Democratic societies are being challenged to look for new ways of doing politics that involve different stakeholders, particularly citizens. This book looks at public authorities' attempts to put society at the core of public policies in the form of collaborative governance. It provides a full account of a major case from the provincial council of Gipuzkoa (Basque Country, Spain): 150 projects, more than 900 organisations, and 50.000 participants and beneficiaries. ‘Pracademic’ lessons learned derive from the interaction among 50 practitioners engaged in the day-to-day practice of the case and scholars from different countries. Topics included relate to major challenges that collaborative governance reforms are facing across the world: structures, institutionalisation, relationships, leadership, accountability, innovation, experimentation, communication, intangible resources, trust, and assessment of outcomes (particularly in terms of Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs). Ultimately, issues of democracy arise from a case covering a comprehensive list of policies: health, employment, elderly care, energy, cybersecurity, electromobility, artificial intelligence, immigration, education, social equity, and culture. This book is intended for students, professionals and scholars interested in fostering the study and practice of democracy.

Results-based management (RBM) is a public management strategy that involves decision making based on reliable information regarding the effects of governmental actions on society. It has been adopted in various developed countries as a way of improving efficiency and effectiveness in public policy. In Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries, governments and public managers show increasing interest in this management strategy. Given the relative novelty of RBM in the region, however, there is scant literature on the subject. This book is intended to fill this gap in two ways. First, it seeks to describe some of the basic RBM concepts and adapt them according to regional characteristics. Second, it presents an assessment, based on studies carried out in 25 countries, of the challenges facing LAC countries and their capacity to implement results-based public management.

A practical guide to the construction of thesauri for use in information retrieval, written by leading experts in the field. Includes: planning and design; vocabulary control; specificity and compound terms; structure and relationships; auxiliary retrieval devices; multilingual thesauri; AAT Compound Term Rules. The US ANSI/NISO Z39.19 Thesaurus construction standard is also covered.

The OECD Public Integrity Handbook provides guidance to government, business and civil society on implementing the OECD Recommendation on Public Integrity. The Handbook clarifies what the Recommendation’s thirteen principles mean in practice and identifies challenges in implementing them.

`This is an illuminating and topical study, which skilfully blends together theoretical and empirical analysis in search of the "citizen-consumer". It should become a key text for all with an interest in public service reform and the "choice" agenda, as well as consumerism and citizenship′ - Ruth Lister, Professor of Social Policy, University of Loughborough Political, popular and academic debates have swirled around the notion of the citizen as a consumer of public services, with public service reform increasingly geared towards a consumer society. This innovative book draws on original research with those people in the front-line of the reforms - staff, managers and users of public services - to explore their responses to this turn to consumerism. Creating Citizen-Consumers explores a range of theoretical, political, policy and practice issues that arise in the shift towards consumerism. It draws on recent controversies about choice to examine the tensions of modernising public services to meet the demands of a consumer society. The book offers a fresh and challenging understanding of the relationships between people and services, and argues for a model based on interdependence, respect and partnership rather than choice. This original book makes a distinctive contribution to debates about the future of public services. It will be of interest to those studying social policy, cultural studies, public administration and management across the social sciences, as well as for those working in public services. John Clarke is a Professor of Social Policy at the Open University. Janet Newman is a Professor of Social Policy at the Open University. Nick Smith is a Research Officer in the Personal Social Services Research Unit at the University of Kent. Elizabeth Vidler is a Project Officer in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Open University. Louise Westmarland is a Lecturer in Criminology at the Open University.

This book provides the most thorough view available on this new and intriguing dimension of workplace psychology, which is the basis of fulfilling, productive work. The book begins by defining work engagement, which has been described as ‘an opposite to burnout,’ following its development into a more complex concept with far reaching implications for work-life. The chapters discuss the sources of work engagement, emphasizing the importance of leadership, organizational structures, and human resource management as factors that may operate to either enhance or inhibit employee’s experience of work. The book considers the implications of work engagement for both the individual employee and the organization as a whole. To address readers’ practical questions, the book provides in-depth coverage of interventions that can enhance employees’ work engagement and improve management techniques. Based upon the most up-to-date research by the foremost experts in the world, this volume brings together the best knowledge available on work engagement, and will be of great use to academic researchers, upper level students of work and organizational psychology as well as management consultants.