Challenging some of the established practices of public policy and administration, which have been called into question by the financial and banking crises of 2008, this title investigates public sector management and the public managers acting in the interests of civil society to get to the heart of best practice.

This volume reflects on the global dimension of the 2008 banking and financial crisis and point to a bigger and deeper crisis of authority and legitimacy for public managers. The peak of the crisis might be passing but the crisis for civil society and civic institutions of governance and leadership is far from over. The long term implications of these crises for governance, political and civic institutions are hard to be precise about. However, we can observe how across a number of nation states and supra national relationships (from the European Union to the IMF) are institutions and those...

Multi-Level Governance (MLG) is a highly influential, supple and ductile framework for interpreting governance in complex polities. Yet, criticisms have been aimed at its allegedly overly 'descriptive', rather than explanatory, power. This volume argues that progress in both the study and the practice of MLG may derive from developing linkages with disciplines, perspectives and issues that have so far not been explored in connection to MLG. By discussing cases ranging from nuclear power policy to environmental policy in both the Western world and in Eastern Asia, and by engaging different...

Volume 5 of Critical Perspectives in International Public Sector Management is comprised of three parts. The need for experimental learning in public management development, experimental learning formats and innovative teaching and transfer and value creation. This international, interdisciplinary volume is valuable for leadership, management, public management and education scholars.

This volume explores the ways in which civil society and governments employ transformative tactics of direct engagement in coordinating efforts toward the common good. The chapters highlight alternatives that are philosophically and pragmatically different from neoliberal austerity measures, which reduce coproduction to a cost-saving tactic. Instead of simplistic load-shedding and unfunded partnerships, collaborative governance and coproduction increasingly take on characteristics of social movements, wherein direct citizen engagement in public policy making and administrative implementation...