This book addresses salient current issues in public administration research. It seeks to suggest where future research may or indeed ought to be focussed. To advocate the future routes for the development of research, this book is divided into themes, with a clear overlap between different approaches. The book has contributions that will assist students of public administration/public sector management and public policy, especially new PhD students, but will also be a useful resource for more established researchers to understand the major emerging issues within the field.

Setting the agenda on agenda setting, this Handbook explores how and why private matters become public issues and occasionally government priorities. It provides a comprehensive overview and analysis of the perspectives, individuals, and institutions involved in setting the government’s agenda at subnational, national, and international levels. Drawing on contributions from leading academics across the world, this Handbook is split into five distinct parts. Part one sets public policy agenda setting in its historical context, devoting chapters to more in-depth studies of the main individual scholars and their works. Part two offers an extensive examination of the theoretical development, whilst part three provides a comprehensive look at the various institutional dimensions. Part four reviews the literature on sub-national, national and international governance levels. Finally, part five offers innovative coverage on agenda setting during crises.

An overview of experimental research and methods in public management, and their impact on theory, research practices and substantive knowledge.

The performance of public services is a matter of concern in many countries. Issues of public service efficiency, cost, and effectiveness have moved to the forefront of political debate. This book applies the latest thinking from Management and Organization Studies to public organizations to examine how the public sector can perform better.

This Research Handbook offers a comprehensive study of existing and emerging general principles of EU law by scholars from a wide range of expertise in EU law, international law, legal theory and different areas of substantive law. It explores the theory, content, role and function of general principles in EU law to better understand general principles as a mechanism for the substantive openness of the EU legal order as well as for cross-fertilization and coherence of legal orders. Their potential as a tool to manage the interaction of legal regimes and orders is a particular focal point and will make this Handbook a must-read for scholars of EU Law.

Agenda-Setting asks who sets the agenda that brings social problems into the public arena, on to the policy agenda and, finally, to a change of policy. It provides important practical and theoretical insight into the agenda-setting process.