Na. Phelps et M. Tewdwr-jones, Scratching the surface of collaborative and associative governance: identifying the diversity of social action in institutional capacity building, ENVIR PL-A, 32(1), 2000, pp. 111-130
Recent work on 'collaborative planning' has concentrated on applying Haberm
as's work on communicative action to the realm of urban and regional govern
ance. This work has its parallels in other disciplines, notably geography,
where institutional capacity building has been considered as part of local
systems of governance. Both bodies of work are premised to a degree on the
rationality of communication. Habermas contrasted his ideas on the possibil
ities for communicative action with the widespread presence of 'strategic b
ehaviour' in social relations. The dual nature of governance as both an ins
titutional and a political activity means that consideration of such strate
gic forms of behaviour is essential to a deeper understanding of the nature
of collaborative and associative forms of governance and their outcomes. W
hat social scientists refer to as 'teleological/strategic action: 'normativ
ely regulated action: and 'dramaturgical action' together with communicativ
e action are all integral to collaborative governance. In this paper, we co
nsider examples of the manner in which institutional capacity has been exer
cised in attempts to attract a major inward investment project into the Uni
ted Kingdom. The example illustrates the range of social actions that are p
resent beneath the surface of collaborative and associative governance. Mor
e specifically, our example highlights the structuring of institutional and
organisational interactions through the strategic behaviour of a dominant
local organisation.