Partnership and Participation: Decision-Making in the Multiagency Setting

The past two decades have seen an increase in the number oforganisations working together in multiagency settings andincreased calls for partnership and participation in organisationaland public life. Models for this kind of working arrangement rangefrom contracting out and joint planning, through to more formalarrangements such as setting up a joint agency. How to make thesearrangements effective in developing policy and aidingdecision-making can, however, be problematic. To make themultiagency setting work, organisations must manage diversity,resolve conflict and promote collaboration. The processes foreffective decision-making in multiagency settings form the centralconcern of this book. Group processes must become moreparticipatory, democratic and empowering. Illustrated with casestudies drawn from the US, Africa, Asia, Latin America, as well asthe UK and Europe, the book surveys the range of multiagencysettings, explores the mechanisms and processes for multiagencywork, and reviews a range of processes and tools that have shownthemselves to be effective. Partnership & Participation offersno guaranteed answers, but provides a useful framework andstimulating guidelines for those facing the many questions that areraised by working in a multiagency setting.