Resources, Mechanisms and Instruments for Coordination

Abstract

Coordination is not a simple political and administrative problem. It can imply a wide range of problems within the public sector, and the need for cooperation may arise for a variety of administrative and political reasons. It is not surprising therefore that scholars have advanced theoretical approaches to understanding this subject through social science theory, nor that practitioners have tried a variety of methods to achieve coordination. The theoretical approaches to the range of coordination problems are in most instances the same as those utilized in many other areas of inquiry in political science. Probing their applicability for understanding coordination, however, enables us to understand better how coordination can be brought about, and helps us gain an idea of the range of possible solutions to the common problem of achieving cooperation.