Australasian Political Studies Association Conference 2003
Hosted by the School of Government
University of Tasmania

Public Policy Stream

How many modes of governance are there, what are they, and what are governments supposed to do with them?

Tim Tenbensel
Department of Political Studies
University of Auckland
New Zealand

Abstract:

Since the late 1990s there has been a significant shift to emphasising the multiplicity of modes of governance that frame both public management practices and public policy development. The most prominent indication of this shift has been the emergence of interest in networks as an alternative mode of governance to markets and hierarchies. Other writers have arrived at a similar destination by applying a cultural theory typology developed by the anthropologist Mary Douglas. What these literatures have in common is the contention that there are a limited number of modes of governance – a number that is greater than two but no more than four. Each framework highlights the disjunctures and tensions between the competing modes and indicate that particular eras of public management and policy co-ordination tend to be dominated by one mode, or perhaps a combination of two.

These frameworks raise both practical and normative issues. How many modes can be pursued simultaneously by governments, and is there a preferable mode or combination of modes? This paper explores how we might go about answering this question and sketches one answer that looks the most promising. By exploring the degrees of compatibility and incompatibility between the various modes in a particular policy setting I develop a speculative answer to the question about how governments and policymakers might best respond to the implications of multiple modes of governance.