Coming Full Circle: Design, Deliberation, Decision, and Delivery of Collaborative Policymaking

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

Collaborative governance has been widely used as a policy tool in public policy and management. Yet systematic research that integrates and tests diverse aspects of collaborative governance arrangements remains limited. This panel brings together four complementary studies to examine the full lifecycle of collaborative policymaking in public/nonprofit management and finance—from institutional design to knowledge exchange, decision-making, and performance. The panel collectively addresses a core question: how do different stages of collaboration shape perceptions of legitimacy, learning, and fairness, and ultimately policy and funding outcomes? In doing so, each paper leverages novel data and rigorous methods catered to its unique but interconnected research question. 
First, Ahn and McLaughlin investigate how collaborative governance design influences perceived legitimacy. Using a pre-registered conjoint experiment with a U.S. national sample, they find that some design features of a collaborative summit, such as access to technical expertise, balanced representation, and performance information, significantly enhance legitimacy perceptions, while meeting frequency and formative types (mandated, voluntary, or independently convened) have insignificant effects. This study highlights the importance of institutional design in fostering trust and engagement. 
Second, Wang examines how knowledge exchange unfolds in collaborative processes. The study applies qualitative comparative analysis to the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s meeting transcripts and policy documents on 39 policy issues from 2008 to 2013. Wang finds that: (1) policymakers engage more frequently with each other than with scientists or consultants; (2) practical knowledge gets exchanged most frequently; and (3) knowledge transmission is more likely to result in policy change than knowledge translation. 
Third, Kim and Maroulis examine the effects of deliberative dynamics on perceived decision fairness through a pre-registered behavioral experiment involving a nationally representative sample of 1,034 U.S. residents. By manipulating receptiveness to opposing viewpoints and explanation of reasoning in AI-generated meeting simulations, they find that the receptiveness significantly improves fairness perceptions by 0.33 points (0.26 SD) on a six-point Likert scale and that the explanation does so by 0.17 points (0.13 SD), even under conditions of unequal viewpoint representation. 
Fourth, Lee and Sullivan assess the multidimensionality of performance dimensions and the patterns of intergovernmental funding allocations, using panel data of 380 Continuum of Care grants awarded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development from 2015 to 2023. A factor analysis and a latent profile analysis on 38 System Performance Measurements reveal five largely uncorrelated performance dimensions. Also, two-way fixed effects estimators show that the funding decisions are driven more by signals of need than by outcome. They analyze the content of performance information and its role in resource allocations, tying the discussion back to key design features of subsequent collaborations. 
Together, these studies speak to the conference theme of Fifty States, Fifty Systems: State Policy Variations and Impacts. The papers use diverse data sources in a variety of geographical contexts to explore variations in collaborations embedded in multi-level governance. This panel demonstrates that effective collaborative policymaking is not the result of any single stage but emerges from the alignment of design, learning, decision, and performance.

Policy Area

• Public and Nonprofit Management and Finance

Chair

• Hongtao Yi, Florida State University

Discussants

• Catherine Chen, Hamilton College

• Elizabeth Baldwin, University of Arizona

Organizer

• Jiho Kim, Arizona State University

Individual Presentations

• The Role of Collaborative Design in Enhancing the Legitimacy of Collaborative Governance - Presenting Author: Minwoo Ahn, College of Charleston

• Exploring Knowledge Networks and Policy Change in a U.S. Marine Fishery Management Council - Presenting Author: Shuping Wang, University of Illinois, Chicago

• Hear Me Out: A Behavioral Experiment on Fairness and Deliberation in Collaborative Governance - Presenting Author: Jiho Kim, Arizona State University

• Which Signals Matter? Performance Profiles and Federal Resource Allocation in the Continuum of Care System - Presenting Author: David Lee, Sungkyunkwan University; Non-Presenting Co-Author: Andrew Alfred Sullivan, University of Central Florida