In general terms, public governance occurs in three broad ways: Through networks involving public-private partnerships (PPP) or with the collaboration of community organisations; Through the use of market mechanisms whereby market principles of competition serve to allocate resources while operating under government regulation; Through top-down methods that primarily involve governments and the state bureaucracy.
一般而言，治理以三大类方式发生： 借助涉及公私合作夥伴關係的网络，或者通过社区组织的合作； 借助市场机制的作用，當中競爭的市場原則可以在政府規管下運作，起到分配资源的作用； 借助自上而下的方法，這主要涉及政府和地区官僚机构。