1st Edition
Government Contracting A Public Solutions Handbook
Government contracting is one of the most important issues facing federal, state, and local governments. As governments contend with lower tax revenues and a growing belief that smaller government is better government, contracting has become a fundamental means of providing goods and services to citizens. This volume, which is geared toward practitioners as well as students, addresses the broad range of issues that comprise government contracting – from the political, economic philosophy, and value of contracting – to the future of government contracting.
Throughout the volume academic theory provides a foundation to address practical subjects, including the contract process, monitoring and evaluating contracts, ethics, and both federal and state local government contracting. Contributors to this volume are both academicians and practitioners, who together offer their scholarly expertise and practical experience, encouraging readers to ask the very question "What is the role of government in American society?" Through this approach, students will acquire the knowledge needed to understand the various aspects of government contracting, and practitioners will enhance their public procurement skills. Government Contracting is ideally suited to MPA students, practitioners in the public sector, and elected officials looking to enhance their understanding of privatization and contracting in order to provide public services more effectively.
Part 1: Government Contracting Theory 1. Political and Economic Philosophy and the Value of Contacting Lynne A. Weikart 2. The Contracting Decision Olga Victorovna Smirnova and Suzanne Leland 3. The Contracting Process William Sims Curry Part 2: Issues in Government Contracting 4. Performance-based Contacting Lawrence Martin 5. Contracting with Nonprofit Organizations Christopher Prentice and Jeffrey Brudney 6. Public Private Partnerships: Implications for Public Procurement Wendell Lawther 7. Monitoring and Evaluating Contracts Clifford McCue and Bill Davison Part 3: Government Contracting: Ethics, Management and Governance 8. Governance and Contracting Julia L. Carboni 9. Ethics in Contracting William Sims Curry 10. Impact of Contracting on Managing Government Organizations Stephen B. Gordon 11. Contracting in State and Local Governments Donna Ginter 12. The Future of Government Contracting Robert A. Shick
Biography
Robert A. Shick is a visiting scholar in the School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA) at Rutgers University’s Newark Campus, and was formerly on the faculty of both SPAA and Long Island University, USA. Dr. Shick has extensive experience as a senior administrator in New York City government contracting, and he is an active researcher in government contracting and nonprofit management. He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal for Health and Human Services Administration and the Journal of Administrative Sciences.
"This handbook offers much needed guidance for hard pressed practitioners and students of public management alike on the complex choices and managerial challenges posed by the growing governmental reliance on private contractors. The chapters provide clearly written and incisive observations and conclusions on some of the most important and vexing issues that managers and the public face in determining whether to contract and how to ensure that private implementers are accountable for public values and objectives. A book like this should be required reading in public administration courses." –Paul L. Posner, George Mason University, USA
