Public sector bureaucracies have been subjected to harsh criticism. One solution which has been widely adopted over the past two decades has been to 'unbundle government' - that is to break down monolithic departments and ministries into smaller, semi-autonomous 'agencies'. These are often governed by some type of performance contract, are at 'arm's length' or further from their 'parent' ministry or department and are freed from many of the normal rules governing civil service bodies.
This, the first book to survey the 'why' and the 'how' of this epidemic of 'agencification', is essential reading for advanced students and researchers of public management. It includes case studies from every continent - from Japan to America and from Sweden to Tanzania, these 14 case studies (some covering more than one country) critically examine how such agencies have been set up and managed.
Part One: Setting the Scene
1. Managers managing? The international
trend towards agencies, quangos and contratualization Colin Talbot
2.
Patterns of structural change Geert Bouckaert and Guy B. Peters Part Two:
Agencies, Quangos and Contracts in the Heartlands of the New Public
Management
3. Adapting the agency concept: variations within 'Next Steps'
Francesca Gains
4. Executive agencies and joined-up government in the UK
Oliver James
5. Contracting and accountability: a model of effective
contracting drawn from the U.S. experience Jocelyn Johnston and Barbara
Romzek
6. Contractualism and performance measurement in Australia Linda
McGuire
7. The agency concept in North America: failure, adaptation and
incremental change Andrew Graham and Alasdair Roberts Part Three:
Autonomization in Continental Europe and Japan
8. Quangos in Dutch
government Sandra van Thiel
9. Lost in translation? Shifting interpretations
of the concept of 'agency': the Dutch case Amanda Smullen
10. Central
agencies in Sweden: a report from Utopia Jon Pierre
11. Agencification in
Japan Kiyoshi Yamamoto Part Four: Autonomization in the Developing and
Transitional Countries
12. New Public management in a developing country:
creating executive agencies in Tanzania Janice Caulfield
13. Agencies in
Thailand Bidyha Bowornwathana
14. The design, performance and sustainability
of semi-autonomous revenue authorities in Africa and Latin America Robert R.
Taliercio Jr
15. Castles built on sand? Agencies in Latvia Christopher Pllitt
16. Agencies in Jamaica Colin Talbot Part Five: Overview
17. Theoretical
overview Christopher Pollitt
Christopher Pollitt is currently Professor of Public Management at Erasmus University, Rotterdam. He has worked as a UK civil Servant, as an academic and consultant. He has been President of the European Evaluation Society and has advised many public organisations and the European Commission. Colin Talbot is currently Professor of Public Policy at the University of Nottingham and head of the Nottingham Policy Centre. He has worked in the public sector, as an academic and consultant and founded the consulting group 'Public Futures'. He has been a Special Advisor to the UK Public Administration Select Committee and advised many public organisations, in the UK and internationally.
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