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The last two decades have seen a global increase in the involvement of the private sector in the provision of services traditionally provided by governments. Efforts to deliver more with less have motivated governments to seek out new sources of financing and to consider the creation of partnerships involving the public, private and not-for-profit sectors (Lowndes and Skelcher 1998). Public-private partnerships have been proposed to tackle a range of public goods such as healthcare delivery, water delivery, education, telecommunications and transportation services. Not surprisingly, the global dialogue that surrounds the movement towards increased private-sector involvement has become greatly polarised. Proponents of the involvement of the private sector propose that governments need to'steer rather than row—a phrase popularised by the advocates of New Public Management (Osbourne and Gaebler 1992). Thus, rather than operating institutions, governments should establish the framework within which private companies can perform this function. On the other side of the debate, opponents of the involvement of the private sector fear a loss of control over precious public goods (Barlow and Clarke 2002). They fear that, in the quest to increase efficiency, private firms may ignore social objectives, such as keeping the cost of water and power affordable, or providing a service in poor areas.