Policy Press
Seven Partnerships as tentative structural coupling
Abstract
Partnerships can hardly be said to establish communities across boundaries, contrary to the ideals contained in the semantics of partnerships. However, they enable structural couplings between different function systems and with qualities that are significantly different from first-order contracts. Politics communicates about first-order contracts as a tool for implementation and about second-order contracts as a political constitutional form. The service-producing systems communicate about first-order contracts as a programme for services and about second-order contracts as a programme for subsequent service programming. The shift from the first order to the second order fundamentally changes the character of the structural coupling. This chapter characterises partnerships as a political constitution, as segmented markets, as programmes for development, and as reflexive law.
Abstract
Partnerships can hardly be said to establish communities across boundaries, contrary to the ideals contained in the semantics of partnerships. However, they enable structural couplings between different function systems and with qualities that are significantly different from first-order contracts. Politics communicates about first-order contracts as a tool for implementation and about second-order contracts as a political constitutional form. The service-producing systems communicate about first-order contracts as a programme for services and about second-order contracts as a programme for subsequent service programming. The shift from the first order to the second order fundamentally changes the character of the structural coupling. This chapter characterises partnerships as a political constitution, as segmented markets, as programmes for development, and as reflexive law.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of tables and figures v
- Preface and acknowledgements vii
- Introduction 1
- Analytical strategy 7
- Articulating partnerships 31
- Outsourcing limits 55
- Contracts and relationality 67
- Contracts as communication 83
- Partnerships as second-order contracts 97
- Partnerships as tentative structural coupling 111
- Partnerships as second-order organisations 127
- Conclusion 137
- References 149
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of tables and figures v
- Preface and acknowledgements vii
- Introduction 1
- Analytical strategy 7
- Articulating partnerships 31
- Outsourcing limits 55
- Contracts and relationality 67
- Contracts as communication 83
- Partnerships as second-order contracts 97
- Partnerships as tentative structural coupling 111
- Partnerships as second-order organisations 127
- Conclusion 137
- References 149
