This comprehensive work starts by charting the origins and evolution of the shift from public administration to public management and moves on to assess the main theories and debates about its character, benefits and problems. After consideration of the party political issues, debates, continuities, and discontinuities between the approaches of Thatcher, Major and Blair, the core of the book discusses change in public sector organization more broadly.

This title was first published in 2000: This text collects a set of specially commissioned chapters by British and German political scientists as well as experts in public administration and management, designed to present and grapple with the range of the subject in an accessible but sophisticated form. In doing so, the volume seeks to fill the gap perceived to have opened up between the conventional comparative government literature and the new public management literature. While the first part of the book explores the historical, political and cultural context of public sector reform, the second part deals more specifically with institutional developments and recent reform trends in the fields of social policy and social service delivery. The volume analyzes the degree of "convergence" or "divergence" between the two countries with regard to public sector change.

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.

′A broad-ranging and highly intelligent account of key recent developments internationally which skillfully updates the public management and governance literatures′ - Ewan Ferlie, Royal Holloway ′Public management has been radically changed and reformed... this book gives students a fine introduction to these changes and to the theories dealing with them′ - Jørgen Grønnegaard Christensen, University of Aarhus An introduction and guide to the dramatic changes that have occurred in the provision of public services over the last two decades, this book combines theoretical perspectives with a range of case studies from Europe, North America and further afield to explain why, how and with what success liberal democracies have reformed the service role of the state. The book pays close attention to four major dimensions of this transition: " External challenges and opportunties: globalisation and EU integration " Reducing the role of the state: Liberalisation, privatisation, regulation and competition policy " Improving the role of the state: New Public Management, e-Government and beyond " Managing the New Public Sector: organisations, strategy and leadership This text is designed for undergraduate courses in public governance, but it also addresses the core components of MPA programmes - the parameters, tools, principles and theories of public sector reform.

This wide-ranging text analyses the key developments and changes in the management of the major public services in Britain during the 1990s. Designed as a successor to the editors' highly successful Managing the New Public Services, the book places public management and, in particular, the 'Third Way' as adopted by New Labour, in its economic, political and historical context, including the impact of globalization and European integration. Extended case studies illustrate and highlight key stages in the transformation of management and the book concludes with an evaluation and critique of two decades of managerial reform and a discussion of the way forward in the new millennium.

This work explains the background to, and politics behind, the infamous Beeching Report, which recommended the closure of a third of Britain's railways.

From the 'Third Way' reforms of the 1990s to today's prospect of a post-bureaucracy era, the management of the UK's public services has been radically overhauled in recent decades. This important new text provides a complete introduction to the key themes and developments in public management and the changing relationship between governments, public service providers and the public. June Burnham and Sylvia Horton examine the key components of public management in the UK, including strategic management and the introduction of new performance management techniques as well as financial and human resources management. The book assesses how wider forces such as Europeanization, globalization and the global economic crisis have affected both the structure and role of the state and the way public services are managed. It also looks back to examine the transition from public administration to public management and considers how different ideologies have influenced and driven reform. Distinctively, the authors provide a full assessment of how devolution has affected public services across all parts of the UK. Providing an insightful and accessibly written introduction, this book will be ideal reading for all students of public management.