This revised and expanded edition of a benchmark collection compares how civil services around the world have adapted to cope with managing public services in the 21st century. The volume provides insights into multi-level governance, juridification and issues of efficiency and responsiveness as well as exploring the impact of fiscal austerity.

The last few decades have presented a new set of challenges and opportunities for public finances. Demographic trends have put substantial pressure on non-discretionary public expenditures such as health care, while legal challenges have put pressure on education financing. The author illustrates how these national trends have also impacted state and local finances ? some directly, others indirectly. The economic downturn further constrains state and local governments? options for dealing with national trends. Constituents? sentiment toward the size of government further exacerbates fiscal choices for state and local governments.In this broad and illuminating volume, experts on public finance discuss innovations in state and local tax policy implemented or considered over the course of the last three decades. The authors provide original work that analyzes whether state and local governments have ?gone outside the box? to deal with the strains of current public finances or have gotten along by adhering to the status quo. Well-known scholars in the area of state and local public finance consider actual practices and analyze potential policy changes for the future.Public policy and public finance scholars and students as well as policy makers will find much of interest in this impressive and original collection.

Based on new field research, this book assesses the current state of governance and public sector reforms in eleven Asian countries and jurisdictions, especially in the wake of the recent regional financial crisis that seriously affected some of them. It analyses reform efforts comparatively against a backdrop of governance problems, and seeks to establish whether these efforts represent a substantive shift in attitudes towards reform or whether they serve simply to reinforce existing practices. The authors explore a number of important themes that are central to governance and public sector reform issues. These include the role of the state, the success or failure of organizational reforms, corruption, the applicability of the new public management model in the Asian context, and the governance values and reform models promoted by regional and international agencies.

In times of rising expectations and decreasing resources for the public sector, performance management is high on the agenda. Increasingly, the value of the performance management systems themselves is under scrutiny, with more attention being paid to the effectiveness of performance management in practice. This new edition has been revised and updated to examine: performance in the context of current public management debates, including emerging discussions on the New Public Governance and neo-Weberianism; the many definitions of performance and how it has become one of the most contested agendas of public management; the so-called perverse effects of using performance indicators; the technicalities of performance measurement in a five step process: prioritising measurement, indicator development, data collection, analysis and reporting; and the future challenges and directions of performance management Performance Management in the Public Sector 2nd edition offers an approachable insight into a complex theme for practitioners and public management students alike.

Strategic management is widely seen as essential to the public services, leading to better performance and better outcomes for the public. In fact, the private sector idea of strategic management has become so powerful in the public sector that politicians and policy makers have begun to talk about the importance of the modern state being strategic - and we may be witnessing the emergence of the Strategic State. Strategic Management for the Public Sector draws on experience and research from a range of countries and provides a theoretical understanding of strategic management that is grounded in the public sector. Drawing on the latest theory and research this text provides a fresh look at foresight, analysis, strategic choice, implementation and evaluation. This book also offers original and detailed case studies based on up to date evidence from different public sector settings, helping the reader to build on their understanding of theories and concepts presented earlier in the book. Strategic Management for the Public Sector has been written specially for managers and students taking postgraduate courses such as MBAs and MPAs. It will also appeal to individual managers and civil servants in the public sector looking for an accessible book to read as part of their own independent personal development.

This series presents selected research papers dealing with important methodological and theoretical issues in the policy sciences, with research in policy-related disciplines, and applied research on issues in public policy analysis and public management. There is particular emphasis on research related to operations and design issues for governmental organizations.

