Beyond Consensus ─ Improving Collaborative Planning and Management

Collaborative approaches are increasingly common across a range of governance andpolicy areas. Single-issue, single-organization solutions often prove ineffective for complex,contentious, and diffuse problems. Collaborative efforts allow cross-jurisdictional governance andpolicy, involving groups that may operate on different decision-making levels. In Beyond Consensus,Richard Margerum examines the full range of collaborative enterprises in natural resourcemanagement, urban planning, and environmental policy. He explains the pros and cons of collaborativeapproaches, develops methods to test their effectiveness, and identifies ways to improve theirimplementation and results. Drawing on extensive case studies of collaborations in the United Statesand Australia, Margerum shows that collaboration is not just about developing a strategy but alsoabout creating and sustaining arrangements that can support collaborative implementation. Margerumoutlines a typology of collaborative efforts and a typology of networks to support implementation.He uses these typologies to explain the factors that are likely to make collaborations successfuland examines the implications for participants. The rich case studies in Beyond Consensus--whichrange from watershed management to transportation planning, and include both successes andfailures--offer lessons in collaboration that make the book ideal for classroom use. It is alsodesigned to help practitioners evaluate and improve collaborative efforts at any phase. The book'stheoretical framework provides scholars with a means to assess the effectiveness of collaborationsand explain their ability to achieve results.

The hardcover edition does notinclude a dust jacket.

Richard D. Margerum is Associate Professor and Department Head in the Department of Planning, Public Policy, and Management at the University of Oregon.