Evaluating Politics of Collaborative Governance

• In Event: The Politics of Collaborative Governance

Abstract

Collaborative governance has been studied extensively over the last several decades, as scholars aim to better understand determinants, structures, processes, and outputs of collaboration among government and non-government stakeholders in the public policy process. Important in collaborative governance are the external and internal politics of collaboration, which influence how those engaged in collaborative governance arrangements participate, experience, and shape policy outputs. This paper offers novel insights on these dynamics through a comparative case study of environmental justice councils by responding to the following research questions: (i) Do collaborative governance arrangements include key policy stakeholders; (ii) to what extent are included policy stakeholders substantively represented in collaborative processes and outputs; and (iii) how do perceptions of justice and internal and external role negotiations influence substantive representation of stakeholders in the process and outputs of collaboration? Based on the investigation of these questions in the context of environmental justice councils, this paper offers theoretical and practical insights about how to study and manage the politics that underlie and shape collaborative governance.

Authors

• Graham Ambrose, Syracuse University

• Cynthia J. Barboza-Wilkes, University of Southern California

• Saba Siddiki, Syracuse University