BRINGING STRUCTURES BACK IN: THE ‘GOVERNANCE NARRATIVE’, THE ‘DECENTRED APPROACH’ AND ‘ASYMMETRICAL NETWORK GOVERNANCE’ IN THE EDUCATION AND SPORT POLICY COMMUNITIES

We reflect upon the ‘governance narrative’ as a means of conceptualizing recent developments in the British state. Recent public administration research has advocated a ‘decentred approach’ that would reject the linear narrative of a shift from hierarchical to network governance. We seek to build on ‘decentring’ theorists' critique of existing governance literature by offering case studies of the education and sport policy communities, arguing that the ‘new’ governance form is present in these sectors, but only as an element of a state strategy, the effect of which is to reduce autonomy and increase dependence on the centre among actors outside the core executive. We use the case studies to reflect back on the utility of the decentred approach and suggest that the range of questions it might tackle could be expanded by allowing for a greater role for structures and institutions in explanation, alongside the ideas, culture and belief of actors.     

NEW PUBLIC MANAGEMENT FOR THE ‘CLASSICAL CONTINENTAL EUROPEAN ADMINISTRATION’: MODERNIZATION AT THE LOCAL LEVEL IN GERMANY,FRANCE AND ITALY

The article is aimed at analysing New Public Management (NPM) reforms at the local level in Germany, France and Italy. The case selection is justified by the fact that these three ‘classical’ Continental European countries have largely been missing from comparative administrative research thus far. The article focuses on local governments, since in all three countries these are considered the NPM forerunners and are acknowledged to be more advanced in reform implementation than are upper levels of government. Against this background, the purpose of this contribution is twofold. On the one hand, we wish to show to what extent and with what effects the NPM agenda has been taken up at the local level in Continental Europe. On the other hand, taking a comparative perspective over time, we wish to ask whether or not there has been increasing convergence or divergence between the three countries as a result of these reforms.     

ORCHESTRATING EMERGENT CHANGE: THE ‘HOSPITALIST MOVEMENT’ IN US HEALTHCARE

The metaphor of ‘orchestration’ is applied to an emergent change whereby developing different versions of a resource to solve local problems with managing hospitalized patient care in the USA became conceived as a nationwide innovation. A pluralistic framework incorporates Abbott’s conception of a system of professions, a cultural and political perspective on interaction and the notion of ‘orchestration’ which is distinguished from leadership and management. Small‐scale research in diverse settings shows how key stakeholders including academic medical researchers orchestrated the coalescence of disparate practices into a unified movement, although working in a relatively decentralized healthcare system featuring a complex mix of public, private and voluntary sectors. Sufficient confluence between diverse interests was nurtured for widespread acceptance of a new ‘hospitalist’ role coordinating inpatient treatment. It is suggested that the metaphor of orchestration may have wider potential as a heuristic for understanding emergent change that becomes more complex as it spreads.     

THE ‘SOCIALLY EXCLUDED’ AND LOCAL TRANSPORT DECISION MAKING: VOICE AND RESPONSIVENESS IN A MARKETIZED ENVIRONMENT

This article examines the relationship between social exclusion and bus provision in England in a marketized environment, and outlines the complexities of involving the socially excluded in local transport decision making. An analysis of five case studies, including histories of where requests were made for changes to bus provision, reveals the challenges for voice and responsiveness within a deregulated environment. Local government has limited ability to respond effectively to the socially excluded; bus providers are able to cut or revise services as they wish, and the discourse employed by them emphasizes costs and efficiency rather than social needs. The paper concludes by advocating a more proactive approach toward tackling departmentalism and social exclusion, with more rigorous and focused engagement of those who have difficulty in making their voices heard. At the same time, it recommends the revision of accounting procedures and incentive structures in order to constrain the ability of bus operators to ‘play the system’.     

THE ‘IRON CAGE’ STRENGTHENED? DISCRETION AND DIGITAL DISCIPLINE

Research on changes in public administration associated with the adoption and use of information and communication technologies (‘informatization’), almost univocally supports the conclusion that shop floor discretion disappears under their influence. We, however, are ill at ease with this direction in thought about discretion. Our unease is based on the scholarly work about practices, organizational learning and responsiveness. In this article, we test the thesis on the relation between informatization and operational discretion in an empirical research of operational discretion and informatization in two Dutch public agencies, both large and both automated. Our findings show that informatization does not destroy operational discretion, but rather obscures discretion. Based on the work of Argyris, we show that the phenomenon at work is ‘participatory boundary practices’, the direct personal ties that keep an organization together. ICTs destroy such links and thereby affect organizational learning.     

CULTURE IN ACTION: THE ‘ROTTERDAM APPROACH’ AS MODERNIZATION THROUGH TRADITION

This article discusses the relation between administrative culture and the capacity to act. It analyses how the Dutch city of Rotterdam radically altered its safety and ‘livability’ approaches in the face of new challenges, and how the city used its cultural make‐up and traditions in doing so. This takes its importance from that fact that local governments are almost continuously confronted with the need to reform policies and methods in the face of challenges such as individualism, cultural diversity, and safety problems. The notion of culture or administrative culture is often invoked to explain why innovations have been unsuccessful. We will argue that this line of argumentation hinges on wrong assumptions about the influence of culture on action. Culture is conceptualized as too static and homogeneous, and too much focused on cognitive aspects. By proposing an alternative, action‐oriented concept of culture, we will argue that administrative culture can be a source of innovation.     

