New Public Governance, the Third Sector, and Co-Production

6  From Co-Productionto Co-Governance

John M. Ackerman

INTRODUCTION

While the forty years after World War II were characterized by a faith in state intervention and the following twenty five years were marked by the acceptance of the market model, the new wave of development thinking is grounded in a solid commitment to civic engagement and government transparency.¹ We should welcome this paradigm shift as an opportunity to rethink accepted categories and as a chance to give a dynamic boost to studies of development. Nevertheless, as with all new concepts and intellectual fads, we need to carefully analyze and evaluate the many meanings and practices embedded in this new current of thought.

Specifically, strategies based in the local co-production ...