Despite their immense importance for many aspects of public service management, the specific features of places have been largely ignored in recent public management literature. Technologies have received much more attention, but mainly within the specific field of e-government. In this book Christopher Pollitt puts together a powerful and engagingly-written case for paying much more attention both to place and to technological change, and the interactions between them.
The book synthesizes theories and concepts from a range of disciplines and focuses them on the many ways in which public...

Despite their immense importance for many aspects of public service management, the specific features of places have been largely ignored in recent public management literature. Technologies have received much more attention, but mainly within the specific field of e-government. In this book Christopher Pollitt puts together a powerful and engagingly-written case for paying much more attention both to place and to technological change, and the interactions between them.
The book synthesizes theories and concepts from a range of disciplines and focuses them on the many ways in which public...

Using conversations, cases and original sources, this work engages with the key themes and problems of the field of public management. After writing many conventional books and articles Christopher Pollitt has turned to this novel approach in order to offer students, teachers and practitioners alike a refreshing introduction to both the classic and the most fashionable issues in public management.

'Putting into context' is a very common phrase - both in the social sciences and beyond. But what exactly do we mean by this, and how do we do it? In this book, leading scholars in public policy and management tackle these issues. They show how ideas of context are central to a range of theories and explanations and use an international range of case studies to exemplify context-based explanation. The book uncovers the complexity that lies behind an apparently simple notion, and offers a variety of approaches to decipher that complexity. Context is indeed a missing link, which enables us to...

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...

In an era of austerity, population ageing, and global warming, public management has become a subject of even greater importance than hitherto. This book reflects on the nature of the subject, its theories and methods, and the dynamics of the associated academic community. In a lively account, Christopher Pollitt focuses on the tension between being 'scientific', and being useful to the world of practice. He offers an international perspective, acknowledges the emergence of important new players in the field, and provides an unparalleled breadth of coverage in the field of public management...

In an era of austerity, population ageing, and global warming, public management has become a subject of even greater importance than hitherto. This book reflects on the nature of the subject, its theories and methods, and the dynamics of the associated academic community. In a lively account, Christopher Pollitt focuses on the tension between being 'scientific', and being useful to the world of practice. He offers an international perspective, acknowledges the emergence of important new players in the field, and provides an unparalleled breadth of coverage in the field of public management...