This authoritative collection reprints in book form some of the most important research papers on the principles and practice of governance in the public sector. Part one reflects on the eclectic nature of public-sector governance research, presenting papers which reflect six different perspectives of the meaning of governance in a public sector setting. Parts two and three focus on the relationship between governance structures and public sector management and accountability. The articles presented in part four consider governance within various national and international contexts, such as the IMF and the World Bank, the USA, Europe and Australia together with the impact of globalisation on governance in developing countries. Ron Hodges' collection will provide an invaluable source of understanding to all those working in the field of public sector governance. It contains 28 articles, dating from 1984 to 2003.

What is the secret of effective government in today's complex and turbulent world? In this collection of essays written for Singapore's leading news organisations, public policy practitioner turned academic Terence Ho trains his focus on the issues of the day: education, demographics, economic growth, inflation, taxes and social support, among others.In unpacking these issues and what they mean for Singapore, Terence distils policy principles relevant to societies across the world as they grapple with the challenges of rising inequality, political polarisation, technological disruption, climate change and more.The essays in this collection draw insights from the author's nearly two decades of experience in Singapore's Public Service, recognised as one of the world's most innovative. They open a window into the future of governance in Singapore and beyond.

This book aims to gather the insight of leading experts on corruption and anti-corruption studies working at the scientific frontier of this phenomenon using the multidisciplinary tools of data and network science, in order to present current theoretical, empirical, and operational efforts being performed in order to curb this problem. The research results strengthen the importance of evidence-based approaches in the fight against corruption in all its forms, and foster the discussion about the best ways to convert the obtained knowledge into public policy. The contributed chapters provide comprehensive and multidisciplinary approaches to handle the non-trivial structural and dynamical aspects that characterize the modern social, economic, political and technological systems where corruption takes place. This book will serve a broad multi-disciplinary audience from natural to social scientists, applied mathematicians, including law and policymakers.

This book examines developments in management and leadership in the social work environment, from both practice-based and academic perspectives. The chapters reflect developments in a range of international settings including those of Europe, South Africa and New Zealand. They represent a range of different approaches also, from the critical to the more affirmative and liberating. The book illustrates the impact of the development of management and leadership in social work, in the current context of marketisation and globalisation, together with the need to focus on service users. Social work has altered significantly as a result of such changes, presenting particular challenges for social work managers. These are detailed and discussed in this book.

E-Government Implementation and Practice in Developing Countries provides research on the current actions being taken by developing countries towards the design, development, and implementation of e-government policies. This book will discuss current frameworks and strategies that are useful for project managers, government officials, researchers, and students interested or involved in the development and implementation of e-government planning. This book is part of the Advances in Electronic Government, Digital Divide, and Regional Development series collection.

In recent years, it has become apparent that there are very distinct gaps between developed and developing regions in the world, especially in regards to e-government systems, infrastructures, and processes. Digital Public Administration and E-Government in Developing Nations: Policy and Practice examines e-government from the perspective of developing nations and addressing the issues and concerns arisen in its systems and processes. This publication is a valuable and insightful tool for researchers, practitioners, policy makers, and students in different fields who are interested in information systems, public policies, politics, and media and communication studies.

This open access book presents a topical, comprehensive and differentiated analysis of Germany's public administration and reforms. It provides an overview on key elements of German public administration at the federal, Lander and local levels of government as well as on current reform activities of the public sector. It examines the key institutional features of German public administration; the changing relationships between public administration, society and the private sector; the administrative reforms at different levels of the federal system and numerous sectors; and new challenges and modernization approaches like digitalization, Open Government and Better Regulation. Each chapter offers a combination of descriptive information and problem-oriented analysis, presenting key topical issues in Germany which are relevant to an international readership.

This open access book explores a special species of trouble afflicting modern societies: creeping crises. These crises evolve over time, reveal themselves in different ways, and resist comprehensive responses despite periodic public attention. As a result, these crises continue to creep in front of our eyes. This book begins by defining the concept of a creeping crisis, showing how existing literature fails to properly define and explore this phenomenon and outlining the challenges such crises pose to practitioners. Drawing on ongoing research, this book presents a diverse set of case studies on: antimicrobial resistance, climate change-induced migration, energy extraction, big data, Covid-19, migration, foreign fighters, and cyberattacks. Each chapter explores how creeping crises come into existence, why they can develop unimpeded, and the consequences they bring in terms of damage and legitimacy loss. The book provides a proof-of-concept to help launch the systematic study of creeping crises. Our analysis helps academics understand a new species of threat and practitioners recognize and prepare for creeping crises.

