248 9: Th eories of Governance
Th ese approaches seem to hold a good deal of promise, but a good deal of work
remains to be done if that promise is to be fulfi lled.
Summary
Governance theory is, as Kapucu, Yuldashev, and Bakiev (2009: 41) write, “one
of the most signifi cant developments in the public administration fi eld.” Th e pro-
vision of public policy is increasingly being done by a combination of state and
nonstate actors, the public and private sector, including nonprofi t organizations.
As Wachhaus (2014: 574) argues, “Government is not just about government
anymore. As governmental walls become more porous, actors from a range of
sectors are becoming involved in the processes of governing.” For public admin-
istration scholars, the key is determining which actors and contextual factors best
predict the framework of governance that emerges. For practitioners, the chal-
lenge is identifying which actors will provide useful information that will allow
for sound governance and eff ective public policy. Research is rapidly advancing
on both fronts (see Emerson, Nabatchi, and Balogh 2012 for theoretical develop-
ments; see Tang and Tang 2014 for a useful policy application).
Th e complexity of governance theory, particularly collaborative governance,
poses a serious challenge to the development of a useful theoretical framework
of governance. Th e eff orts outlined in this chapter demonstrate that while con-
siderable advances have been made, more eff ort is required, and, in the end, such
frameworks may not be universal (Wachhaus 2012, 40). Recent advances in col-
laborative governance have taken an interdisciplinary approach, drawing from
experimental economics (Johnston et al. 2011) and behavioral economics (Tang
and Tang 2014). Th e challenge for public administration scholars is to not get lost
in the minutiae of shift ing alliances and the psychology of trust, but rather to use
such knowledge to build reliable frameworks showing how government and non-
government actors can develop fruitful relationships, and predicting the policy
areas for which cooperation between such actors can prove benefi cial in terms of
policy outcomes.