Over the past quarter century, governments around the world have launched ambitious efforts to reform the way they manage. Citizens have demanded smaller, cheaper, more effective governments while asking for more programs and better services. To resolve this paradox, governments are experimenting with many ideas to improve performance and production and to reduce costs. In this new edition of The Global Public Management Revolution, Donald F. Kettl charts the basic models of reform being employed worldwide.
Reviewing the standard strategies and tactics behind these reforms, the book identifies six common core ideas:
- greater productivity
- more public reliance on private markets
- a stronger service orientation
- devolution to subnational government
- increased capacity to formulate and evaluate policy
- enhanced accountability
Kettl predicts that reform and reinvention will likely become mantras for governments of all stripes. Ultimately, this means coupling the reform impulse with governance—government's increasingly important relationship with civil society and the institutions that shape modern life.