Crossing Boundaries for Intergovernmental Management

Crossing Boundaries for Intergovernmental Management takes one on a journey into the matrix of federalism to examine the evolution of management in intergovernmental relations. Agranoff synthesizes a large body of theory and research to illuminate the increasing reliance on the cross-sectoral delivery of publicly funded services. The book also offers practical guidance on public-private collaboration that will be valuable for on-the-job public servants as well as scholars and students. The volume is a worthy successor to the scholarship of Elazar and Wright. -- Dale Krane, Professor Emeritus, School of Public Administration, University of Nebraska, Omaha In Crossing Boundaries for Intergovernmental Management, Robert Agranoff breaks new ground with the concepts of interoperability and government stewardship in networked environments. Remarkable in its synthesis and rich detail, Crossing Boundaries is essential reading for public administration, public policy, and nonprofit students and scholars alike. -- Kathleen Hale, professor, Department of Political Science, Auburn University In this well researched and conceived book, Robert Agranoff presents a cross cutting, networked and timely look at intergovernmental relations. He accomplishes this by integrating network governance, collaborative management and IRG theory and illustrating this integration through many examples. This portrait of modern governance could only be written by a person with decades of study, original thinking, and border crossings that has marked Agranoff's career. -- Christopher Koliba, Professor of Public Administration, Policy and Governance, University of Vermont In Crossing Boundaries for Intergovernmental Management, Bob Agranoff provides a sweeping overview of the evolution and challenges of managing within our complex systems of intergovernmental relations and third party governance. He skillfully weaves together his many strands of research on federalism and intergovernmental management into a multi-dimensional framework of history, law, administration, and politics. The result might very well be considered his magnum opus--and surely a book that all students and scholars of federalism and public administration will want to read. -- Tim Conlan, University Professor of Government and Policy, George Mason University

Today, the work of government often involves coordination at the federal, state, and local levels as well as with contractors and citizens' groups. This process of governance across levels of government, jurisdictions, and types of actors is called intergovernmental relations, and intergovernmental management (IGM) is the way work is administered in this increasingly complex system. Leading authority Robert Agranoff reintroduces intergovernmental management for twenty-first-century governance to a new generation of scholars, students, and practitioners. Agranoff examines IGM in the United States from four thematic perspectives: law and politics, jurisdictional interdependency, multisector partners, and networks and networking. Common wisdom holds that government has "hollowed out" despite this present era of contracting and networked governance, but he argues that effective intergovernmental management has never been more necessary or important. He concludes by offering six next steps for intergovernmental management.