Reviews : Delivering Public Services in Western Europe: Sharing Western European Experience of Para-Government Organisation Christopher Hood and Gunnar Folke Schupper (eds), (SAGE modem politics series, Vol. 16, London, Newbury Park, Beverly Hills, New Delhi, 1989)
| Author | Klaus Schubert |
| Published date | 01 December 1991 |
| Date | 01 December 1991 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/095207679100600307 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
61
regulate
or
not
to
regulate.
The
Canadian
regulators
have
gone
for
a
velvet
glove
approach
coupled
with
wait-and-see.
Wilson
writes
about
the
American
experience
(p.75):
’American
politics
has
often
been
criticised
as
being
even
more
biased
to
the
wealthy
than
politics
in
other
democracies.
The
rise
of
contract
lobbying
strengthens
this
criticism
as
contract
lobbyists
are
necessarily
more
available
to
those
with
money
to
pay
them’.
A
second
edition
of
this
text
should
provide
more
answers
to
these
questions.
And
what
will
the
cover
show?
Kevin
Moloney
Bournemouth
Polytechnic
Delivering
Public
Services
in
Western
Europe:
Sharing
Western
European
Experience
of
Para-Government
Organisation
Christopher
Hood
and
Gunnar
Folke
Schupper
(eds),
(SAGE
modem
politics
series,
Vol.
16,
London,
Newbury
Park,
Beverly
Hills,
New
Delhi,
1989).
’Delivering
Public
Services
in
Western
Europe’
is
the
first
international
comparison
in
the
field
of
parastate,
indirect
public
administration
of
public
services.
The
overall
editing
of
the
book
is
very
good.
Although
the
following
review
states
some
shortcomings,
the
book
can
be
highly
recommended
for
students
as
well
as
for
researchers
as
a
first
step
into
the
subject.
Hood
and
Schuppert
organised
the
book
in
six
parts
of
which
the
introduction
and
conclusion
is
jointly
written
by
the
editors.
The
introduction
(Part
I)
contains
a
discussion
of
the
general
debate
which
is
clear
and
helpful.
References
to
the
various
contributions
(e.g.
on
pp.
2,
9.
14,
15ff)
and
the
explanation
of
the
book’s
plan
(pp.
22-25)
fulfil
completely
the
function
of
an
essay-collection.
The
editors
have
done
everything
they
could
to
ensure
that
a
coherent
argument
develops
out
of
a
collective
work
and
that
this
debate
can
be
followed
at
all
stages
of
the
book.
Part
II,
consisting
of
one
chapter,
is
supposed
to
help
explain
whether
national
or
service
characteristics
are
more
important
in
determining
the
PGO
phenomenon.
This
in
turn
should
help
to
decide
which
theoretical
approach
has
the
greatest
predictive
value.
Seriously
one
can
doubt
whether
the
research
question
should
be
posed
in
an
’either-or’
manner
-
instead
it
seems
to
be
more
appropriate
to
ask
when
and
to
what
degree
different
characteristics
help
to
explain
more.
To
the
contributions
in
Part
III
and
IV
a
similar
organisation
have
been
given
(explained
on
pp.
61-2).
The
short
introduction
to
Part
III
is
a
good
example
of
the
book’s
best
feature,
the excellent
editing
by
Hood
and
Schuppert.
The
usefulness
of
all
the
contributions
is
enhanced
by
the
common
features
’Where
are
the
PGOs?’,
’Why
have
they
developed?’,
’Recent
developments’,
and
’Cost-effectiveness.’
The
contribution
on
Sweden
does
not
move
very
far
beyond
cataloguing
PGOs
in
Sweden
and
there
is
no
internal
comparison
with
other
countries.
The
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