Governing local partnerships: does external steering help local agencies address wicked problems?

Partnerships have played an increasingly prominent role in local governance and there has been considerable debate about the impact which self-organising capacity and government intervention have on their effectiveness. This paper examines what kinds of self-steering local public service partnerships require in order to address intractable public policy problems, and whether external steering by government helps or hinders them. It concludes that 'soft steering' by government can be instrumental in establishing and mobilising partnerships. The type of self-steering they deploy depends on the context in which they operate and the kinds of collaborative activities they attempt.