles 4481609, Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
    7. Jarle Trondal & Stefan Gänzle & Benjamin Leruth, 2022. "Differentiation in the European Union in Post‐Brexit and ‐Pandemic Times: Macro‐Level Developments with Meso‐Level Consequences," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(S1), pages 26-37, September.
    8. A Radian, 1984. "The Dynamics of Policy Formation: Income Tax Rates in Israel, 1948–1975," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 2(3), pages 271-284, September.
    9. Tom Christensen & Liang Ma, 2020. "Coordination Structures and Mechanisms for Crisis Management in China: Challenges of Complexity," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 19-36, March.
    10. Polterovich, Victor, 2020. "Кризис Институтов Политической Конкуренции, Интернет И Коллаборативная Демократия [Crisis of Institutions of Political Competition. Internet and Collaborative Democracy]," MPRA Paper 104363, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Marie Nilsen & Trond Kongsvik & Stian Antonsen, 2022. "Taming Proteus: Challenges for Risk Regulation of Powerful Digital Labor Platforms," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-23, May.
    12. Tyler Andrew Scott & Nicola Ulibarri & Omar Perez Figueroa, 2020. "NEPA and National Trends in Federal Infrastructure Siting in the United States," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 37(5), pages 605-633, September.
    13. Joel D. Aberbach & Tom Christensen, 2018. "Academic Autonomy and Freedom under Pressure: Severely Limited, or Alive and Kicking?," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 487-506, December.
    14. Tom Christensen & Liang Ma, 2021. "Comparing SARS and COVID-19: Challenges of Governance Capacity and Legitimacy," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 629-645, December.
    15. Baulenas, Eulàlia & Sotirov, Metodi, 2020. "Cross-sectoral policy integration at the forest and water nexus: National level instrument choices and integration drivers in the European Union," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    16. Milena Vainieri & Francesca Ferrè & Stefania Manetti, 2021. "An Integrated Framework to Measure the Performance of Inter-Organizational Programme on Health Technology Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-17, March.
    17. Schroeter, Eckhard & Roeber, Manfred, 2004. "Governing the Capital — Comparing Institutional Reform in Berlin, London and Paris," Institute of European Studies, Working Paper Series qt9km4z5vf, Institute of European Studies, UC Berkeley.
    18. Biao Huang & Jiebing Wu & Li Ye, 2023. "Fiscal decentralization, intergovernmental mobility, and the innovativeness of local governments' policy response in COVID‐19: Evidence from China," Public Administration & Development, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 43(2), pages 196-206, May.
    19. Charalampos Skoulikaris & Yannis Krestenitis, 2020. "Cloud Data Scraping for the Assessment of Outflows from Dammed Rivers in the EU. A Case Study in South Eastern Europe," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-15, September.
    20. Susana Goytia, 2021. "Issues of Natural Resources Law for Adopting Catchment-Based Measures for Flood Risk Management in Sweden," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-17, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:vrs:cejopp:v:13:y:2019:i:2:p:28-39:n:3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.