Economic development requires secure contract enforcement and stable property rights. Normal majority-rule politics, such as bargaining over distributive and monetary policies, generate instability and frequently undermine economic development. Above Politics argues that bureaucracies can contribute to stability and economic development, but only if they are insulated from unstable politics. A separation-of-powers stalemate creates the conditions for bureaucratic autonomy. But what keeps delegated bureaucrats from being more abusive as they become more autonomous? One answer is the negotiation of long-term, cooperative relationships - that (when successful) typically bind subordinates to provide more effort in exchange for autonomy. Even more compelling is professionalism, which embeds its professional practitioners in professional norms and culture, and incidentally mitigates corruption. Financial examples are provided throughout the book, which ends with an analysis of the role played by professionalized bureaucracies during the Great Recession.

This book explores the concept of multi-species relationships and suggests critical systemic pathways to protect shared habitats. This book discusses how the eradication of species as a result of rapid urbanisation places humanity at risk. This book demonstrates how narrow anthropocentrism has focused on the rights of human beings at the expense of other species and the environment. This book explores a priori norms and a posteriori measures and indicators to include and protect multiple species. This book aims to strengthen institutional capacity and powers to address and extend the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda by drawing on local wisdom but also the need to implement laws to prevent ecocide. This book highlights that our fragile interdependence requires a recognition of our hybridity and interconnectedness within the web of life and suggests ways to reframe policy within and beyond the nation state to support living systems of which we are a strand.

Examining the science of stream restoration, Rebecca Lave argues that the neoliberal emphasis on the privatization and commercialization of knowledge has fundamentally changed the way that science is funded, organized, and viewed in the United States. Stream restoration science and practice is in a startling state. The most widely respected expert in the field, Dave Rosgen, is a private consultant with relatively little formal scientific training. Since the mid-1990s, many academic and federal agency - based scientists have denounced Rosgen as a charlatan and a hack. Despite this, Rosgen's Natural Channel Design approach, classification system, and short-course series are not only accepted but are viewed as more legitimate than academically produced knowledge and training. Rosgen's methods are now promoted by federal agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service, as well as by resource agencies in dozens of states. Drawing on the work of Pierre Bourdieu, Lave demonstrates that the primary cause of Rosgen's success is neither the method nor the man but is instead the assignment of a new legitimacy to scientific claims developed outside the academy, concurrent with academic scientists' decreasing ability to defend their turf. What is at stake in the Rosgen wars, argues Lave, is not just the ecological health of our rivers and streams but the very future of environmental science.

Water pollution control has been a top environmental policy priority of the world's most developed countries for decades, and the focus of significant regulation and public and private spending. Yet, significant water quality problems remain, and trends for some pollutants are in the wrong direction. This book addresses the economics of water pollution control and water pollution control policy in agriculture, with an aim towards providing students, environmental policy analysts, and other environmental professionals with economic concepts and tools essential to understanding the problem and crafting solutions that can be effective and efficient. The book will also examine existing policies and proposed reforms in the developed world. Although this book addresses and has a general applicability to major water pollutants from agriculture (e.g., pesticides, pharmaceuticals, sediments, nutrients), it will focus on the sediment and nutrient pollution problem. The economic and scientific foundations for pollution management are best developed for these pollutants, and they are currently the top priorities of policy makers. Accordingly, the authors provide both highly salient and informative cases for developing concepts and methods of general applicability, with high profile examples such as the Chesapeake Bay, Lake Erie, and the Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone in the US; the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe; and Lake Taupo in New Zealand.

E-Government describes the utilization of technologies to improve the lives of citizens and business organizations while facilitating the operation of the government. With the rise of new technologies, governments need to consider implementing Web 2.0 and mobile technologies as a way to offer relevant e-services to citizens so that they may fully participate in governmental affairs. Emerging Mobile and Web 2.0 Technologies for Connected E-Government highlights the latest technologies and how they can be implemented by the government and effectively used by citizens. This book aims to be an inclusive reference source for researchers, practitioners, students, and managers interested in the application of recent technological innovations to develop a more effective e-government system.

Global politics has transformed in recent years due to a rise in nationalist ideology, the breakdown of multiple societies, and even nation-state legitimacy. The nation-state, arguably, has been in question for much of the digital age, as citizens become transnational and claim loyalty to many different groups, causes, and in some cases, states. Thus, politics that accompany diasporic communities have become increasingly important focal points of comparative and political science research. Global Diaspora Politics and Social Movements: Emerging Research and Opportunities provides innovative insights into the dispersion of political and social groups across the world through various research methods such as case studies. This publication examines migration politics, security policy, and social movements. It is designed for academicians, policymakers, government officials, researchers, and students, and covers topics centered on the distribution of social groups and political groups.

Is the Prefect an exception, surviving only in France and some countries influenced by Napoleon? No! This book tells the varied stories of the resilience, in most European States and under different names, of the prefectoral institution. It is the first comparative book in English studying these territorial administrators who have a go-between role in centre-periphery relations and a nodal role in territorial governance. Gathering a multidisciplinary team of scholars under the auspices of the European Group for Public Administration, this volume offers a fine-grained analysis of 17 national cases, examines cross-country data, and proposes a theoretical frame made of a Weberian ideal-type with three variants, to better comprehend and explain the permanence and changes of the prefectoral figure.

