Rescuing the Enlightenment from Itself: Critical and Systemic Implications for Democracy presents papers that make the case that good governance is about thinking and practice that can lead to a better balance of social, cultural, political, economic and environmental concerns to ensure a sustainable future for ourselves and for future generations. The work is inspired by the thinking of C. West Churchman and forms the first volume in a new series: C. West Churchman 's Legacy and Related Works. The book features contributions from a range of invited authors including Russell L. Ackoff, Ken Bausch, John van Gigch and Norma Romm. The volume is aimed at academics, post-graduate students and members of professional associations working in the fields of systems sciences, public policy and management, politics, and international relations.

Linking Government Data provides a practical approach to addressing common information management issues. The approaches taken are based on international standards of the World Wide Web Consortium. Linking Government Data gives both the costs and benefits of using linked data techniques with government data; describes how agencies can fulfill their missions with less cost; and recommends how intra-agency culture must change to allow public presentation of linked data. Case studies from early adopters of linked data approaches in international governments are presented in the last section of the book. Linking Government Data is designed as a professional book for those working in Semantic Web research and standards development, and for early adopters of Semantic Web standards and techniques. Enterprise architects, project managers and application developers in commercial, not-for-profit and government organizations concerned with scalability, flexibility and robustness of information management systems will also find this book valuable. Students focused on computer science and business management will also find value in this book.

This book examines the role of bureaucracy in modern technologically advanced societies, the traditional models of governance, and the potential of information technology to fundamentally change and improve governance. In the area of public-domain governance, information and communication technologies (ICTs) have empowered public agencies to improve their activities and to strengthen the efficiency of their operations. Technology has enabled optimized transfer of knowledge and information between government agencies, more efficient supervision and control of relationships with citizens, and higher efficiency in law enforcement through better access to information. Throughout the last decades, technology has been used to strengthen the role of state bureaucracies and the relationship between the civil service and the citizens. We have witnessed the transformative powers of ICTs in private-sector enterprises in well-structured technological landscapes, which has produced new ecosystems comprised of software developers, providers, and consumers who provide and consume new products and services in ecosystems that are based on clear technological standards and shared modular generic artefacts, which allow for distributed peer production. ICTs will shape cultural and civic discourse and create products, services and tools, relying on the open toolsets, technologies and exchange of knowledge between peers. This book will be of particular interest to government CIOs, IT/IS managers, researchers, students, and practitioners in technical sciences, public administration, business management, public policy and IS management.

Is public transportation a right? Should it be? For those reliant on public transit, the answer is invariably "yes" to both. Indeed, when city officials propose slashing service or raising fares, it is these riders who are often the first to appear at that officials' door demanding their "right" to more service. Rights in Transit starts from the presumption that such riders are justified. For those who lack other means of mobility, transit is a lifeline. It offers access to many of the entitlements we take as essential: food, employment, and democratic public life itself. While accepting transit as a right, this book also suggests that there remains a desperate need to think critically, both about what is meant by a right and about the types of rights at issue when public transportation is threatened. Drawing on a detailed case study of the various struggles that have come to define public transportation in California's East Bay, Rights in Transit offers a direct challenge to contemporary scholarship on transportation equity. Rather than focusing on civil rights alone, Rights in Transit argues for engaging the more radical notion of the right to the city.

Exploring three rich cases across three countries, this book shows how government organizations need their clients to contribute time and effort to co-producing public services, and how organizations can better elicit this work from them, by providing good client service and appealing to their intrinsic needs and social values.

Contract plays a vitally important role in the delivery of public services today. Both central and local governments make extensive use of private firms to provide facilities, goods, and services. Government contracts vary considerably from the relatively straightforward competitive procurement of office supplies, to complex, long-term arrangements in which the contractor researches and develops a new piece of military equipment, or builds and provides a fully-serviced hospital over a thirty-year period.

