Public-Private Partnerships as Engagement Tools in Local Governments & Universities
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.
By Emily Devereux
August 3, 2019
Local governments and universities are tasked with becoming more responsive to and engaged with their communities. Yet they have been required to do so with less fiscal resources now for over a decade. The need for compensating the public funding shortfall with creative mechanisms, including public-private partnerships and other indirect mechanisms, has not only leveraged resources to finance service delivery and higher education projects, but also has served as an engagement tool with the public in delivering democracy, innovation and economic development. From the perspective of both finance and engagement, how have these mechanisms changed the landscape of public administration and the role of our communities? Does this reflect the Denhardts’ New Public Service, or is it more focused on financial stability with a coincidental by-product of public engagement?
Funding is tight, research and development is expensive and economic development is challenging. Prior to the 1980s, mixing of public organizations, government and private businesses was considered suspect. Yet now into the 21st century, our economy would be disparate without collaboration between the government, public institutions and private enterprises for the development and growth of innovation and service delivery. Collaboration and leveraging of resources can pull together multiple stakeholders within the public and private realms resulting in engagement, more public voice and a perceived increase in impact factor. Public-private partnerships benefit both sectors and are solution based, thus creating applied research and development specific for industrial growth and for delivery of services unique to community needs.
Solutions unique to such localized community needs prioritize new traits and skill sets required of public administrators. This includes an expanding and specialized breadth of expertise in contracts, intellectual property and service agreements of sponsored programs and economic development officers in local governments and universities. These solutions also provide effective leveraging skills and sensitivity to the needs and perceptions of both the public and private sectors to keep the citizenry engaged. The tools we have moved to for service delivery and development require engagement and response between both the government and the public for effectiveness.
A new leadership style moving from a hierarchical model to the emotionally intelligent leadership approach of today is essential to our field of public administration. The ability to inspire citizen engagement in achieving democracy and its outcomes could redefine administration’s processes. It could redefine our systems of measurement in accomplishing the four pillars of economy, effectiveness, efficiency and equity. Should we anticipate engagement being added as a possible fifth pillar?
Is the growth of today’s reliance and utilization of public-private partnerships and other financing tools a reflection of our movement toward responsiveness and public engagement? Shared or collaborative governance brings a diversity of constituents to the decision table instead of the previous hierarchical models. This signifies a change in the engagement of citizens, organizations and communities. As citizens form groups and coalitions to hear and bring about change for the common good, public-private partnerships have resulted and been created around the needs of today—not just in delivery of a public services, but also in meeting the needs of both the public and private sectors in accomplishing what they cannot build by themselves.
Service and responsiveness through listening and communicating to better understand what the public needs, instead of telling the public what it needs, is at the core of the Denhardts’ New Public Service. This thus puts greater value on the citizens, rather than meeting measures of operational efficiency, as public service evolves from the new public administration toward the new public service. As tools such as public-private partnerships, contracts and other agreement mechanisms have been associated with the new public administration’s business models, the question is worthy to examine if these tools are now reflecting an engagement role in our communities rather than just a fiscal solution.
Citizen engagement today is how we get to the root of public interest, spurring positive changes in our organizations and in our communities. Thus a new and broadening, yet specialized, skillset is required for our field to ensure sustainable effectiveness. We are seeing a shift in roles between government and the public, resulting in new leadership and hierarchy models for a more humanistic and effective approach based on localized needs. This further reflects the evolution of public-private partnerships and other indirect mechanisms being developed with the uniqueness of communities’ needs at its core. As roles are shifting, our policy tools are evolving, and our landscape of public administration is changing—bringing our local governments, public institutions and our private sectors together for stronger and more sustainable communities at the heart of our American public.
Author: Emily Devereux is executive director of research and technology transfer at Arkansas State University and is a student in the DPA program at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. She is a certified research administrator, serves as chair of NCURA Region III, and serves on the Arkansas State University’s MPA advisory board. She can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @EmilyDevo.
