Focusing on Anglo-American examples, Peters reveals how the reform efforts reflect four major alternative models of state governance based respectively on the concepts of market, participation, flexibility, and deregulation. His close examination of these administrative models underscores their wide-ranging implications for reformers, bureaucrats, and public administrators, as well as the crucial importance of integrating ideals with contexts in any attempt to make government more responsive.
An internationally recognized authority on public administration, Peters draws upon an impressive array of sources to provide a unique synthesis of new approaches to improving governance in the industrialized democracies. His work will help scholars and administrators alike gain a much clearer understanding of the ideas and processes that influence those approaches as the world moves ever nearer to millennium's end.
This revised edition includes three new chapters that add valuable analysis and perspective to current debates surrounding the political and administrative change in less-developed countries, the deficiencies of public administration theory, and the ways in which reform begets further reform and creates a belief in the desirability of continuous reform.
This book is part of the Studies in Government and Public Policy series.
