Routledge Critical Studies in Public Management
The study and practice of public management has undergone profound changes across the world. Over the last quarter century, we have seen
- increasing criticism of public administration as the over-arching framework for the provision of public services
- the rise (and critical appraisal) of the ‘New Public Management’ as an emergent paradigm for the provision of public services
- the transformation of the ‘public sector’ into the cross-sectoral provision of public services
- the growth of the governance of inter-organizational relationships as an essential element in the provision of public services
In reality these trends have not so much replaced each other as elided or co-existed together – the public policy process has not gone away as a legitimate topic of study, intra-organizational management continues to be essential to the efficient provision of public services, whist the governance of inter-organizational and inter-sectoral relationships is now essential to the effective provision of these services.
Further, whilst the study of public management has been enriched by contribution of a range of insights from the ‘mainstream’ management literature it has also contributed to this literature in such areas as networks and inter-organizational collaboration, innovation and stakeholder theory.
This series is dedicated to presenting and critiquing this important body of theory and empirical study. It will publish books that both explore and evaluate the emergent and developing nature of public administration, management and governance (in theory and practice) and examine the relationship with and contribution to the over-arching disciplines of management and organizational sociology.
Books in the series will be of interest to academics and researchers in this field, students undertaking advanced studies of it as part of their undergraduate or postgraduate degree and reflective policy makers and practitioners.
