Critical Reflections on Interactive Governance. Self-organization and Participation in Public Governance

In many countries, government and society have undergone a major shift in recent years, now tending toward ‘smaller government’ and ‘bigger society’. This development has lent increased meaning to the notion of interactive governance, a concept that this book takes not as a normative ideal but as an empirical phenomenon that needs constant critical scrutiny, reflection and embedding in modern societies. Critical Reflections on Interactive Governance assesses the fundamental changes we can see in civic engagement in interactive governance to new forms of civic self-organization. Eminent scholars across a host of varying disciplines critically discuss a wealth of surrounding issues such as: the role of politicians in interactive governance; whether government strategies – stressing increasing responsibilities for citizens – exclude and mainstream certain people; the type of leadership required for interactive governance to work; and what new forms of co-production between governmental institutions, civic organizations and citizens arise. The book concludes with the prospect of potential hybrid institutional and organizational arrangements, like the co-operative model to democracy or the social enterprise, in developing and implementing public services and products.