Fundamentals of Intergovernmental Management

This course is available for on-campus & online learning. Students participate in interactive, real-time classes. 2025 classes: June 5, 12 & 19. The course will give participants a practical orientation to a major and vital area of public administration. It provides them with an insight into the major frameworks and issues of federalism and public administration relevant to the practice of intergovernmental management. While particular attention will be paid to the federal context, including its formal and informal institutions, and the vertical and horizontal settings for intergovernmental management, the issues we will explore here will be of wider theoretical and practical value, including for those working on intergovernmental relations in non-federal systems. This course focuses on the daily workplace challenges of interjurisdictional problem solving under conditions of uncertainty and complexity, and how public servants contribute to the stability and robustness of intergovernmental frameworks, on the one hand, and adjustment and change on the other. The course provides participants with an opportunity to develop their insight into the range of issues, interests, strategies and ideas they are likely to encounter in their intergovernmental work, and how and why these perspectives and frameworks have emerged. The course considers a range of policy instruments and approaches that can be adopted in intergovernmental management, including practical matters on the day to day management of policy-related functions and processes. Participants will come away with an insight into structures, actors and the quality of processual interaction matters to intergovernmental coordination. Participants are stimulated to reflect upon the practical implications of the course material, engage with real life case studies and draw prescriptions for improving intergovernmental management.