REPRESENTING CUSTOMERS’INTERESTS: THE CASE OF THE PRIVATIZED WATER INDUSTRY IN ENGLAND AND WALES

Privatization has been one of the most important and controversial policy initiatives to emerge in the UK over the last decade. However, to date there has been little attempt to assess the impact of privatization on customers, despite the fact that much of the justification for the privatization of the public utilities was couched in terms of the benefits it would bring for customers. In the case of the water industry opportunities for competition are virtually non-existent, and the ten regional water authorities were privatized with their monopoly position intact. Consequently customers’interests have been represented and protected through new regulatory arrangements operated by the Office of Water Services. The purpose of this article is to offer some provisional assessment of the effectiveness of these new regulatory arrangements. In doing so, the article regards the model of private sector consumer sovereignty as inappropriate given the continued absence of competitive arrangements for the representation of customers’interests against some of the criteria currently being discussed in the development of more consumer-oriented approaches to the delivery of public services.     

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ON APPROACHES TO POLICY EVALUATION IN THE EU: THE CASE OF COHESION POLICY

Cohesion Policy accounts for the largest area of expenditure in the EU budget. Because of its scope and redistributive nature, evaluation is particularly important. Policy analysis tends to overlook the evaluation stage. Few empirical studies seek to apply theory to EU policy evaluation. This article questions the relevance and usefulness of theorizing evaluation practice, exploring positivist, realist, and constructivist perspectives upon approaches to evaluating Structural Funds Programmes. It illustrates how political science theories can provide scholars with useful insights into the way EU policy evaluation is carried out. It develops a toolkit for analyzing real‐world approaches to evaluation and then applies it to three separate Cohesion Policy programmes. The analysis shows how, from a theoretical perspective – and contrary to the mixed methods rhetoric of the European Commission – positivism remains the dominant approach when evaluating the Structural Funds and considers why this is so, identifying the ability to demonstrate efficiency and effectiveness, cost, influence, and evaluation culture as key characteristics.     

David e. lilienthal: Exemplar of public purpose

This is an analysis of the public career of David E. Lilienthal, one of the first directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority and first Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. It examines that career with a special eye toward understanding the nature and form of Lilienthal's commitment to the public realm. The essay develops a four-fold definition of public purpose and critically analyzes how well this ambitious bureaucratic entrepreneur exemplified each variation. The essay concludes with several contemporary “lessons” for politics and bureaucratic action today which are revealed by the Lilienthal experience.     

CACOPHONIES IN THE CONTEMPORARY CHORUS ABOUT CHANGE AT PUBLIC WORKSITES,AS CONTRASTED WITH SOME STRAIGHT-TALK FROM A PLANNED CHANGE PERSPECTIVE

The New Public Management (henceforth NPM) has coalesced into a movement in a short period of time, virtually worldwide. Thus, inter alia, we hear about the allegedly-new focus on the “customers” of public services, which are to be provided by “public intrapreneurs” as well as by cadres of employees at all levels who are “empowered.” And so on and on—through the conventional organizational litany including cross-training, total quality, performance measurement, and eventuating in strategic planning. These emphases make for a pleasing, even convincing, organizational libretto.

If the “chorus” proclaiming the NPM libretto is both ubiquitous as well as insistent, however, the chanting is often loosely-coupled, curiously directed, and at times even contradictory—at times so much so as to alert one's native cunning about what forces are really at work. Hence, the reference here to the “chorus” and also the “cacophonies” this essay detects in NPM's ardent vocalizing. This reflects our judgment that, in equal measure, NPM combines ubiquity, too much of some useful things, unreconciled diversities, and issues at sixes-and-sevens.

But this essay also urges that NPM can “walk its talk.” In effect, several emphases will at once help explain how NPM was all-but-predestined to experience serious shortfalls, as well as prescribe how NPM can rise about these limitations. Particular attention gets directed at appropriate guidelines interaction and structural arrangements.

Four emphases relate to these critical-cum-constructive ambitions. In preview, NPM 1. seldom even attempted detailing a useful approach to applications;

2. typically neglected systemic or millieu characteristics within which applications occurred;

3. usually did not specify a useful front-load in designs: i.e., training in values, attitudes, and interaction skills that would facilitate developing a “cultural preparedness” for appropriate applications; and

4. seldom specified supportive structural/managerial arrangements.

This essay proposes to do better.

This essay takes a direct if dual approach to describing the New Public Management “chorus” and its “cacophonies.” To begin, introductory attention goes to NPM as a “liberation” of theory and practice beyond the classic conservatisms of Public Administration. Then, four limitations of this NPM “chorus” will be detailed, and this quartet of “cacophonies” also implies ways to enhance NPM applications, as well as urges a stark warning against overselling.     

