This book applies various theoretical tools to explore the advantages and disadvantages of performance management systems, the ways in which they can be improved, and the strategies through which they can be designed and integrated into the policy making process. By providing both theoretical insights and practical applications, it offers a unique perspective. Using four methods of research that have been rarely applied in the performance management literature: formal (game-theoretical) modelling, operational management, new institutionalism, and cross country statistical comparisons based on international data sets, the book illuminates different aspects of performance management systems in the public sector. It offers an integrative theoretical framework for explaining and designing such systems and their integration into the policy making process, and will open up new avenues of research, expose scholars and students to new methodological tools and equip public officials, politicians and citizens with practical methods for improving the performance of the public sector.

This book discusses some of the main challenges that arise in the management of modern democracies, with a focus on the role of citizens and their perceptions of government. A theoretical and practical framework is suggested for dealing with some of the most urgent problems that governments face today: the balance between bureaucracy and democracy and between political and administrative concerns; the pressing economic concerns in a market-based, globalized knowledge society and the changes in the relationship of trust amongst the players. At the heart of the analysis is the idea that running governments effectively means settling the potential conflicts between all those who are involved in the governmental process and in the making of public policy and public actions. The authors suggest approaches for strengthening the trust in democratic institutions and cooperation between the main actors in the democratic sphere, without compromising on the need to ensure effective governance.

This book applies various theoretical tools to explore the advantages and disadvantages of performance management systems, the ways in which they can be improved, and the strategies through which they can be designed and integrated into the policy making process. By providing both theoretical insights and practical applications, it offers a unique perspective. Using four methods of research that have been rarely applied in the performance management literature: formal (game-theoretical) modelling, operational management, new institutionalism, and cross country statistical comparisons based on international data sets, the book illuminates different aspects of performance management systems in the public sector. It offers an integrative theoretical framework for explaining and designing such systems and their integration into the policy making process, and will open up new avenues of research, expose scholars and students to new methodological tools and equip public officials, politicians and citizens with practical methods for improving the performance of the public sector.

This book discusses some of the main challenges that arise in the management of modern democracies, with a focus on the role of citizens and their perceptions of government. A theoretical and practical framework is suggested for dealing with some of the most urgent problems that governments face today: the balance between bureaucracy and democracy and between political and administrative concerns; the pressing economic concerns in a market-based, globalized knowledge society and the changes in the relationship of trust amongst the players. At the heart of the analysis is the idea that running governments effectively means settling the potential conflicts between all those who are involved in the governmental process and in the making of public policy and public actions. The authors suggest approaches for strengthening the trust in democratic institutions and cooperation between the main actors in the democratic sphere, without compromising on the need to ensure effective governance.

Over the last quarter century, a radical demographic, economic and political transformation has been taking place from within Israel. Israelis are beginning to ask some fundamental questions about the country they live in and what it means to be an Israeli. This book, written by five Israeli academics, probes the changing nature of Israeli society over the last twenty-five years. It considers the deep rifts in that society caused by ethnic, cultural, class and religious divide. It looks at political and economic changes and how privatization has undermined the welfare state. It questions the role of the military in the light of the wider social and economic changes. Finally, and crucially, it asks whether new political initiatives can offer a realistic alternative to the inadequacies of recent governments. This is an informative account of Israel's recent past and the challenges it faces in the twenty-first century.

Over the last quarter century, a radical demographic, economic and political transformation has been taking place from within Israel. Israelis are beginning to ask some fundamental questions about the country they live in and what it means to be an Israeli. This book, written by five Israeli academics, probes the changing nature of Israeli society over the last twenty-five years. It considers the deep rifts in that society caused by ethnic, cultural, class and religious divide. It looks at political and economic changes and how privatization has undermined the welfare state. It questions the role of the military in the light of the wider social and economic changes. Finally, and crucially, it asks whether new political initiatives can offer a realistic alternative to the inadequacies of recent governments. This is an informative account of Israel's recent past and the challenges it faces in the twenty-first century.