Unbundled Government - More Information

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 is the first book to survey the ''why'' and the ''how'' of this epidemic of ''agencification'', with case studies from every continent. From Japan to America and from Sweden to Tanzania, these 14 case studies (some covering more than one country) critically examine how such agencies have been set up and managed.

The introductory chapter distils the main elements of the agencification movement. An international panel of contributors then move on to explore how this relates to other similar, structural changes to government; agencies, quangos and contracts; autonomization in continental Europe and Japan and autonomization in developing and transitional countries. The concluding section locates this change to agencification in a theoretical context, looking at how it has been explained by both policy-makers and academics.

Unbundled Government is essential reading for advanced students and researchers of public management.

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Table of contents : Part One: Setting the Scene
1. Managers managing? The international trend towards agencies, quangos and contratualization Colin Talbot
2. Patterns of structural change Geert Bouckaert and Guy B. Peters
Part Two: Agencies, Quangos and Contracts in the Heartlands of the New Public Management
3. Adapting the agency concept: variations within 'Next Steps' Francesca Gains
4. Executive agencies and joined-up government in the UK Oliver James
5. Contracting and accountability: a model of effective contracting drawn from the U.S. experience Jocelyn Johnston and Barbara Romzek
6. Contractualism and performance measurement in Australia Linda McGuire
7. The agency concept in North America: failure, adaptation and incremental change Andrew Graham and Alasdair Roberts
Part Three: Autonomization in Continental Europe and Japan
8. Quangos in Dutch government Sandra van Thiel
9. Lost in translation? Shifting interpretations of the concept of 'agency': the Dutch case Amanda Smullen
10. Central agencies in Sweden: a report from Utopia Jon Pierre
11. Agencification in Japan Kiyoshi Yamamoto
Part Four: Autonomization in the Developing and Transitional Countries
12. New Public management in a developing country: creating executive agencies in Tanzania Janice Caulfield
13. Agencies in Thailand Bidyha Bowornwathana
14. The design, performance and sustainability of semi-autonomous revenue authorities in Africa and Latin America Robert R. Taliercio Jr
15. Castles built on sand? Agencies in Latvia Christopher Pllitt
16. Agencies in Jamaica Colin Talbot
Part Five: Overview
17. Theoretical overview Christopher Pollitt