“Over the last couple of decades both academics and practitioners have been more systematically focused on examples and prescriptions where the sectors work together to address public problems. This is much broader than contracting out or public-private partnerships, as typically these more traditional arrangements involve a collaboration among two sectors — public and private, or public and nonprofit — but not all three. These are questions not of how government will address these issues, but rather questions of governance that involve all three sectors.

Collaborative governance, nonetheless, is here to stay. The relevant question is not whether the sectors work together. The important questions involve whether such collaboration is appropriate in a given circumstance, how such partnerships can be successfully structured and how well they work in practice.”