Proposes a new, advanced theory of governance, emphasizing the interactions of the state with other actors.

Institutionalism has become one of the dominant strands of theory within contemporary political science. Beginning with the challenge to behavioural and rational choice theory issued by March and Olsen, institutional analysis has developed into an important alternative to more individualistic approaches to theory and analysis. This body of theory has developed in a number of ways, and perhaps the most commonly applied version in political science is historical institutionalism that stresses the importance of path dependency in shaping institutional behaviour. The fundamental question...

The Oxford Handbook of Swedish Politics provides a state of the art analysis of political development in Sweden. Covering all essential aspects of politics in Sweden, this volume provides detailed accounts of policy making, governance, institutional arrangements, foreign relations, electoral behavior, the party system, the public administration, the constitutional framework, and the welfare state. The Handbook shows how many of the features that once were exceptional to Sweden, for example, the welfare state, the consensual policy making, the historical compromise between capital and...

This book addresses an important issue and debate in public administration: the politicization of civil service systems and personnel. Using a comparative framework the authors address issues such as compensation, appointments made from outside the civil service system, anonymity, partisanship and systems used to handle appointees of prior administrations in the US, Canada, Germany, France, Britain, New Zealand, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and Greece.

Administrative reform in most western democracies over the years has been characterized by bringing in market-based concepts of public-service delivery. This book looks at administrative reform in a comparative perspective. It assesses its scope and objectives, and the impact of reforms, on traditional roles of elective office and civil servants.

Proposes a new, advanced theory of governance, emphasizing the interactions of the state with other actors.

Western societies are becoming increasingly complex and challenging to govern, yet the modern state continues to play a central role in governance. This book presents a detailed analysis of the challenges confronting the contemporary state and the processes through which the state addresses those challenges. The notion of 'governing without government' is critiqued; instead, Pierre and Peters argue that what is happening a more a matter of state transformation than state decline.

These essays explore the utility of thinking about public-private partnerships for local economic development. A theoretical examination of theories of governance, institutions and policy instruments is supplemented by empirical analysis and comparisons of their operation in the United Kingdom, Sweden and the United States in the context of debates about the 'limits of politics' and dependence on the institutions of civil society.

Leading scholars in the field of governance examine the effectiveness of the different non-institutional strategies at the disposal of modern governments in tackling issues of urban decline, public administrations, governmental regionalization, budget deficits, and global economics.