English law's traditional approach to government contracts has been to regard them as ordinary private law arrangements. As a result, they have understandably been neglected by public lawyers in both teaching and research. This book argues that, on closer inspection, constitutional and administrative law (in the form of statute, common law, and government guidance) have been playing an increasingly important role in the regulation of certain key aspects of government contracting. The book analyzes these public law elements in detail and suggests ways in which they might appropriately be developed more fully, in tandem with the underlying private law regime. The book's aim is to raise the profile of government contracts as a proper subject for public law scholarship, whilst at the same time contributing to important contemporary debates on issues such as the public vs. private divide, the scope of the judicial review jurisdiction, and the reach of the Human Rights Act 1998.

How do you make taxpayers comply? This ethnography offers a vivid, yet nuanced account of knowledge making at one of Sweden's most esteemed bureaucracies - the Swedish Tax Agency. In its aim to collect taxes and minimize tax faults, the Agency mediates the application of tax law to ensure compliance and maintain legitimacy in society. This volume follows one risk assessment project's passage through the Agency, from its inception, through the research phase, in discussions with management to its final abandonment. With its fiscal anthropological approach, Shaping Taxpayers reveals how diverse knowledge claims - legal, economic, cultural - compete to shape taxpayer behaviour.

This volume provides fresh empirical evidence of far reaching welfare state transformations in Europe and Japan that have changed the boundaries of the 'public' and 'private' domain within the mixed economies of welfare. Various modes of policy intervention are investigated, providing a nuanced account of reforms in the past decade.

The first serious study analysing Labour's impact on Whitehall. It offers a theoretical engaged, but empirically rich account drawing from an extensive set of primary interview material to examine a 'New Labour' effect on the Civil Service, including its reforms to improve policy delivery and whether it has politicised Whitehall. It concludes by arguing that New Labour's approach to Whitehall have been part of a broader strategy to reconstitute the power of the Westminster Model.

This book maps the latest developments in public procurement of innovation policy in various contexts and analyzes the evolution and development of the various policy solutions in broader institutional contexts. In doing so, it addresses significant theoretical and practical gaps: On the one hand, there is an emerging interest in public procurement as a policy tool for spurring innovation; yet on the other hand, the current theory, with some notable exceptions, is guided and often constrained by historical applications, above all in the defence industries. By carefully examining the cases of eleven countries, the book points to the existence of much more nuanced public procurement on the innovation policy landscape than has been acknowledged in the academic and policy debates to date.

This book is the first comprehensive, full-scale treatment of the law, politics and economics with regard to the policies and policy instruments for budget stabilization at the state level. Covering the period from 1946 through 2008 in the United States, it provides details on the methods and results of empirical tests of the effects of budget stabilization instruments on government operations, public service provision, and some other aspects of social and economic life. With the lingering effects of the most recent financial crisis and economic downturn, and the subsequent Tea Party movement advocating smaller government and deficit reduction, this book carries timely and important theoretical as well as practical implications, particularly in regard to the potential for counter-cyclical fiscal policy in mitigating negative impacts during a recession. The first contribution of the book is in public finance theory: it provides insights into the applications of the stabilization function in the context of strong government, thereby refining Keynesianism. The second aspect is in Public Choice: the creation and functioning of budget stabilization funds offer extra evidence to demonstrate that the general public provides input and voice in more than the conventional ways when it comes to policy making, even in an area dominated by strong government. The third aspect is in policy making, exploring the opportunities for refining policy tools in preparation for future downturns.

Through comparative analysis this book examines and explains the official rhetoric of agency reform across consensus and adversarial political cultures. It traces the trajectory of talk about agency reform in The Netherlands, Sweden and Australia and identifies the national styles of speaking that mediated the agency idea.

