In this volume, experience in a number of Western nations and in a variety of policy areas is drawn upon to consider what structural features of the political-administrative system might account for the inability of governments to guide socio-economic processes and developments more effectively. The focus is on the interorganizational characteristics of government problem solving -- that both the formulation and implementation of public policy increasingly involve different governmental levels and agencies, as well as interactions between public authorities and private organizations.

In this new edition of his classic reader, Michael Hill seeks to make the selected extracts reflect a more European outlook on the processess of policy-making and implementation. With reference to the third edition of his popular textbook, The Policy Process in the Modern State, Hill has maintained the thematic approach of the first edition, looking in turn at approaches to policy making in Europe, power, bureaucracy and the State, the rationality/incrememtalism debate, the role of organisational theory in policy implementation, street-level bureaucracy and discretion. Already praised as one of the best readers available in thisfield, Michael Hill's new edition will be even more valued as a reference and teaching resource by students and lecturers alike.

Public Policymaking Reexamined is now recognized as a fundamental treatise for public policy studies. Although it caused much controversy when it was first published for its systematic approach to policy studies, the book is acknowledged as a modern classic of continuing importance for the teaching and research of public policy, planning and policy analysis, and public administration. The paperback includes a new introduction updating and supplementing many of the author's original ideas.Professor Dror combines the approaches of policy analysis, behavioral science, and systems analysis in his examination of the reality of public policymaking and his suggestions for its reform. Actual policymaking is carefully evaluated with the help of explicit criteria and standards based on an optimal model approach, resulting in detailed proposals for improvement. He applies a scientific orientation to the study of social facts and theory.

Energy spurs social and economic development and has multiple effects on the ecological and social environment of societies. Energy access for socially equitable development, energy security for economic growth, and the mitigation of climate change all represent issues of sustainable development. Energy markets, however, fail to set incentives right. Based on research in five sustainable energy-related global policy networks and on conducted expert interviews, this study analyzes the effectiveness of global policy networks and aims to identify instruments of effective global environmental governance. In conclusion, the study will draft a strategy for network governance how to reconcile long-term and short-term interests by creating integrative sustainable business opportunities. This strategy has to foster collaboration in partnerships and self-organizing dynamics among the network partners.

Drawing together key contributions to the field, this innovative Reader provides a broad-ranging overview of both the theory and practice of public service management. The book: outlines the social, political and economic contexts in which management has emerged as a crucial issue in the public sector of modern democratic countries; introduces the major theories, issues and concepts involved in defining and understanding public sector management; analyzes some of the key values underpinning the idea of the public domain; and examines some of the main challenges in terms of particular strategies, techniques and competences which have been proposed to improve management for public services. Public Sector Management is a Course Reader for The Open University course B887 Managing Public Services.