Unpacking the pluralism paradox: collaborative governance outcomes in jurisdictionally complex environments

Toddi Steelman; Branda Nowell

doi:10.1071/WF25013

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Previous Contents Vol 34(6)

Unpacking the pluralism paradox: collaborative governance outcomes in jurisdictionally complex environments

Toddi Steelman

^A ^* and Branda Nowell ^B

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, 421 Chapel Drive, Box 90054, Durham, NC 27705, USA.

^B School of Public and International Affairs, North Carolina State University, 211 Caldwell Hall, 2221 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, NC 26707, USA. Email: blnowell@ncsu.edu

^* Correspondence to: Toddi.steelman@duke.edu

International Journal of Wildland Fire 34, WF25013 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF25013

Submitted: 21 January 2025 Accepted: 29 April 2025 Published: 30 May 2025

© 2025 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of IAWF. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Background

In collaborative governance, many of the factors that give rise to the need for collaboration are also identified by scholars as undermining its effectiveness. Complex task environments mean that multiple and varied interests are necessary to address problems, but this inherent pluralism may also increase conflict. This suggests a pluralism paradox.

Aims

Our article advances theory and provides evidence about pluralism associated with jurisdictional affiliation and their relationship to collaborative governance outcomes during wildfires.

Methods

We analyzed data from 139 jurisdictional leaders from 15 wildfire disasters in the United States that took place in 2017 and 2018.

Key results

Consistent with extant theory on collaborative continuums, we find evidence to suggest that organizational pluralism associated with jurisdictional affiliation may not be uniformly predictive of different collaborative governance outcomes.

Conclusions

Evaluations of communication and information management were less likely to reflect differences tied to jurisdictional affiliation when compared with episodic cooperation and incident-level operational strategy, which were more likely to reflect differences in jurisdictional values, signaling an increased likelihood of conflict.

Implications

In addition to providing empirical evidence about the dynamics of pluralism in collaborative settings, we offer practical insights into opportunities for building collaborative capacity in jurisdictionally complex environments.

Keywords: collaboration, collaborative governance, conflict, disaster, diversity, firefighting, incident management, jurisdictional complexity, leaders, pluralism, wildfire.

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