Chapter 1: Public Value and Cross-Sector Collaboration: Meaning, Gaps, and Solutions

The debate over a central meaning guiding the pursuit of public policy centers around public value. Any action or policy is expected to either create or enhance public value. Public policy goals can be achieved by the public sector, the private sector, and the voluntary sector; either acting individually or collaboratively. Cross-sector actors should have been convinced of the importance of the public policy goals and the overall value to individuals, communities, and the actors involved.

From traditional public administration to the current dominant public value, there was not much discord on the need for value creation as there was for the determination of the best suited sector to achieve value. Each of the public administration paradigms including traditional public administration, new public administration, new public management, new public service, public governance, new public governance, and network or hybrid-network governance had specific principles for practitioners and policymakers’ commitment to public interest. The differing elements among the variations had unique views on the types of actors and sectors, some in the form of additions, complementarity, or rejection. More importantly, the debate on the results and outcomes has been recurring, hence each paradigm seeks to better define the value that is derived from public policy implementation.