In this major new contribution to a rapidly expanding field, the authors offer an integrated analysis of the wave of management reforms which have swept through so many countries in the last twenty years. The reform trajectories of ten countries are compared, and key differences of approach discussed. Unlike some previous works, this volume affords balanced coverage to the 'New Public Management' (NPM) and the 'non-NPM' or 'reluctant NPM' countries, since it covers Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, the UK and the USA. Unusually, it also includes a preliminary analysis of attempts to improve management within the European Commission.

This report examines the influence of trust on policy making and explores some of the steps governments can take to strengthen public trust.

This report looks at the capacity and capabilities of civil servants of OECD countries and suggests approaches for addressing skills gaps through recruitment, development and workforce management

School education reform is a dynamic process. It takes place in the context of changing institutional structures including society, economy, politics, legislation, and technology. Yet, there can be poor awareness of risk, particularly social risk, and its management during this process and more widely, during public service reform (PSR). This book aims to promote new PSR understanding about social risk management. It utilizes in-depth case studies comprising two anonymous Scottish councils responsible for providing and reforming school education services. Drawing mainly on risk management and structuration theories with elements of complexity leadership and institutional theories, the book explains contextual issues around the reform of Scottish school education services (SSES). It illustrates that social risks associated with reform can be used to explain emerging threats. Furthermore, it demonstrates that agent-structure duality may be instrumental to the production and management of social risks. The book also shows how the concept of social risk can be used to improve policy making and implementation. Targeted at practitioners, researchers, policymakers, and students, this book will be of interest to those in the fields of public administration, public service management, and risk management more generally.

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.