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.

This text examines the impact of public sector reforms and reorganisations on the experiences of the UK public sector's six million workers and those employed in the private sector but providing public services. Chapters bring long-standing topics up-to-date, such as worker representation and reward.

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.

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.

This book offers a new insight into leadership in the public sector:
It describes public leadership as a form of collective leadership in which leaders from a range of public, private and voluntary organizations share a common aim in improving the life of communities. It examines the current focus on public service reform and highlights the impact that performance targets have had on leadership.
The importance of the role of the individual leader is acknowledged, but it argues that this role is not to provide the answers but to ask intelligent questions in tackling wicked issues that undermine well being. The book explores the experience of reform across the sector and sets some tough challenges for government, public institutions and their leaders.
It will be of benefit to all who are interested in what the future holds for public services and prompts a different way of thinking about leadership.

Combining practical experience with academic analysis, this book explores the social and organizational dynamics of performance indicators. It moves beyond the technicalities of measurement and indicators and looks at how performance information is changing the public sector.

This book originates from a multiple year research project on ICT and justice in a number of EU countries. Among the projects major objectives was the development of new methodologies for facilitating ICT-based innovation in the judiciary.

The articles on which Chapters 4, 5 and 6 are based are available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. Design approaches to policy-making have gained increasing popularity among policy makers in recent years. First published as a special issue of Policy & Politics, this book presents original critical reflections on the value of design approaches and how they relate to the classical idea of public administration as a design science. Contributors consider the potential, challenges and applications of design approaches and distinguish between three methods currently characterising the discipline: design as optimisation, design as exploration and design as co-creation. Developing the dialogue around public administration as a design science, this collection explores how a more ‘designerly’ way of thinking can improve public administration and public policy.

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.

Nonprofits and Government provides students and practitioners with the first comprehensive, interdisciplinary, research-based inquiry into the collaborative and conflicting relationship between nonprofits and government at all levels: local, national, and international. The contributors-all leading experts-explore how government regulates, facilitates, finances, and oversees nonprofit activities, and how nonprofits, in turn, try to shape the way government serves the public and promotes the civic, religious, and cultural life of the country. Buttressed by rigorous scholarship, a solid grasp of history, and practical ideas, this 360-degree assessment frees discussion of the nonprofit sector's relationship to government from both wishful and insular thinking. The third edition, addresses the tremendous changes that created both opportunities and challenges for nonprofit-government relations over the past ten years, including new audit requirements, tax and regulatory changes, consequences of the Affordable Care Act and the Great Recession, and new nonprofit and philanthropic forms. Contributors include Alan J. Abramson, Elizabeth T. Boris, Erica Broadus, Evelyn Brody, John Casey, Roger Colinvaux, Joseph J. Cordes , Teresa Derrick-Mills, Nathan Dietz, Lewis Faulk, Marion Fremont-Smith, Saunji D. Fyffe, Virginia Hodgkinson, Beatrice Leydier, Cindy M. Lott, Jasmine McGinnis Johnson, Brice McKeever, Susan D. Phillips, Steven Rathgeb Smith, Ellen Steele, C. Eugene Steuerle, Dennis R. Young, and Mary K. Winkler.

Truth in Public Life explores the difficulty in defining truth, its critical importance in civilised society and the challenges and threats to telling the truth in different public service settings. Three leading experts reflect on subjects related to truth in public life. Vernon White, in his essay 'Truth Pursued, or Being Pursued by Truth', shows that absolute truth exists and explains why and how it matters morally. In 'Truth Sustained', Stephen Lamport describes why truth is important to sustaining civilised society and argues that truth is central to other essential qualities, such as objectivity, honesty, openness, leadership, selflessness, integrity and accountability. In her essay 'Truth Told', Claire Foster-Gilbert explores the challenge of truth-telling for public servants: for politicians, who are routinely not believed; for civil servants, whose ministers may only want to hear those facts that support their policy ideas; for journalists, tempted to tell the story that is 'too good to check'; for judges, who may suffer from unconscious bias; for police officers, who must win the trust of the public by believing accusers, without jeopardising justice for the alleged perpetrators. This short book is a potent reminder of how important truth is, even as it is threatened afresh.