REFORM OF INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS IN AUSTRALIA: THE POLITICS OF FEDERALISM AND THE NON-POLITICS OF MANAGERIALISM

A remarkable process of reform of intergovernmental arrangements was initiated in Australia in 1990 designed, according to its proponents, 'to improve our national efficiency and international competitiveness and to improve the delivery and quality of services governments provide'. Unlike previous 'new federalisms' in Australia (and elsewhere) the reform process on this occasion was neither totally unilateral, nor top-down in design and implementation. Rather, while reflecting the commonwealth (federal) government's frustrations at the limits imposed by the federal system on its political power and administrative capacity, the process intentionally was cooperative, incorporating all state and temtory government leaders, and including representatives of local government. In the context of a review of the origins, nature and objectives of the reform initiative, this article points both to the valuable innovations embodied in its processes, and to the risks of reduced political access and citizen participation created by its attempts to apply 'single-government' managerialist principles to the redesign of intergovernmental arrangements in federal systems. Political and bureaucratic objectives, combined with a lack of adequate appreciation of federal principles, led, in our view, to an attempt to supplant participatory politics with relatively less accessible and responsive managerial structures.     

Budgeting the work force: Influences,elements, disclosure strategies,and roles

Work force budgeting is a comprehensive view of allocating resources recognizing that expenses flow from the use and remuneration of organizational members. The purpose of this essay is to: examine the influences and elements of work force budgeting; enhance the disclosure of such choices; and, isolate the tension in fiscal oversight of personnel decisions. It is incumbent upon managers to acquire, deploy, and control human resources in the production of public goods and services. An humane and ethical bureaucracy has to meet tests of efficiency and effectiveness. This essay supports the proposition that service delivery goals should guide budget decisions instead of simply having decisions premised upon adding up the cost of existing staffing patterns.     

WHY STRONG COORDINATION AT ONE LEVEL OF GOVERNMENT IS INCOMPATIBLE WITH STRONG COORDINATION ACROSS LEVELS (AND HOW TO LIVE WITH IT): THE CASE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

The European Union (EU) inherited ‘indirect administration’ from classical international organizations: policies adopted by the international organization are subsequently to be implemented nationally by member states themselves, and not by bodies owned by the international organization. This arrangement has often led to legislation being incorporated and applied rather differently across countries. In order to harmonize implementation practices within the EU, we have witnessed a development from ‘indirect administration’ to more ‘direct administration’ in the sense that national agencies work closely with the European Commission, EU agencies and sister agencies in other member states, partly bypassing national ministries. Thus, stronger coordination across levels may counteract strong coordination at the national level. This ‘coordination dilemma’ seems to have been largely ignored in the literatures on EU network governance and national ‘joined‐up government’, respectively. The ambition of this article is twofold: first, the coordination dilemma is theoretically and empirically illustrated by the seeming incompatibility between a more direct implementation structure in the multilevel EU administrative system and trends towards strengthening coordination and control within nation states. Second, the article discusses organizational arrangements that may enable systems to live with the coordination dilemma in practice.     

Proving the Potential of Independent Commissions: A Critical Review of the Richard Commission on the Powers and Electoral Arrangements of the National Assembly for Wales

This article examines the composition, operation and recommendations of an independent commission, the Richard Commission on the Powers and Electoral Arrangements of the National Assembly for Wales, which was set up in July 2002 and reported in March 2004. It is written from an insider's perspective (I served as a member of the Commission) and discusses the way in which the Commission functioned, its deliberations and its report, emphasizing the unprecedented nature of its evaluation of Welsh politics and public administration. The article highlights the lasting significance of the Richard Commission report, not only in Wales, but for future governance arrangements across the United Kingdom as a whole. It considers more generally the functions of commissions and suggests a continued role for them in assisting the various activities of government.     

THE DEVELOPMENT OF EU EQUALITY POLICIES: BUREAUCRATIC EXPANSION ON BEHALF OF WOMEN?

This article critically evaluates the impact of European Community equal opportunities policies on behalf of women. It is argued that the European Commission, supported by the European Parliament, women's organizations and European Court rulings, has consciously sought to extend the scope of Community legislation and policies in this sector. The article highlights the various strategies used by the Commission in pursuit of this objective, including the cultivation by the Commission of a number of policy networks which are actively involved in the formulation and monitoring of EU equal opportunities policies. A central theme of the article is the growing opposition to further EC legislation in this sector among employers and some national governments. In this situation, the Commission has been forced to adopt alternative 'soft’policy instruments.     

