Narratives of Collaborative Governance : An Exploration of the National Innovation Council

Abstract: Governance is a predominant paradigm in political science, characterizing how current regimes are increasingly steered by multiple societal actors and structures. The specific purpose and processes of such arrangements however, remain vague in theory and in practice. This thesis relies on narratological and ethnographic methods to describe how motivations, goals, and interactions of collaborative governance arrangements advance theoretical and empirical definitions. The focus of this paper is the Swedish National Innovation Council (NIC), which provides a rare case of collaborative governance at the national government level. By interpreting the active narratives of this council, theoretical definitions of collaborative governance are stabilized. I rely on semi-structured elite interviews and document analyses to gain access to the council’s otherwise exclusive arrangement. I find that this constructivist approach adds sociopolitical dimensions to the concept of collaborative governance, including a deeper understanding of collaboration, change and contribution. These theoretical findings are grounded on empirical observations, including my concept of ‘bilateral opportunism,’ the semantics presented in the concept of change, and the reconceptualization of public service. The will to improve expressed by the NIC has political and democratic implications that this thesis will discuss.