Mundane dynamics: Understanding collaborative governance approaches to ‘big’ problems through studying ‘small’ practices

Public Policy and Administration, vol. 39, pp. 412–435

Abstract

Collaborative approaches to governance, policymaking, and administration are believed to provide means of adequately handling wicked problems. Simultaneously, many scholars have acknowledged the difficulty of collaboration in practice. In this article, we argue that understanding the ‘small’ practices of collaborative governance and actor-positioning processes illuminates why collaborative governance is such a challenging response to wicked problems. Instead of focussing on ‘big’ collaborative approaches to ‘big’ wicked problems, zooming in on mundane dynamics demonstrates the continuous work that governing and positioning processes require, exposing the provisional nature of elements that have been argued to be vital, such as mutual trust, reciprocity, long-term commitment, authority, or autonomy. Lastly, the mundane uncovers the importance of the material, spatial, and temporal organisation of actor-positioning processes and the potential of language to inhibit or enable collaborative governance. The article ends with a reflection on how analyses of mundane dynamics may help scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and citizens to understand their own processes of engagements in collaborative endeavours and possibly temper expectations.

Authors 4

1. Yvonne La Grouw corresponding

   Utrecht University

   Affiliation as printed

   Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance, Utrecht University School of Governance, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands

2. Oemar van der Woerd

   Erasmus University Rotterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   Healthcare Governance, Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands

3. E. Lianne Visser Aachen Institute of Public Administration

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Public Administration, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands

4. Wieke Blijleven

   Netherlands Institute for Social Research

   Affiliation as printed

   The Netherlands Institute for Social Research: SCP, Den Haag, Netherlands