With conributions from eminent scholars worldwide, this handbook is a "state-of-the-science" summary of the body of knowledge about cultural intelligence--an individual's ability to funtion effectively in situations characterized by cultural diversity--and its relevance for managing diversity both within and across

The administrative state is the nexus of American policy making in the postwar period. The vague and sometimes conflicting policy mandates of Congress, the president, and courts are translated into real public policy in the bureaucracy. As the role of the national government has expanded, the national legislature and executive have increasingly delegated authority to administrative agencies to make fundamental policy decisions. How this administrative state is designed, its coherence, its responsiveness, and its efficacy determine, in Robert Dahl's phrase, "who gets what, when, and how." This study of agency design, thus, has implications for the study of politics in many areas. The structure of bureaucracies can determine the degree to which political actors can change the direction of agency policy. Politicians frequently attempt to lock their policy preferences into place through insulating structures that are mandated by statute or executive decree. This insulation of public bureaucracies such as the National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Election Commission, and the National Nuclear Security Administration, is essential to understanding both administrative policy outputs and executive-legislative politics in the United States. This book explains why, when, and how political actors create administrative agencies in such a way as to insulate them from political control, particularly presidential control.

A New York Times bestseller, "The Dying Citizen is essential reading for any American who cares about the fate of our nation" (Mark R. Levin)Human history is full of the stories of peasants, subjects, and tribes. Yet the concept of the "citizen" is historically rare-and was among America's most valued ideals for over two centuries. But without shock treatment, warns Victor Davis Hanson, American citizenship may soon vanish.In The Dying Citizen, Hanson outlines the forces that led to this crisis. The evisceration of the middle class has made many Americans dependent on the federal government. Open borders have undermined allegiance to a particular place. Identity politics have eradicated our collective sense of self. And a top-heavy state has endangered personal liberty.With a new epilogue that assesses how the events of 2021 have further diminished the meaning of American citizenship, The Dying Citizen is a clarion call to rebuild our collective national identity.

Selected Contents: 1. Precis2. Public Administration as Discipline and the Estrangement of Theory3. Ontology and Theory in Public Administration4. Critical Theory and Public Administration5. Evolutionary Critical Theory6. Evolutionary Critical Theory, Power, and Emancipation7. Evolutionary Critical Theory and the "Good Society"8. Evolutionary Critical Theory and Public Administration

Although many industrialized countries have had to face the same political and economic pressures in reforming their public sectors there have been different reactions and a diversity of solutions to the emerging problems. This book examines the most significant initiatives targeted towards the restructuring of public sector employment relations in countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The contributors focus on national and local governments, and health, education and social services. The first section provides an up-to-date analysis of six European countries. The second part considers the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Japan.

Policy making is not only about the cut and thrust of politics. It is also a bureaucratic activity. Long before laws are drafted, policy commitments made, or groups consulted on government proposals, officials will have been working away to shape the policy into a form in which it can be presented to ministers and the outside world. Policy bureaucracies - parts of government organizations with specific responsibility for maintaining and developing policy - have to be mobilized before most significant policy initiatives are launched. This book describes the range of work policy officials do. The 140 civil servants interviewed for this study included officials who helped originate policies which were subsequently taken over as manifesto commitments by the Labour Party; officials who helped devise the formula by which billions of pounds are allocated to local government in grants; and also officials who recommended to the Secretary of State that a controversial publisher be allowed to take over a national newspaper. The background and career paths of middle-ranking officials show them to be a diverse group who do not tend to develop long-term subject specialisms. The instructions to which these officials work - whether coming from ministers or senior officials - are often very broad and leave much to personal interpretation. Policy Bureaucracy goes on to examine how ministers and senior officials affect the work of middle ranking officials and the cues policy bureaucrats use to develop policy. The analytical approach adopted in the book is derived from Alvin Gouldner's Patterns of Industrial Bureaucracy and his elaboration of Max Weber's notion that hierarchy and expertise place a fundamental tension at the heart of modern bureaucracies. In the UK this tension is handled by combining 'invited authority' with 'improvised expertise'. The book also explores other models of handling this tension in political systems in Europe and the USA.

In this revised and enlarged edition of their established textbook, Gavin Drewry and Tony Butcher bring their wide--ranging, critical survey of the Britsh civil service fully up--to--date, concluding with an examination of the nature and significance of the a Next Stepsa programme which is currently transforming the structure and management of the civil service.

Governments are searching for possibilities to improve efficiency and reduce cost of the public sector services. Privatising, deregulation, changing property rights have become popular policy items in recent politics. Although there has been much progress in methodological issues and the availability of reliable data, there is still a huge gap between efficiency research and policy implementation of the results. The aim of this book is to bridge this gap.

The book provides a summary of recent research, an overview of methods, an insight of factors affecting efficiency, an evaluation of the findings and possible policy recommendations. This aim is addressed by various case studies. The book is divided into six parts. Besides the general introductory and concluding chapters (part I and part VI), each chapter refers to a specific segment of the public sector. Part II addresses the performance of health care facilities. Part III analyzes the performance of educational service providers. Part IV contains studies of the performance of law enforcement agencies and part V provides analysis of the performance of regional service providers. These specific sectors account for the bulk of previous studies of efficiency and productivity in the public sector. By further including extensive literature overviews in each chapter, the volume creates a comprehensive picture of the state of the art of current research in this field.