THE NEW GOVERNANCE ARRANGEMENTS FOR NHS FOUNDATION TRUST HOSPITALS: REFRAMING GOVERNORS AS META‐REGULATORS

New governance arrangements for NHS Foundation Trusts (FTs) aimed to replace centralized state ownership of acute English hospitals with a new form of social ownership. Under this, trusts would exist as independent public interest organizations on the model of mutuals and co‐operative societies. Assessing the impact of the new arrangements on the management structure of four acute hospitals, we demonstrate that FTs have failed to deliver social ownership and local accountability on this model. We suggest that policy‐makers should re‐frame the governance apparatus associated with mutualism and social ownership in terms of the concept of meta‐regulation. By re‐framing governors as meta‐regulators, regulatory institutions would acquire new powers to steer FTs towards sustainable forms of compliance via non‐coercive, non‐intrusive means.     

Defense System in Israel: The State Comptroller's Perspective

The compliance of audited bodies to the recommendations published by the State Comptroller is very important while evaluating the effectiveness of the state audit process. To measure the effectiveness of the State Comptroller's audit the rate of deficiencies' rectification has been taken into account. Audit frequency is defined as the number of audits in audited bodies in a given period. The effectiveness of the State Comptroller's audit carried out in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) characterized by a rigid hierarchy was compared with that of the State Comptroller's audit carried out in the Ministry of Defense (MOD) characterized by a less rigid hierarchy.     

The growing challenges of providing pensions to state and local civil servants in an aging society

Much hope has been placed in the ability of Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) to enhance public accountability. SAIs' independence and professionalism lend promise to the chance that they might succeed where program budgeting, program evaluation, performance measurement and strengthened legislative oversight have failed. Little attention has been paid in the literature to political and organizational constraints on the ability of SAIs to enhance public accountability. The article examines the contribution of Israel's State Comptroller to enhanced accountability across three measures: audit coverage; type of audit coverage; and use of audit reports by the Knesset (Israel's parliament). Programs connected with crisis situations, large programs and direct provision programs are found to receive significantly more audit attention. The Comptroller conducted few audits of program effectiveness. The few reports used by the Knesset were almost all connected with crisis situations. Exploration of the reasons for these patterns reveals that: organizational politics considerations limit the willingness of state auditors to conduct effectiveness audits and relate to controversial issues; logistical and political considerations of Members of Knesset limit their interest in using audit reports; and the paucity of audit resources relative to the scope of government means that much activity is not scrutinized.     

WHAT WORKS BEST WHEN CONTRACTING FOR SERVICES? AN ANALYSIS OF CONTRACTING PERFORMANCE AT THE LOCAL LEVEL IN THE US

During the last decade the field of public administration has undergone a period of renewed interest in the topic of performance and effectiveness. Key contributions to the growing stream of research on public sector performance include work focusing on the adoption and implementation of performance measurement in the public sector (see, for example, Julnes and Holzer 2001; Behn 2003 ); theoretical and empirical research on management’s effect on organizational performance (see, for example, O’Toole and Meier 1999; Meier and O’Toole 2002 ); and efforts to identify the determinants of organizational effectiveness (see, for example, Rainey and Steinbauer 1999; Brewer and Selden 2004 ). Surprisingly, this literature includes very few studies that explicitly address the issue of performance in contracting for services (exceptions include Domberger and Hensher 1993; Romzek and Johnstone 2002 ). In the United States alone, hundreds of billions of dollars are contracted out every year, and innumerable policies and programmes are implemented, at least in part, through contractual arrangements between public agencies and private providers ( Savas 2000; DeHoog and Salamon 2002; Kelman 2002; Cooper 2003 ). Moreover, contracting for services appears to be a growing trend in Western Europe and other regions ( Kettl 2000; Savas 2000 ). With the stakes so high, there is a pressing need for research that identifies factors and practices that contribute to success in contracting for services. This paper takes on the challenge by developing a model of contracting performance and testing it using Substantively Weighted Analytic Techniques (SWAT), a new methodology that allows researchers to isolate high performance among a large number of observations in order to identify variables practitioners can manipulate to improve practice ( Meier and Gill 2000 ).     

THE REFORM OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT IN THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION: A PUBLIC MANAGEMENT POLICY CYCLE CASE STUDY

Since the mid‐1990s during the Santer, Prodi, and Barroso presidencies, the European Commission has experienced several public management policy cycles. Included on the Barroso Commission's (2004–2008) policy agenda was the reform of internal financial control, prompted by significant irregularities in budget execution signalled repeatedly by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) in its annual Declaration of Assurance (DAS) and Annual Reports. This led to a declared Barroso Commission strategic objective of achieving a ‘positive DAS' by 2009. The proposed solution was ‘integrated internal control’ based on an international reference point within the accounting and auditing professions. The result was a centrally co‐ordinated Commission project aiming to reform management and audit practices within both the Commission and EU member states. This article reports on the ‘positive DAS' and ‘integrated internal control’ policy cycle and explains its agenda‐setting, alternative‐specification, and decisional processes.     