The Second Edition of this renowned treasure trove of information about the most important laws and treaties enacted by the U.S. Congress now deepens its historical coverage and examines an entire decade of new legislation. Landmark Legislation 1774-2012 includes additional acts and treaties chosen for their historical significance or their precedential importance for later areas of major federal legislative activity in the over 200 years since the convocation of the Continental Congress. Brand new chapters expand coverage to include the last five numbered Congresses (10 years of activity from 2003-2012), which has seen landmark legislation in the areas of health insurance and health care reform; financial regulatory reform; fiscal stimulus and the Temporary Asset Relief Program; federal support for stem cell research; reform of federal financial support for public schools and higher education; and much more. Features & Benefits: Each chapter covers one of the numbered Congresses with a historical essay, followed by the major acts of that Congress arranged in chronological order of passage - with each act summarized. A Finder's Guide summarizes all of the acts and treaties into approximately 40 separate topical policy areas. The work's extensive bibliography has been expanded and updated. This one-volume resource is a must-have for any public or academic library, especially those with strong American history or political science collections.

This book assembles and organizes a selected range of methods and techniques that every planning practitioner should know to be successful in the contemporary global urban landscape. The book is unique because it links different aspects of the planning/policy-making enterprise with the appropriate methods and approaches, thus contextualizing the use of specific methods and techniques within a sociopolitical and ethical framework. This volume familiarizes readers with the diverse range of methods, techniques, and skills that must be applied at different scales in dynamic workplace environments where planning policies and programs are developed and implemented. This book is an invaluable resource in helping new entrants to the planning discourse and profession set aside their own disciplinary biases and empowering them to use their expert knowledge to address societal concerns.

The various and different Middle Eastern countries are addressing new key reform and governance reform processes but also administration and policy issues of enduring importance; decentralization and local government, non-profit organizations, political culture, and reform of the policy process. This book provides assessment of national strategies for reform in public administration and policy, how these strategies have fared in implementation; and what challenges must be overcome to achieve real and sustainable progress. Seven country case studies will explore the overall policy-making process from a critical perspective and consider how it could be strengthened. Four cases will deal with the controversial issues of decentralization of power and decision-making. Two cases will address the role of civil society in the policymaking and reform process. Introductory and concluding chapters will place these discussions in context and draw the primary lessons for policy-makers. The main objectives of the book are to present different examples of specific public policy and administration, as well as governance issues in the Middle East so that policymakers (both in the region and the world who are interested in the Middle East), as well as practitioners, scholars and graduate students can utilize the book as a study guide to better understand various dynamics in governance in the Middle East. This approach will enable the volume to bridge global perspectives on governance development with regional perspectives and experience, bringing shared expertise, intellectual inquisitiveness, and experience in the professional practice of public policy and administration to bear on these common challenges.

From which evaluative foundation should we develop public policies designed to promote wellbeing among different cultural groups in different circumstances? This book seeks to advance an objective, universal theory of cultural evaluation grounded in a eudaemonic account of human wellbeing. The approach brings together a 'thick vague' conception of the good; a determinate, particularist conception of circumstance; an egalitarian moral philosophy with concessions to sufficientarianism, and a normative functionalist view of culture, to assess the value of cultural institutions to those that they affect. Engaging closely with needs and capabilities paradigms, the approach seeks to identify and explain cultural deficits in given circumstances. The applicability of the theory is illustrated through analysis of the effect of settler-indigenous relations on Aboriginal Australian people. This book is ideal for students and scholars of cultural theory and public policy.

