ABSTRACT
In simple terms, government can be seen as the sum of public bodies in charge of: (a) providing services to citizens and companies; (b) planning and implementing policy; (c) organizing administrative processes, systems and human resources in order to realize policy and implement the needed services. 1 However, this definition does not take into consideration the fact that new actors are involved in the management of public resources. The term governance 2 is used to represent a situation where both planning and policy implementation, on the one hand, and service provision, on the other hand, pursue an active role for actors outside the public sector. The so-called public-private partnerships serve as examples in this proposal. The concept of 'good governance' 3 further contributes to this aspect, emphasizing the role played by an environment in which citizens share and influence the social, political and economic priorities.