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Public-Private Partnerships as Engagement Tools in Local Governments & Universities
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.
By Emily Devereux
August 3, 2019
Local governments and universities are tasked with becoming more responsive to and engaged with their communities. Yet they have been required to do so with less fiscal resources now for over a decade. The need for compensating the public funding shortfall with creative mechanisms, including public-private partnerships and other indirect mechanisms, has not only leveraged resources to finance service delivery and higher education projects, but also has served as an engagement tool with the public in delivering democracy, innovation and economic development. From the perspective of both finance and engagement, how have these mechanisms changed the landscape of public administration and the role of our communities? Does this reflect the Denhardts’ New Public Service, or is it more focused on financial stability with a coincidental by-product of public engagement?
Funding is tight, research and development is expensive and economic development is challenging. Prior to the 1980s, mixing of public organizations, government and private businesses was considered suspect. Yet now into the 21st century, our economy would be disparate without collaboration between the government, public institutions and private enterprises for the development and growth of innovation and service delivery. Collaboration and leveraging of resources can pull together multiple stakeholders within the public and private realms resulting in engagement, more public voice and a perceived increase in impact factor. Public-private partnerships benefit both sectors and are solution based, thus creating applied research and development specific for industrial growth and for delivery of services unique to community needs.
Solutions unique to such localized community needs prioritize new traits and skill sets required of public administrators. This includes an expanding and specialized breadth of expertise in contracts, intellectual property and service agreements of sponsored programs and economic development officers in local governments and universities. These solutions also provide effective leveraging skills and sensitivity to the needs and perceptions of both the public and private sectors to keep the citizenry engaged. The tools we have moved to for service delivery and development require engagement and response between both the government and the public for effectiveness.
A new leadership style moving from a hierarchical model to the emotionally intelligent leadership approach of today is essential to our field of public administration. The ability to inspire citizen engagement in achieving democracy and its outcomes could redefine administration’s processes. It could redefine our systems of measurement in accomplishing the four pillars of economy, effectiveness, efficiency and equity. Should we anticipate engagement being added as a possible fifth pillar?
Is the growth of today’s reliance and utilization of public-private partnerships and other financing tools a reflection of our movement toward responsiveness and public engagement? Shared or collaborative governance brings a diversity of constituents to the decision table instead of the previous hierarchical models. This signifies a change in the engagement of citizens, organizations and communities. As citizens form groups and coalitions to hear and bring about change for the common good, public-private partnerships have resulted and been created around the needs of today—not just in delivery of a public services, but also in meeting the needs of both the public and private sectors in accomplishing what they cannot build by themselves.
Service and responsiveness through listening and communicating to better understand what the public needs, instead of telling the public what it needs, is at the core of the Denhardts’ New Public Service. This thus puts greater value on the citizens, rather than meeting measures of operational efficiency, as public service evolves from the new public administration toward the new public service. As tools such as public-private partnerships, contracts and other agreement mechanisms have been associated with the new public administration’s business models, the question is worthy to examine if these tools are now reflecting an engagement role in our communities rather than just a fiscal solution.
Citizen engagement today is how we get to the root of public interest, spurring positive changes in our organizations and in our communities. Thus a new and broadening, yet specialized, skillset is required for our field to ensure sustainable effectiveness. We are seeing a shift in roles between government and the public, resulting in new leadership and hierarchy models for a more humanistic and effective approach based on localized needs. This further reflects the evolution of public-private partnerships and other indirect mechanisms being developed with the uniqueness of communities’ needs at its core. As roles are shifting, our policy tools are evolving, and our landscape of public administration is changing—bringing our local governments, public institutions and our private sectors together for stronger and more sustainable communities at the heart of our American public.
Author: Emily Devereux is executive director of research and technology transfer at Arkansas State University and is a student in the DPA program at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. She is a certified research administrator, serves as chair of NCURA Region III, and serves on the Arkansas State University’s MPA advisory board. She can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @EmilyDevo.
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