EUROPEAN COMMISSION OVERLOAD AND THE PATHOLOGY OF MANAGEMENT REFORM: GARBAGE CANS,RATIONALITY AND RISK AVERSION

Prior to the EU resignation crisis (the fall of the Santer Commission in 1999), it had long been argued that the European Commission was suffering from managerial ‘overload’. The incoming Prodi Commission embarked on a programme of administrative and managerial reform under the leadership of Commission Vice President, Neil Kinnock. Central to this programme were the objectives of improving managerial capacities and bolstering legitimacy in order that the Commission would be better able to discharge its expanded responsibilities. Using the model of governmental overload developed in the 1970s and 1980s, this article quantifies the impact of the reforms and argues that the overload problem has been aggravated rather than diminished. In this context, the rationale of the reform project is explored with reference to theories of public policy decision making.     

APPRAISING THE NEW INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR PRIVATIZATION OF KOREAN STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES

Privatization is a long-term and complex process involving changes in attitudes, values, perceptions, and mentality. The president of the Republic of Korea and line ministries are pursuing an ambitious course of privatization. Based on common research questions concerning privatization policy, this paper has two objectives: first, to review the past performance of South Korea's privatization policy, and second, to evaluate the new institutional arrangements for the privatization of state-owned enterprises designed by the current government.     

'SUPRANATIONALISM' IN QUESTION: BELIEFS,VALUES, AND THE SOCIALIZING POWER OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION REVISITED

Do international organizations affect the views of the people who work for them? Although increasingly sophisticated methods have been used to address this question, disagreement persists about whether the beliefs of staff are formed before they join, after they enter the institution, or are shaped by instrumental calculation. Drawing on an original dataset based on the first fully representative survey of the European Commission's workforce, this article breaks new ground by putting different definitions of ‘supranationalism’ to the test and by capturing multiple ways in which individuals may be affected by the experience of working for the organization. For the first time, it demonstrates that commitment to ‘supranationalism’ varies between Commission staff groupings, that the influences on belief vary with the measure of ‘supranationalism’ used, and that both post‐recruitment experience and pre‐recruitment roles play a part in shaping beliefs.     

TRANSFORMING NEW ZEALAND'S PUBLIC SECTOR: LABOUR'S QUEST FOR IMPROVED EFFICIENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Since its election in July 1984 the fourth Labour government in New Zealand has embarked upon the most radical and systematic reorganization of the state sector since the creation of a unified, non-partisan, career-oriented service in 1912. The reforms include the commercialization of many of the goods and services provided by state agencies, the turning of public trading enterprises into corporations, major administrative changes and the overhauling of state pay-fixing arrangements. This article examines the theoretical assumptions underpinning Labour's strategy and assesses the extent to which the new arrangements are likely to achieve their intended purpose of improving the efficiency, flexibility and accountability of the public sector.     

MANAGEMENT AUDIT IN THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

In 1981 the Ministry of Defence brought together the capabilities of staff inspection, internal audit and central management services under a Director General of Management Audit (DGMA) with the objectives of achieving greater co-ordination of these functions and of developing the concept of management audit, i.e. the bringing to bear of a'total audit' approach on selected departmental organizations or activities. This article comments on the progress made so far in developing this concept and describes changes which have taken place in the conduct of the individual disciplines which have had the effect of concentrating their attention on wider questions of efficiency, economy and effectiveness. The article goes on to describe the parallel development in the Ministry of Defence of new resource management machinery — responsibility budgets, a new management information system for ministers and top management (MINIS), management principles and, most recently, a re-organization of the Ministry itself — and the place which the management audit capability occupies within this.     

At the Commission's Discretion: Cartelbusting and Fining Infringements Under the EU's Restrictive Practices Policy

Although the last decade has seen an increased interest from political science in many aspects of EU competition policy the issue of cartelbusting has been almost totally neglected. This is a curious situation given that this remains by far the major aspect of the European Commission's activities in the competition arena. By merging the available, albeit extremely limited, public administration and policy studies literature with the legal literature the article endeavours to begin to redress the balance by examining the EU's restrictive practices policy. It pays particular attention to the European Commission and its Directorate General responsible for com-petition policy (DGIV) and their activities in their enduring war against cartels. At its core this article analyses the Commission's quasi-judicial authority in relation to cartel arrangements, identifies the extent to which the decision-making process is open to substantial degrees of administrative discretion within DGIV and makes specific reference to its policy on fining infringements.