Christopher Pollitt and Geert Bouckaert (2011) Public Management Reform: A Comparative Analysis – New Public Management, Governance, and the Neo–Weberian State
| DOI | 10.1177/0020852312437323 |
| Date | 01 March 2012 |
| Published date | 01 March 2012 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
International
Review of
Administrative
Book review
Sciences
International Review of
Administrative Sciences
78(1) 180–182
! The Author(s) 2012
Book review
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DOI: 10.1177/0020852312437323
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Christopher Pollitt and Geert Bouckaert (2011) Public Management Reform: A Comparative
Analysis – New Public Management, Governance, and the Neo–Weberian State. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, Third Edition, 352 pp., ISBN: 978-0-19-926849-8 (pbk)
Academic disciplines require a point of reference, a major work that establishes
their most salient points and that provide important insights and set the stage for
future work. Studies of comparative public management in its various forms are
blessed. Christopher Pollitt and Geert Bouckaert have produced a seminal contri-
bution to the discipline. Students and practitioners of public management wishing
to gain a thorough understanding of public sector management reform efforts, the
theories that underpin them, as well as their strengths and weaknesses, need to look
no further than to Public Management Reform: A Comparative Analysis – New
Public Management, Governance, and the Neo-Weberian State, third edition.
Readers familiar with the book’s first and second editions already have an
appreciation of the book’s contribution to the discipline. A major effort was
made in preparing the third edition – it not only provides up-to-date material
and references, but also offers fresh insights into both the strengths and weaknesses
of more recent public sector management reform measures.
The book has eight chapters, two appendices, a bibliography and an index. The
appendices are valuable contributions in their own right. One provides a socio-
economic overview of the experiences of the 12 countries surveyed in the book. It
looks to key indicators from GDP growth, government spending as a percentage of
GDP, income inequity and so on. The second appendix will be of interest to
students of...
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