Collaborative Governance and Public Service Values in South Asian Liberal Democracies

In today’s era of globalization, leaders in the public sector are seeking new means of collaboration to uphold their values of public service. The rise of New Public Governance (NPG) calls for a fresh approach to reforms that supports co-production and collaborative governance, as they transition to a hybrid embedded model. Amid the COVID-19 crisis, which has brought about a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous situation, experts propose that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) may be the key to survival. These 17 goals aim to address the multifaceted policy challenges that the world is facing while ensuring that the vulnerable are protected and leaders are looking beyond the crisis. This study delves into SDGs 7 and 16 and how they can help us provide affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy choices while promoting inclusive representation in public service. Ultimately, this research examines the scope of public service values, the orientation of collaborative governance, and the context of co-production by analyzing case studies of public sector organizations operating in the energy sector of South Asian liberal democracies (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka), including their structures, policy coherence within hybrid power networks, reciprocal relationships, and public programs.