A comprehensive guide to future-proofing public sector communication and increasing citizen satisfaction How to communicate with the citizens of the future? Why does public sector communication often fail? Public Sector Communication combines practical examples from around the world with the latest theoretical insights to show how communication can help bridge gaps that exist between public sector organizations and the individual citizens they serve. The authors--two experts in the field with experience from the public sector--explain how public entities, be they cities, governments, foundations, agencies, authorities, municipalities, regulators, military, or government monopolies and state owned businesses can build their intangible assets to future-proof themselves in a volatile environment. The book examines how the recent digitalization has increased citizen expectations and why one-way communication leaves public sector organizations fragile. To explain how to make public sector communication antifragile, the authors map contributions from a wide variety of fields combined with illustrative examples from around the world. The authors propose a research-based framework of different intangible assets that can directly improve communication in the public sector. This important resource: Helps explain the sector-specific conditions and why communication is often challenging in the public sector Summarizes all relevant literature on the topic across disciplines and includes the most popular management ideals of the recent decades Explores how public sector organizations can increase citizen satisfaction with effective communication Presents new approaches to both the study and practice of communication in the public sector Provides international examples of successful public sector communication Offers realistic guides to building intangible assets in practice Written for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, as well as public managers and leaders, Public Sector Communication offers an illustrative, research-based guide to improving communication and engaging citizens of today and the future.

The relationship between evil and public affairs, as well as other fields and professions in public life, has come to the fore as institutions of government seek new ways to operate in an environment of extreme mistrust. Unmasking Administrative Evil, 5th Edition argues that the tendency toward administrative evil, as manifested in acts of dehumanization and genocide, is deeply woven into the identity of public affairs. Indeed, ordinary people may simply act appropriately in their organizational role-in essence, just doing what those around them would agree they should be doing-and at the same time, participate in what a critical and reasonable observer, usually well after the fact, would call evil. Even worse, under conditions of moral inversion, ordinary people can all too easily engage in acts of administrative evil while believing that what they are doing is not only correct, but in fact, good. This 5th edition offers important updates, including: A thorough discussion of contemporary virtue ethics as the field has evolved to offer an alternative to technical/rational ethics. An all-new three-part structure (What is Administrative Evil?, History and Cases, and The Future of Ethics in Praetorian Times) designed to aid in course organization and instruction. All-new cases, including an examination of the Flint water disaster, to provide contemporary examples of how populations can be marginalized and harmed by administrative processes that are blind to their consequences until it is too late. Laying the groundwork for a more ethical and democratic public life - one that recognizes its potential for evil, and avoids state-sponsored dehumanization and destruction - Unmasking Administrative Evil, 5th Edition is required reading for all students of administrative ethics and public service ethics, as well those in other administrative sciences.

Regulating Development examines the impact that regulation - good or bad - can have on the development of poorer societies. It opens with a succinct review of critical issues, including the implications of the spread of intellectual property rights legislation and the role of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).The volume examines the regulatory experiences of three important developing economies: Brazil, Ghana and South Africa. Key regulatory themes are analysed, most notably capital markets and corporate governance regulation, the regulation of the telecommunications sector and the use of regulatory reforms to promote the development of small- and medium-sized enterprises. Within each chapter policy lessons are drawn, the relevance of which extend well beyond national or even regional boundaries. The principal aim of the book is to show the extent to which regulation is moving increasingly to centre stage as a driver of development in Africa and Latin America. The book also demonstrates how thoughtful, well-planned regulation can make a real contribution to the emergence of supply-side competitiveness. This book will be invaluable reading for academics, researchers and students with an interest in economics and development studies, as well as for regulators and policymakers in developing countries.

This is the second edition of a treatise which examines the law applied by international administrative tribunals in the field of employment relations between international organizations and their staff. The second edition has been substantially revised to take account of a great deal of new law and practice. Both the first and second volumes have been revised and are now free standing.

In an attempt to instil trust in their performance, credibility, integrity, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and good governance, many public organizations are in effect viewing tax-paying citizens as consumers. Little research exists to explore synergies between the market economy, public administration reformation, and their complex bilateral effects. This book takes a timely look at the heightened need for public administration reform as a result of the economic challenges currently faced by nations across the globe. In particular it explores the roles of eGovernment and a citizen-centric focus in this transformation. Public Administration Reform examines several commonly-held assumptions about public administration: the public sector is slow and bureaucratic; government employees are frequently disengaged; and government agencies are sometimes wasteful. eGovernment is proposed as a key tool in the improvement of both public services and reputations of public organizations.

