01321pab a2200133 454500008004000000100001700040245005800057260000900115300001400124520098000138650002601118700001701144773002601161180718b2007   xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d  aFreeman, Tim  aPerforming governance: a partnership board dramaturgy  c2007  ap.907-29.  aThis paper explores the governance of complex public sector partnerships through a detailed case study of a Joint Commissioning Partnership Board (JCPB) in the South East of England. It argues that a theoretical and empirical focus on the instrumental roles of boards has resulted in an under-appreciation of their symbolic purposes, especially in the context of the governance of inter-organizational relationships. The paper considers the performative dimension of partnership governance, highlighting the role of the symbolic in institutional enactment. Following a brief overview of governance in public sector partnerships, the case study site for the empirical reconsidered from a new institutionalist perspective and a dramaturgical analysis of institutional enactment undertaken to explore interplays of the symbolic and instrumental in strategy formation. Some implications for our understanding of the symbolic in partnership governance are discussed. - Reproduced.  aPublic administration  aPeck, Edward  aPublic Administration