Challenging the assumptions of the "reinventing-government" movement now in vogue, this book unites a call for active citizenship with the current concern for improving public-agency performance. The author argues that citizens should not be viewed as customers of government, as reinventing-government advocates assume, but rather as government's owners. By analyzing a turn-of-the-century model of urban reform that depicts this relationship between citizens and government, Schachter shows how reinvigorating an active public is essential to increasing agency efficiency and responsiveness. She...