"Worth a read for anyone who cares about making change happen."-Barack Obama A powerful new blueprint for how governments and nonprofits can harness the power of digital technology to help solve the most serious problems of the twenty-first century As the speed and complexity of the world increases, governments and nonprofit organizations need new ways to effectively tackle the critical challenges of our time-from pandemics and global warming to social media warfare. In Power to the Public, Tara Dawson McGuinness and Hana Schank describe a revolutionary new approach-public interest technology-that has the potential to transform the way governments and nonprofits around the world solve problems. Through inspiring stories about successful projects ranging from a texting service for teenagers in crisis to a streamlined foster care system, the authors show how public interest technology can make the delivery of services to the public more effective and efficient. At its heart, public interest technology means putting users at the center of the policymaking process, using data and metrics in a smart way, and running small experiments and pilot programs before scaling up. And while this approach may well involve the innovative use of digital technology, technology alone is no panacea-and some of the best solutions may even be decidedly low-tech. Clear-eyed yet profoundly optimistic, Power to the Public presents a powerful blueprint for how government and nonprofits can help solve society's most serious problems.

Networks have been described in terms of metaphors, governance arrangements and structural or institutional arrangements. These different perspectives of networks come out of a variety of disciplines, including political science, public administration, urban affairs, social welfare, public management and organizational/sociological research. This wealth of research, while contributing to a deeper understanding of networks, presents a dilemma which is addressed by this book. That is the question of whether there is a theory of public networks that informs networks in their various forms, and is there a need for a new theory of networks? More importantly, is network research still relevant to practice? Does network theory improve the process of governance? Are different terms and/or approaches actually the same or different? What do these different approaches mean to theory? This book deeply explores and integrates existing network theory and related theories from a number of perspectives, levels and jurisdictions to develop a framework to guide network design, governance and management. The book focuses on the important issue of network performance, looking at networks as bounded and consciously arranged; the actors who participate in them design the relationships among a bounded set of individual organizations to purse common objectives. Finally, the chapters tease out the variety of governance modes or regimes that intersect with network governance. This book offers a comprehensive, integrative, interdisciplinary approach that enables specialists, practitioners and administrators across a wide array of interests and fields to formulate and work on problems using a common language, analytical framework and theoretical basis.

When researching, teaching or working with information systems in the public sector, one is left with few or often no textbooks that provide useful case studies or surveys on the implementation and effects of integrating information technologies in the organizations' operations. This is surprising since in most first world countries the public sector consumes a substantial part of the gross national product. Even more astonishing is the vast amount of financial and organizational resources that are spent developing and implementing various information systems. We decided to write this book to provide information for those studying information systems at business schools, information and computer departments at collegesl universities, and for those working hands-on with EDI and data networking in public administration. Thus, our primary target groups for this book are professionals, training (MA-courses), computer science, MBA, MP A, and political science. EDI has been seen as a means to wire the various policy areas in the public sector. Those included are not limited strictly to the public organizations, but extend to their trade partners. Also, government has sought ways to stimulate the usage of ED I in the private sector beyond those transactions involving direct communication with the public sector. In this book, we have contributors from eight countries and a total of 14 chapters reporting on issues of importance when developing and implementing EDI, when government wants to stimulate the diffusion of EDI in society, and when organizations want to address the impact of their investments in ED .

In this wide-ranging selection of papers, distinguished economists, public policy advisers and political theorists contribute to the debate on public goods. The studies cover topics in the conceptualization, classification and stratification of public goods. Also examined are public institutional design, global economic institutions and partnership typologies. Individual papers address the financing, regulatory, organizational and legal aspects relating to services of general interest in Europe. The dynamics of global public good production, including monopolies, patents, scientific uncertainty and market failures, are discussed. Empirical research on the state, profit and non-profit sectors is presented. Providing numerous examples of specific public goods, the contributions also highlight the impact of macroeconomic policies on provision. The book presents a broad diversity of new approaches to global public goods within the framework of mixed economies, beyond the standard economic analysis of public services. Academics, researchers and policymakers in the area of global public goods and services will find this volume of great interest.

