Despite predictions that 'new public management' would establish itself as the new paradigm of Public Administration and Management, recent academic research has highlighted concerns about the intra-organizational focus and limitations of this approach. This book represents a comprehensive analysis of the state of the art of public management, examining and framing the debate in this important area. The New Public Governance? sets out to explore this emergent field of research and to present a framework with which to understand it. Divided into five parts, the book examines: Theoretical underpinnings of the concept of governance, especially competing perspectives from Europe and the US Governance of inter-organizational partnerships and contractual relationships Governance of policy networks Lessons learned and future directions Under the steely editorship of Stephen Osborne and with contributions from leading academics including Owen Hughes, John M. Bryson, Don Kettl, Guy Peters and Carsten Greve, this book will be of particular interest to researchers and students of public administration, public management, public policy and public services management.

"Public management is emerging as a discipline separate from public administration. Public management, as distinguished from public administration, focuses on strategy rather than on managerial processes, on relations between organizations rather than within them, and on the intersection of public policy and management. Public Management: The State of the Art gathers leading researchers and theorists from various schools of interpretation to convey the latest theories and research and to explore what public management is and what it can be." "The authors assess the state of current public management theory, reveal the effectiveness and strategic dimensions of public management practice, and show how the discipline of public management interacts with policy design and politics. In addition, they examine the implications of technological innovation, including management information systems, and chart new directions for public management theory and research."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

The UK has played a pivotal role in the development of New Public Management (NPM). This book offers an original, comprehensive and multidisciplinary analysis of the impact of the New Public Management in the UK, and situates these analyses in a broader comparative perspective. Its chapters consider: competing typologies of NPM issues of professionalism within NPM debates on social exclusion and equity the role of different research approaches in evaluating NPM the evolving nature of NPM and impact of modernisation evaluations of NPM in mainland Europe, North America, Africa and the developing World, Australia, and Pacific-Asia. Leading authorities from around the world present evaluations of current thinking in NPM and highlight the challenges which will shape future development and research approaches. New Public Management presents a timely and constructive overview of the nature and impact of the NPM and offers important lessons for public management across the world.