Governing Cross-Sector Collaboration

Chapter ThreeContracting and Collaborating

Empires were one of the earliest forms of government collaborations. Rome maintained its power through a variety of collaborative arrangements with individuals and vassal states. The Roman Empire used mercenaries in its armies, lured with the promise of loot and land if they came home alive. Rome even contracted with private tax collectors to fund its state.¹ Similarly, Britain maintained its hold on its vast empire over three centuries by using the East Indian Company (among others) to raise armies, collect taxes, and bring the riches home to Mother England.

In this chapter, we discuss contracting as a form of cross-sector collaboration.

CONTRACTING

In contracting, a government makes agreements ...