The central purpose of this book is to analyse the optimal allocation of local public goods or services (for example garbage collection, police, fire brigades and medical services) in large urban agglomerations and the allocation consequences of increasing competition in the provision of them. Competition in the Provision of Local Public Goods uses two innovative aspects present in the concept of Functional Overlapping Competing Jurisdictions, which are de-localized membership and uni-functionality of jurisdictions. The book analyses the effect of these two aspects on competition among jurisdictions and the impact this probable increase in competition may have on the achievement of the optimal allocation of local public goods. The primary audience for this work is academics and researchers in the fields of urban and regional economics, location theory and public policy. An important secondary audience will be scholars of industrial organization, who can use the framework developed here for analyzing other problems related with the location of individuals in space.

This multidisciplinary work explores ways of making environmental policy decisions in managing public goods and natural parks with the goal of maximizing economic benefits to society. The contributors to the volume seek the best strategies for improving the environmental sustainability and quality of a public resource by showing how to develop quantitative information about the natural area and how it interacts with the economy. Such an analysis can be used to define policies that encourage interactions among institutions, local economic agents and park users. At the same time, it provides a measure to account for the implications of those policies on the local economy.A public resource, such as a natural park, has many different functions - the production of marketed goods, ecosystem protection and tourism - and its management requires the knowledge of the physical, biological and ecological characteristics of the functions supplied by the resource, as well as the value of each function and the public resource as a whole. To ensure the implementation of the optimal practice, the contributors adopt a participative approach to establish a credible social contract between the area's public manager and its consumers. Balancing the interests of residents, visitors and local businesses, and coupling the development of both the natural potential of the area and the local economy, are necessary steps for the best strategy to be adopted. Economists and agricultural-environmental economists, forest and resource planners interested in practical guidance, and professors who teach environmental economics or forest planning courses will all find this collection invaluable and instructive.

This volume is part of a series which presents selected research papers dealing with important methodological and theoretical issues in the policy sciences. Topics discussed in this volume include: the role of science in public policy; and public policy in developing and developed countries.

The book is the first of its kind to attempt to deal with the economics of pensions and ageing on the basis of a rigorous theoretical framework alternative to neoclassical economics. Sergio Cesaratto breaks the dominant conformism in the current pension debate and explains that the strength of the various reforms proposed depends on the validity of the economic theories on which they are respectively based. He also illustrates the relevance of the Sraffian criticism to undermine the theoretical core of the mainstream proposals. Academics and practitioners interested in the pension debate, welfare state, income distribution and institutions will find Pension Reform and Economic Theory of great interest, as will demographers, political scientists and mainstream economists open to dissenting views in economic analysis and interested in understanding the economic foundations of pension reform proposals.

As governments throughout the world experience increasing fiscal challenges, the pressures on public sectors to streamline services and harness technological advances is unprecedented. Many have undergone huge budgetary cuts as a result, but what are the effects of this intense organisational change on such a large and varied workforce? And how can managers within the public sector meet the challenge of delivering services whilst maintaining the health and wellbeing of staff tasked with carrying out the work? Managing Health and WellBeing in the Public Sector: A Guide to Best Practice is the ideal companion to any manager in these challenging times. Exploring the realities of working in the public sector, and those factors which can add meaning and purpose to working life, the book provides managers with a practical toolkit for creating the best working environment, as well as nurturing resilience and motivation within their staff. Written by two authors with a lifetime of experience in the field, the book also examines why promoting occupational health and wellbeing is beneficial to organizations, drawing on a wealth of international research to support this argument. It concludes with a series of case studies in which an international range of public sector managers discuss initiatives they have implemented, and how successful they have been. This is the ideal companion for any manager working in the public sector. It will also be instructive reading for students or researchers of occupational or organizational psychology, as well as HRM.

