Las redes de trabajo en la acción pública. Tipología y caracterización a partir de quince programas públicos en Chile

Abstract

As a result of a series of modernization processes, the Chilean State has implemented a group of management and governance mechanisms, among which public-private partnerships or alliances stand out. Inspired by efficiency-oriented approaches from New Public Management and democratic principles of New Governance, neither their socio-technical configuration nor their effects on the transformation of the work activity in public action have been explored. Based on the qualitative study of fifteen public programs operating through networks established by public-private partnerships (PPNetworks) in Chile, a typology and characterization of these networks is proposed. The results reveal four types of PPNetworks that organize the work activity in public action: networks for investment in public goods, networks for the delivery of social services, associative networks of public interest, and networks to subsidize projects. Each of these networks is organized based on a fundamental principle that establishes coordination mechanisms through a set of governance and management instruments, from which private state actors and citizens are called to action and positioned within the network. It is discussed how these networks attribute forms of involvement to the actors involved, thereby questioning them and shaping subjective dispositions in public work.