Overview
- Examines British governance reform debates and issues using a public value based approach
- Argues that, although public value-based approaches are evident, there has not been a paradigm shift away from New Public Management
- Calls for the twin challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit to be a springboard for re-evaluating public service delivery
Part of the book series: International Series on Public Policy (ISPP)
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Table of contents (10 chapters)
Keywords
- Public Value Management
- Public Value
- Public Management
- Public Sector
- Public Reform
- British governance
- governance reform
- public administration
- co-production
- multi-level governance
- political authority
- public service innovation
- policy networks
- UK reform agenda
- post-new public management
- Brexit
- COVID-19
- crisis
- pandemic
- paradigmatic shift
About this book
This book examines developments in governance reform in Britain, with a particular focus on the period since 2010. We argue that the experiences of the past decade mean that public value-based ideas are required to inform governance reform for the coming years. This needs to be prioritised due to the twin challenges of managing the aftermath of Brexit and navigating through the recovery phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. The volume outlines key themes, issues and debates relevant to contemporary public sector reform including: modes of state governance, evidence-based policy-making debates, the challenges and possibilities of public sector innovation, accountability issues, and the implications of Brexit. The overall conclusion of the book is that the coming decade presents an opportunity for more paradigmatic changes to UK governance but, for this to happen, political leaders need to prioritise a ‘reinventing government’ agenda underpinned by public value-based thinking and approaches. This book will be of particular interest to students of politics and public administration and relevant for those with general research interests in British governance and public policy.
Reviews
‘This book is a must read for anyone with an interest in British public policy-making. The edited volume by John Connolly and Arno can der Zwet brings together excellent, comprehensive and thematic accounts of governance reforms by leading public policy experts. At a time when the UK is responding to the challenges of Brexit and COVID-19, the insights provided by leading scholars in the field offer a timely and detailed examinations of contemporary governance developments in the United Kingdom’.
—John Bachtler, Professor of European Policy Studies and Director of the European Policies Research Centre, University of Strathclyde, UK
‘This book makes a compelling case to understand contemporary UK governance before we seek to reform it. In public discourse, there remains a troubling belief that governments can simply deliver the policy outcomes they seek, even though this belief is challenged by most policy studies. Only by analysing governance in depth can we understand its limits and recommend feasible reforms’.
—Paul Cairney, Professor of European Policy Studies, University of Stirling, UK
Editors and Affiliations
About the editors
John Connolly is Professor of Public Policy at the University of the West of Scotland, UK. He writes on the topic of public sector reform, multi-level governance, evaluation and crisis management. His previous book is The Politics and Crisis Management of Animal Health Security (2015). He undertakes consultancy for major public sector bodies and has contributed to Research Council projects both nationally and internationally.
Arno van der Zwet is Senior Lecturer in Politics and Public Policy at the University of the West of Scotland, UK. His research interests include territorial governance, territorial identity and territorial development policies. He has led research projects for European Commission, European Parliament, World Bank and Research Councils.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Public Value Management, Governance and Reform in Britain
Editors: John Connolly, Arno van der Zwet
Series Title: International Series on Public Policy
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55586-3
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Political Science and International Studies, Political Science and International Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-55585-6Published: 24 November 2020
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-55588-7Published: 24 November 2021
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-55586-3Published: 23 November 2020
Series ISSN: 2524-7301
Series E-ISSN: 2524-731X
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XXVII, 294
Number of Illustrations: 4 b/w illustrations, 3 illustrations in colour
Topics: Public Policy, Governance and Government