A Practical Guide to Government Management provides a comprehensive yet one-volume work on high-level government management and can be described as a management book, reference book, and textbook all in one. It is geared towards any upper level government manager, public administration student, or anyone interested in public sector management. Government managers receive limited or no management training, and at higher levels, focus more on policy than management, with negative consequences for the agencies they manage. This book seeks to address that dearth, written from the point of view of someone who successfully led government organizations, for an extended period, and faced a wide variety of managerial problems and issues. It covers a number of topics seldom discussed (and certainly not all in one volume), such as handling problem employees, cutback management, prioritization, making decisions, gaining control of an organization, and telling one's boss - the elected official-no. Leo Strine, Chief Justice of Delaware's Supreme Court and a former colleague, says that "In a time when many Americans are jaded about public service, it's refreshing to be reminded that there are talented people who devote their careers to making our government work for the governed. Vince Meconi always put the public first in his decades of service in all three branches of government, and anyone interested in making government more effective will benefit from his insights and experience." Former Delaware Medicaid Director Harry Hill says, "I have led government agencies, managed for multiple Fortune 500 Companies, and run my own business. Vince Meconi is the best manager I have ever encountered. As a student of management myself, I collected over 800 books on the subject. Most offered little new, just a new way of saying the same thing. This book has what the others lacked - written instructions, practical examples, and advice for public sector managers from someone who has actually faced all the challenges for a prolonged period. It is a management book, reference book, and textbook all in one."

This volume offers a comprehensive state-of-the-art portrait of entrepreneurship and small business management issues in former Yugoslavian countries. Further, it provides a wealth of theoretical and empirical evidence on the role of entrepreneurship in transition economies and emerging markets. Country-based studies identify the processes in each country that attract financial investors and yield new business and employment opportunities. In addition, the studies highlight institutional constraints and political factors that hinder the development of entrepreneurship in these countries, and offer recommendations for policymakers on how to improve the general business environment. This book will appeal to entrepreneurship researchers, as well as public policymakers in transition economies and emerging markets.

Discusses the ambiguous nature of the state in Russia, focusing on elite networks and their role in policy processes. This book examines the paradoxical dualism of state institutions and ruling networks, providing answers as to why some decisions are not implemented, and why the state exists despite the systemic inefficiency of its institutions.

Beneath the national radar, the relationship between citizens and government is undergoing a dramatic shift. More than ever before, citizens are educated, skeptical, and capable of bringing the decision-making process to a sudden halt. Public officials and other leaders are tired of confrontation and desperate for resources. In order to address persistent challenges like education, race relations, crime prevention, land use planning, and economic development, communities have been forced to find new ways for people and public servants to work together.

The stories of civic experiments in this book can show us the realpolitik of deliberative democracy, and illustrate how the evolution of democracy is already reshaping politics.

Achieving enterprise success necessitates addressing enterprises in ways that match the complexity and dynamics of the modern enterprise environment. However, since the majority of enterprise strategic initiatives appear to fail - among which those regarding information technology - the currently often practiced approaches to strategy development and implementation seem more an obstacle than an enabler for strategic enterprise success.

Two themes underpin the fundamentally different views outlined in this book. First, the competence-based perspective on governance, whereby employees are viewed as the crucial core for effectively addressing the complex, dynamic and uncertain enterprise reality, as well as for successfully defining and operationalizing strategic choices. Second, enterprise engineering as the formal conceptual framework and methodology for arranging a unified and integrated enterprise design, which is a necessary condition for enterprise success.

Jan Hoogervorst's presentation, which is based on both research and his professional background at Sogeti B.V., aims at professionals in management and consulting as well as students in management science and business information systems.

In this book, internationally renowned scholars and practitioners elaborate on political as well as managerial questions, e.g. how to make overriding Public Governance changes the 'guiding model' for a now needed stronger strategic approach. More specifically, their focus is on how moves towards a re-positioning as an enabling authority are to be made drivers for adapting management systems across all levels. In accordance with present developments, the authors explain how changes in the overall governance structure have to be used to adapt leadership practices in a more output-oriented or even entrepreneurial fashion. Overall, the underlying idea is to provide some further basics for a public sector type of a design-oriented management science.

Contributors examine the persistence of administrative patterns in the face of pressures for globablization by developing a concept of administrative traditions and describing the traditions that exist around the world. They assess the impact of traditions on administrative reforms and the capacities of government to change public administration.