ABSTRACT
There is now considerable work on how hierarchical and relatively closed-off systems of government might be said to have given way to new, more porous systems of governance, bringing into the policy process a much wider range of institutional actors (Rhodes 1997; Pierre and John 2000; Newman 2001). The shift towards governance has seen a range of non-governmental actors brought closer to the centre of policy making and policy delivery, including both private-sector actors and civil society organizations. Aspects of this trend include the privatisation and contracting out of government functions, through which the role of government has increasingly been transformed from that of a direct provider of services to that of a facilitator and (re-)regulator for the competitive provision of services. The growth of governance in its many forms is also linked to a substantial growth in the number and range of institutions involved in processes of sub-national governance, with business, community action and environmental groups, plus education, crime and health institutions, all increasingly prominent in local and regional regeneration activities, for instance. Indeed, various forms of cross-sectoral partnership now represent the dominant institutional form in regeneration activities in the United Kingdom and in many other nations.