In almost every liberal democratic society, an issue that is a topic of constant and passionate public discussion is how much that country's ministers, legislators, senior civil servants, and senior judges should be paid. Nor is this surprising; the issue has considerable voyeuristic appeal, particular democratic significance, and important ramifications for the functioning of the public sector as a whole. However, like most political debates, these discussions tend to be messy, fragmented, and full of unverified assertions and spurious appeals to populist sentiment. It is hardly surprising that those discussions rarely succeed in putting the matter to rest. Paying Our High Public Officials examines the political discourse concerning this question in 17 liberal democracies (Canada, the United States, Mexico, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Poland, Italy, Hong Kong, Singapore, and New Zealand). Based on many hundreds of parliamentary debates, newspaper articles, speeches, as well as reports by think tanks and high commissions of state, the book identifies seven central arguments that occur in all these societies, translates them into the language of analytical philosophy, and then rigorously evaluates them. This approach contributes to a better understanding of this controversy and may result in better-justified and more legitimate conclusions concerning which policy to adopt.

In an attempt to instil trust in their performance, credibility, integrity, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and good governance, many public organizations are in effect viewing tax-paying citizens as consumers. Little research exists to explore synergies between the market economy, public administration reformation, and their complex bilateral effects. This book takes a timely look at the heightened need for public administration reform as a result of the economic challenges currently faced by nations across the globe. In particular it explores the roles of eGovernment and a citizen-centric focus in this transformation. Public Administration Reform examines several commonly-held assumptions about public administration: the public sector is slow and bureaucratic; government employees are frequently disengaged; and government agencies are sometimes wasteful. eGovernment is proposed as a key tool in the improvement of both public services and reputations of public organizations.

Civil services in Western liberal democracies have undergone significant changes since the early 1980s, so much so that many of the traditional assumptions underpinning their role and operating practices have been fundamentally questioned. This volume explores a number of themes inherent in this transformation process and the significant problems encountered in modernizing civil services. The commitment to modernizing public services has been a constant trend of Western governments and has encompassed many approaches under a variety of labels, such as new public management and reinventing government. As a result of such developments, the public services of many countries have been transformed, with civil services being singled out for particular attention. This book critically examines the application of the modernization agenda in the old Commonwealth, the USA and Western Europe, including the institutions of the EU. Particular attention is given to developments in the British civil service, including the implications of devolved government, human rights legislation, and the Blair government's attempts to improve the policy process. For students and academics of public administration, public policy and comparative politics, this book will provide unrivalled coverage of one of the most critical issues in contemporary public management and policy.

Packed with international case examples and clearly delineating principles as they apply to public sector organizations, Lean for the Public Sector: The Pursuit of Perfection in Government Services demonstrates that Lean in the public sector is neither rocket science nor a typical profit-driven improvement program. The book begins with coverage of the basic philosophy of Lean before detailing specific methods for improving processes in the public sector. It addresses concerns specific to the public sector environment and considers the role of the citizen, not only as customer, but as a voter, taxpayer, and community participant. The author provides a clear explanation of methods such as 5S, kaizen, standardization techniques, and Value Stream Mapping shaped to Lean Government. His approach provides a reality-based view of value-added services and waste in the public sector. Written specifically to address the application of Lean practices in government and the public sector, this how-to workbook gives you the wherewithal to combat the 'We don't make widgets' mentality. Providing the tools to manage the entire Lean transformation process, the book helps you immediately integrate the Lean way of thinking and its tools into your improvement program.

What is good government? Why do some governments fail? How do you implement political accountability in practice? What incentives do you need to put in place to ensure that politicians and public servants act in the public interest and not their own? These questions and many more are addressed in Timothy Besley's intriguing Lindahl lectures. Economic analyses of government usually divide into two broad camps. One which emphasizes government as a force for public good that can regulate markets, distribute resources and generally work towards improving the lives of its citizens. The other sees government as driven by private interests, susceptible to those with the power to influence its decisions and failing to incentivize its officials to act for the greater public good. This book adopts a middle way between the two extremes, the Publius approach, which recognizes the potential for government to act for the public good but also accepts the fact that things often go wrong. It shares the view that there are certain institutional preconditions for effective government but then proceed to examine exactly what those preconditions are. Timothy Besley emphasises that it is not just about designing an appropriate institutional framework but also about understanding the way incentives work and the process by which the political class is selected.