ABSTRACT
Traditional city and county governments are being replaced by new collaborative approaches to governance: regional structures with complex networks of local governments, limited-purpose regional authorities and taxing districts, and private, civic, faith-based, and nonprofit organizations participating in local governance simultaneously are becoming far more common (Foster 2000). Over the last couple of decades, there has been a proliferation of these regional governance structures and arrangements both to provide a regionwide platform for economic development and regional planning (Luger 2007; Ye 2009), and to address the ever-growing number of cross-boundary, complex, and large-scale problems affecting local communities (Frahm and Martin 2009; Kettl 2000; Laslo and Judd 2006). However, barriers to effective regional cooperation remain high. Muro (2008) recently proclaimed: “While leaders may want to promo megascaled responses to megascale problems, they are frequently hobbled because they lack the super-scaled governance and networks needed to shape their futures” (p. 6). Many regional institutions are weak, and federal and state program, policy, agency, and funding structures often impede effective cross-jurisdictional problem solving (Berube 2007; Muro et al. 2008; NAPA 1998).
