A global wave of reform is fundamentally transforming both the nature and the role of the state in advanced national economies. This book provides a fresh and readily accessible perspective on the political economy of this megatrend. It traces the theoretical roots of public sector reforms to conceptual developments in public economics, which revolve around debates on the relative importance of market and government failure. The book then breaks new ground by developing an economic theory of leadership to explain how policy entrepreneurs and policy networks can drive the direction of reform...