Three-Way Categorisations, Hybrids and Intersectoral Mixes in the Governance Equation

Many attempts to explain social, political, economic and organisational developments have produced three-way categorisations of relevant phenomena. This article identifies several such categorisations, and looks at the oddity of ordering which often sees so-called third sets occupying middle grounds between first and second sets, leading to exercises in continuum-building which emphasise the hybrid-like qualities of many constituents of those sets. The exploration extends particularly to non-departmental public sector bodies, not-for-profit organisations and state-civil society mixes.