Civil Society and the Collaborative County

Socioeconomic forces (e.g. mobile capital, domestic manufacturing decline, and austerity measures) place stress upon U.S. local governments’ efforts to provide public services. County governments operate in a context where they must meet federal and state devolutionary responsibilities while addressing service demands among their citizenry, stimulate their own economic development portfolio, and mediate between a complex local system of jurisdictions and private and public entities. Scholars and public policy practitioners advocate “intergovernmental collaboration” between county and other local governments as a necessary step towards effective public service provision to positively adapt to the socioeconomic forces listed above. At the same time, a wealth of research emerged over the past two decades highlighting the strong relationship between an engaged and robust civil society and governmental performance. The ability for “bridging” organizations to unify multiple, and at time conflicting, facets of civil society onto a similar platform for economic development planning and implementation is one mechanism driving this relationship. Effective governance in the early twenty-first century requires civil society working constructively with local public officials to engage in shared economic development services and activities. This study, utilizing a mixed quantitative and qualitative approach, investigates the role that civil society plays in the process of intergovernmental collaboration at the county level. First, it examines, through cross-sectional quantitative research, the relationship between a variety of civil society indicators and the rate in which county governments engage with other local governments in the provision of various economic development services and activities. It draws upon primary (i.e. National Association of Counties/Ohio State University data) and secondary (e.g. Census of Governments) data to test this research question. Second, an in-depth case study approach is implemented within one county in Ohio to highlight the underlying causal mechanisms and relationships between civil society and intergovernmental collaboration. In addition, the qualitative, case study research captures the evolutionary dynamics of collaborative processes as well as the county’s experiences as it prepares for the effects of shale-based oil and gas development.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Rural Sociology

Grantor dc:publisher

The Ohio State University

Year dc:date

2013

Author dc:creator

• Campbell, Joseph Trapp

Contributors dc:contributor

• Lobao , Linda

• Sociology
• Economics
• Public Administration
• Public Policy
• intergovernmental collaboration
• county governments
• civil society
• social capital
• economic development policy

Statement dc:rights

• unrestricted
• This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1363898761

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:etd.ohiolink.edu:osu1363898761