Modes of Public Governance: A Typology Toward a Conceptual Modeling

Abstract This article defines public governance as the overall process of decision-making and implementation in solving public problems in a country, where public agencies or institutions initiate the process or are at least partially involved in the process. Under this definition, public governance can be classified into three modes according to the outcome: legal governance, performance-based governance, and consensus-oriented governance. Legal governance is a mode of governance close to Max Weber’s bureaucracy. Performance-based governance has focuses on how effectively and/or efficiently policy goals are achieved through decision-making and implementation. Finally, consensus-oriented governance is a mode of governance that calls for a political process to deal with various and conflicting interests. These three modes are different in terms of: who decides; the role of bureaucrats; the methods of decision making; and the nature of the interactions among actors. The critical factors that have a significant impact on the outcome of governance vary with each mode. Although in the real world, these three modes are often mixed and interrelated, it is necessary to distinguish them because it helps systematically analyze the phenomenon of governance. These three modes are particularly useful for understanding and analyzing the reality of governance in Korea and developing countries.