Public Provision and Performance is a valuable tool to those working in central and local government, providers of public services and students in economics and public administration.

Evaluation is a controversial and little-understood strategy of public governance, control, and decision making. As early as classical antiquity, scholars were summoned to court to counsel kings. Public policy and program evaluation is a recent addition to the great chain of attempts to use the brainpower of scholars and scientists to further the interests of the state. Evaluation scholars are asked to provide retrospective assessments of the implementation, output, and outcome of government measures in order to effect deeper understanding and well-grounded decisions on the part of those in charge of government operations. Evaluation is the process of distinguishing the worthwhile from the worthless, the precious from the useless; evaluation implies looking backward in order to be able to steer forward better.

Written from a political science perspective, "Public Policy and Program Evaluation "provides an overview of the possibilities and limits of public sector evaluation. Evert Vedung examines evaluation as a mechanism for monitoring, systematizing, and grading government activities and their results so that public officials, in their future-oriented work, will be able to act as responsibly, creatively, and efficiently as possible. Topics discussed include: "Evaluation, Rationality, and Theories of Public Management"; "Models of Evaluation"; "Internal or External Evaluation"; "Impact Assessment as Tryout and Social Experimentation"; "Process Evaluation and Implementation Theory"; "The Eight-Problems Approach to Evaluation"; and "Uses and Users of Evaluation."

All evaluation rests upon the idea that perceptions, opinions, intentions, judgments--in short, everything concerned with the world of human consciousness--play such interesting roles in political and administrative action that their functions are worth investigating. Through experience, humans may learn from past actions. The interventions of the modern state are so extensive, their execution so complicated, and their potential consequences so far-reaching that science and social research are needed to monitor operations and establish impacts. As an excellent Introduction to the field of policy evaluation, "Public Policy and Program Evaluation "will be a valuable resource for students of public administration, public policy, political science, education, and sociology.

In 1968 a theory of social equity was developed and put forward as the "third pillar for public administration, with the same status as economy and efficiency as values or principles to which public administration should adhere. Considerable progress has been made in social equity in the past 20 years. Theoretically, the works ofRawls and Rae and associates provide a language and a road map for understanding the complexity of the subject. The courts were especially supportive of principles of social equity in the later years of Chief Justice Earl Warren and during the years of Chief Justice Warren Burger. The present period, marked by the leadership of William Rehnquist, evidences a significant drawing back from the earlier commitment to equity. The decisions of state courts, based upon state constitutions and the common law, hold considerable promise for advancing social equity principles. Scholarly research demonstrates the belief of the American people in fairness, justice, and equality and their recognition of the complexity of the subject and their ambivalence toward competing claims for equality. Research on public administration finds that bureaucratic decision rules and the processes of policy implementation tend to favor principles of social equity.

This book aims to develop four key challenges that remain unresolved in the boundary-spanning literature, which span from the conceptual, to the practice, to the translational. In doing so, it tackles the question of boundary-spanning from four different angles, providing an in-depth investigation of the current state of the field in each of these realms, in addition to new directions for solving the identified challenges. Finally, the book synthesises the lessons from each of these challenges into a coherent and integrated final piece of the boundary dilemma. In doing so, it will provide depth and a clearer agenda for future research and practice. Crossing Boundaries in Public Policy and Management digs into the heart of enduring questions and challenges for cross-boundary working, providing in-depth conceptual contributions on the fundamental challenges of boundary work. It displays the latest state of knowledge on the topic and will be of interest to researchers, academics, practitioners, and students in the fields of public management, public policy, public administration, public-private relationships and coordination and collaboration.

Contracting out public sector services and divesting public enterprises are reforms that have enjoyed widespread global popularity in recent years. Better services, lower prices and greater accountability are the promises made by politicians, senior executives, and investment companies when functions are moved from the public sector to private enterprise. But in Privatization, Graeme A. Hodge challenges these assumptions. Through an examination of hundreds of international studies on the performance of privatization activities, Hodge demonstrates that privatizing public services is often not the guaranteed panacea portrayed by its political supporters. Importantly, privatization activities can lead to modest gains, but there are also winners and losers in this reform. It therefore deserves far more care and balanced debate than it usually attracts.

This volume includes perspectives on public service selected from six decades of major public administration journals. Recurring themes include: motivations to enter the public service, positive and negative images of public servants and of government, conflicts between loyalty to the organization and loyalty to the public, morale, burnout, and turnover. The volume also includes cross-national analyses of the public service in other systems, proposals for rethinking public service systems, and questions as to the future of the public service. It recaptures a long, continuing debate as to the health of the public service, and in so doing suggests agendas for university research and administrative action.