Local Governments in Multilevel Governance

Robert Agranoff is the doyen of collaborative public management. Local Governments in Multilevel Governance explores the way multi-level government impacts public management. He explores how the shift from government to governance has changed the relationships between networks and bureaucracy, especially in local government. It will be a career defining book and a `must read' for anyone interested in managing the complex webs of organizations that typify modern governance. -- R A W Rhodes, University of Southampton Robert Agranoff's broad sweep of the administrative challenges of local government in the current era of global and multi-level governance is both exhaustive and compelling. Synthesizing the rapidly growing literature on multi-level governance and drawing on his vast research experience in cross-national public management, Agranoff's monograph provides the most comprehensive and contemporary understanding of the managerial challenges facing governments whether a federal or quasi-federal or emerging federal system. Indeed, as Agranoff claims, multi-level governance issues transcend federal systems as various networks define the complexity of MLG governance in the contemporary era. The work is grounded in extensive analyses of NGOs and governmental agencies, their interactions, and the promise for greater intergovernmental collaboration. The frame for understanding MLG complexity is from that of local governments, which given the enormous variation in structure, form and style across the local government terrain creates the dynamic texture of Agranoff's analysis. Local Governments in Multi-Level Governance will be required reading for all scholars of government, governance, and political systems in general. -- Michael A. Pagano, The University of Illinois at Chicago