THE ‘NEW PUBLIC GOVERNANCE’ AND EMPLOYABILITY SERVICES IN AN ERA OF CRISIS: CHALLENGES FOR THIRD SECTOR ORGANIZATIONS IN SCOTLAND

Third sector organizations (TSOs) have emerged as key players in the delivery of public services to assist jobless people to improve their employability and move from welfare to work. Drawing on in‐depth research with employability providers in Scotland, this article explores how TSOs have responded to the challenges of a rapidly changing public services environment. Specifically, we use the concept of the ‘New Public Governance’ to explore TSOs' relationships with UK, devolved and local government stakeholders. TSOs demonstrated a pragmatic approach to shaping their services to reflect the priorities of public funders, and identified some opportunities arising from the new emphasis on ‘localism’. However, the evidence suggests that opportunities for collaboration at times remained constrained by certain forms of ‘contractualism’ and top‐down performance management. Based on the evidence, lessons for future policy and practice are considered.     

REPRESENTING EUROPE: THE EMERGING ‘CULTURE’ OF EU DIPLOMACY

Debate over ‘loyalty transfer’ in the European Union (EU) centres on the assumption that elite socialisation and ‘spillover’ processes lead inevitably to changes in the behaviour and identities of European officials. This article interrogates that notion by exploring how officials in the EU external delegations represent Europe. The Lisbon Treaty (2009) will transform the delegations in ways that are emblematic of the EU's evolution as a global actor. Drawing on empirical insights we examine the way EU diplomats embody the European idea and understand their role in promoting ‘the European Union interests and values around the world’. At a moment of historic transition, the article highlights some of the cultural dynamics currently transforming European diplomacy and how officials conceptualize their work of ‘delivering EU external relations policy’. We argue that Europeanization and loyalty transfer are complicated by inter‐institutional rivalries that raise problematic questions over who can best claim to ‘speak for Europe’.     

THE EUROPEAN UNION ‘MODEL’ AND ADMINISTRATIVE CO‐OPERATION: THE CASE OF NORTHERN IRELAND AND THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

This article examines the relevance of the European Union (EU) model of governance in explaining the innovative administrative arrangements established by the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, the North‐South Ministerial Council (NSMC), and in particular its joint secretariat. The first section of the article sets out five models of the EU that may be applied to the NSMC. The second section provides an overview of the cross‐border relationship until 1998 and the third section examines the administrative relationship since 1998. In conclusion, the similarities between the NSMC secretariat and the open coordination model of the EU are highlighted.     

NEW PUBLIC MANAGEMENT IN PUBLIC SECTOR ORGANIZATIONS: THE DARK SIDES OF MANAGERIALISTIC ‘ENLIGHTENMENT’

For many years the proponents of New Public Management (NPM) have promised to improve public services by making public sector organizations much more ‘business‐like’. There have been many investigations and empirical studies about the nature of NPM as well as its impact on organizations. However, most of these studies concentrate only on some elements of NPM and provide interesting, but often anecdotal, evidence and insights. Perhaps exactly because of the large amount of extremely revealing and telling empirical studies, there is, therefore, a lack of a systematic identification and understanding of the nature of NPM and its overall relevance. This paper contributes to a systematic identification and understanding of the concept of NPM as well as its multi‐dimensional impact on public sector organizations. First, the paper aims at (re‐) constructing a comprehensive taxonomy of NPM's main assumptions and core elements. Secondly, the paper tries to provide a more comprehensive and meta‐analytical analysis of primarily the negative consequences of NPM‐strategies for public sector organizations as well as the people working in them.     

THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF EU AGENCIES: AGENCIES AS ‘MINI COMMISSIONS’

A stream of reviews that take stock of EU governance trends shows that the EU's governance agenda produces mixed results. EU agencies are part of the EU's search for new governance mechanisms. They have not proven to be a break with EU policy‐making processes – underpinning administrative stability rather than reform. This article explores the institutionalization of EU agencies. Using the case of the EU's human resources (HR) policy, it concludes that administrative details are important in order to understand the development of EU agencies turning into institutions. The influence of the EU's institutional environment on their operations is so strong that they must operate as ‘mini Commissions'. This tight control hinders their institutionalization.     

‘RENEWING DEFRA’: EXPLORING THE EMERGENCE OF RISK‐BASED POLICYMAKING IN UK CENTRAL GOVERNMENT

Risk‐based policymaking is a form of reflexive policymaking that uses risk analysis to address both the primary objects of policy interventions and their secondary adverse consequences. As such, it has become central to debates about efficiency, control and accountability in UK government. To better understand the factors shaping its emergence, this article studies the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' (Defra) adoption of risk‐based policymaking. In‐depth interviews with Defra staff suggest that risk‐based policymaking serves conflicting objectives and struggles to perform its ostensive functions. The article concludes, first, that risk understandings can be organizationally filtered in ways that reinforce rather than challenge entrenched policy practices. Second, that using risk‐based policymaking for audit purposes can undermine policymaking reflexivity. Third, that the value of risk ideas in reconciling competing accountability and blame‐avoidance pressures leads to risk ‘colonizing’ increasing dimensions of policymaking.     

PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR MANAGERS OVER 20 YEARS: A TEST OF THE ‘CONVERGENCE THESIS’

This paper sets out to test the ‘convergence thesis’ in respect of managers in the public and private sectors in Britain. New Public Management (NPM) initiatives have had the objective of making managerial behaviour in public sector organizations more similar to that in the private sector. Based on unique national surveys undertaken in 1980, 1990 and 2000, using quite large random samples of fellows and members of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), comparisons are made to investigate whether ‘convergence’ between public and private sector managers has actually occurred. The patterns are found to be complex and, although there are some signs of convergence, the two sectors continue to exhibit similarities, persistent differences and parallel movements evident in managerial attitudes, behaviour and experiences.     

‘THE GREAT DOCK AND DOLE SWINDLE’: ACCOUNTING FOR THE COSTS AND BENEFITS OF PORT TRANSPORT DEREGULATION AND THE DOCK LABOUR COMPENSATION SCHEME*

Deregulation of the port transport industry was predicted to bring much needed jobs and investment to Britain's ailing dockland areas, lower prices for port users and consumers, and improved international competitiveness. These benefits were anticipated to far exceed any attendant costs. But the benefits have failed to materialize, largely because the government failed to appreciate the non-competitive structure of the industry or the effects of the National Dock Labour Scheme on the economic performance of the ports, while the costs were substantially underestimated. Consequently, the costs of deregulation have exceeded the benefits. As in the past, current industrial policy has been dictated by the apparent‘labour problems’of the docks, but the new system of deregulation, founded on the mass redundancy of exregistered dockers and a re-assertion of managerial prerogative, has exacerbated rather than resolved the underlying structural weaknesses of the industry. In particular, deregulation has ushered in a new era of casual employment on the docks. Unless, or until, public policy addresses these problems the costs of deregulation will continue to accumulate.     

‘LEADERISM’: AN EVOLUTION OF MANAGERIALISM IN UK PUBLIC SERVICE REFORM

This paper argues that ‘leaderism’– as an emerging set of beliefs that frames and justifies certain innovatory changes in contemporary organizational and managerial practice – is a development of managerialism that has been utilized and applied within the policy discourse of public service reform in the UK. The paper suggests that ‘leaderism’ is an evolution of entrepreneurial and cultural management ideologies and practices. An analysis of the articulation of leaderism with public service reform in the UK is presented. The paper problematizes the construals of leadership contained within these texts and reflects on their promotion of leadership as a social and organizational technology. ‘Leaderism’ is argued to be a complementary set of discourses, metaphors and practices to those of managerialism, which is being utilized in support of the evolution of NPM and new public governance approaches in the re‐orientation of the public services towards the consumer‐citizen.     

NOT SO ‘ARM'S LENGTH’: REINTERPRETING AGENCIES IN UK CENTRAL GOVERNMENT

Administrative decentralization to government agencies (so‐called ‘agencification’) has attracted much attention in recent years, increasingly for its longevity or evolution after the ‘high’ managerialism of the 1980s, and largely through a neo‐positivist epistemology. Drawing on techniques of narrative and discourse analysis, and a model of incremental ideational change, this article identifies the necessity of supplementing those existing large‐N analyses of agencification's expansion and decline with qualitative attention to the endurance of policy meaning. It demonstrates how the original foundations of managerialism, civil service empowerment and decentralization from the UK's seminal ‘Next Steps’ agency programme are eschewed in contemporary reform discourse, where agencification is instead advocated as centralized, politically proximate and departmentalized governance. This substantial reinterpretation of the arm's‐length concept not only challenges existing claims of continuity in UK administrative policy, but also demonstrates the utility of interpretive methods for exploring longevity in public management more widely.     

ELITE ETHNOGRAPHIES: POTENTIAL,PITFALLS AND PROSPECTS FOR GETTING ‘UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL’

This article celebrates Rod Rhodes' use of ethnography to study political elites ‘up close and personal’. Initially Rhodes' work is contextualized within the development of political ethnography more generally, before his ethnographies of ‘Everyday life in a Ministry’ are reviewed, illustrating the potential of ethnography to research policy‐making elites. This review highlights epistemological and ontological questions which link to criticism of Rhodes' work as taking an anti‐foundational stance. In looking at future prospects for ethnography in governance settings, this article argues that researchers building on Rhodes' scholarship can choose whether to use ethnography as a ‘method’ or an ‘interpretive methodology’. In concluding, the case is made for a ‘constructivist modern empiricism’ which utilizes the ethnographic method alongside other research methods as being most useful for public policy and administration scholarship aiming to be practically useful for understanding either the processes of public policy‐making or its impact.