The Handbook of Healthcare Management is a comprehensive examination of key management practices for global healthcare organizations, arguing that insight into and implementation of these practices is essential for success and sustainability. Expert contributors analyze both existing methods and new developments in healthcare management, through topics including healthcare marketing and customer service, managing human resources and organizational stakeholders, strategic and business planning, high-reliability organizations, and health informatics. The result is a well-rounded collection of strategies to enhance healthcare quality, with emphasis on factors that promote organizational excellence. This Handbook will be invaluable to students in both master and doctoral healthcare management programs, as well as faculty and health services researchers, practitioners in both private and public sectors, policy-makers, and public administrators. Contributors: A. Beardsley, J.W. Begun, N. Borkowski, B.K. Breland, K. Darr, C. Deschamp, E.W. Ford, M.D. Fottler, L.H. Friedman, J. Gill, P.K. Howse, T.R.Huerta, J.C. Hyde, R. Kemp, D. Malvey, A.S. McAlearney, N. Menachemi, C. Molinari, H. Nguyen, S.J. O'Connor, P.A. Paustian, A. Raffenaud, S. Rahurkar, S. Ruff, C.J. Sampson, D.J. Slovensky, D.G. Smith, P.L. Spath, W.L. Tarver, M. Thygeson, J.M. Trimm, J.G. Van Matre, C.F. Wainwright, J.H. Willig, T. Yeung, T. Zhang

This book examines the impact of Australian public opinion towards defence and foreign policy from the mid-twentieth century to the present day. For most of this period, the public showed little interest in defence and security policy and possessed limited knowledge about the strategic options available. The principal post-war exception to this pattern is, of course, the Vietnam War, when political divisions over Australia's support for the U.S.-led action eventually resulted in the withdrawal of troops in 1972. The period since 2001 has seen a fundamental change both in the public's views of defence and foreign affairs, and in how these issues are debated by political elites. This has come about as a result of major changes in the strategic environment such as a heightened public awareness of terrorism, party political divisions over Australia's military commitment to the 2003-11 Iraq War and the increasing overlap of economic and trade considerations with defence and foreign policies, which has increased the public's interest in these issues. Combining the expertise of one of Australia's foremost scholars of public opinion with that of an expert of international relations, particularly as pertains to Australia in Asia, this book will be a critical read for those wishing to understand Australia's alliance with the U.S., interactions with Asia and China, and the distinctive challenges posed to Australia by its geographic position.

This innovative book investigates the concept of collapse in terms of our built environment, exploring the future transition of modern cities towards scenarios very different from the current promises of progress and development. This is not a book about the end of the world and hopeless apocalyptic scenarios. It is about understanding change in how and where we live. Collapse is inevitable, but in the built environment collapse could imply a manageable situation, an opportunity for change or a devastating reality. Collapsing gracefully means that there might be better ways to coexist with collapse if we learn more about it and commit to rebuild our civilisations in ways that avoid its worst effects. This book uses a wide range of practical examples to study critical changes in the built environment, to contextualise and visualise what collapse looks like, to see if it is possible to buffer its effects in places already collapsing and to propose ways to develop greater resilience. The book challenges all agents and institutions in modern cities, their designers and planners as well as their residents and users to think differently about built environment so as to ease our coexistence with collapse and not contribute to its causes. .

This edited volume brings together debates from the Global South and Global East to explore alternatives to conventional planning in Southern cities. Embracing the evolving post-colonial theory, the volume offers 'fragments' of the urban that provide clues to the larger, often-repeated ontological question that continues to hold: Why and what does theory from the South mean? The chapters derive from and speak to the simultaneously homogenous and heterogeneous South. They focus on presenting the alternative realities of Southern cities as critical analytical lenses that can build up to the theorisation of the Southern urban with a potential to (re)understand the contemporary urban world. The contributions explore locally rooted knowledge systems, premised on social and cultural practices, as possible conduits to evolving planning methods. In doing so, the volume breaks apart the linear modernity that urban theory from the North relies on. Chapters [Chapter-1] and [Chapter-11] are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Information and Communication Technologies hold great potential in facilitating public services; however, one of the main problems in applying ICT systems successfully lies in users' behavior. Before ICT can be fully assimilated into the public domain, it will first be necessary to successfully conciliate users to their adoption. ICT Policy Adoption and Its Applications in the Malaysian Public Sector aims to resolve the difficulties in applying practical ICT systems within the public sphere, thoroughly addressing disparities in ICT theory, user attitudes, and the underlying factors that hinder the full adoption of ICT systems. This publication is a valuable resource for policymakers, software developers, policy analysts, academic researchers, and students interested in the field of ICT.