Unbundled Government: A Critical Analysis of the Global Trend to Agencies, Quangos and Contractualisation (Routledge Studies in Public Management)

366 Pages·2003·0.99 MB·English

by  C. Pollitt

Unbundled Government
Public sector bureaucracies have been subjected to harsh criticism. One
solution which has been widely adopted over the past two decades has
been to ‘unbundle government’ – that is to break down monolithic
departments and Ministries into smaller, semi-autonomous, ‘agencies’.
These are often governed by some type of performance contract, are at
‘arm’s length’ or further from their ‘parent’ Ministry or Department and
are freed from many of the normal rules governing civil service bodies.
This is the first book to survey the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ of this epidemic
of ‘agencification’, with case studies from every continent. From Japan to
America and from Sweden to Tanzania, these 14 case studies (some cover-
ing more than one country) critically examine how such agencies have
been set up and managed. The introductory chapter distils the main ele-
ments of the agencification movement. An international panel of contrib-
utors then move on to explore how this relates to other similar, structural
changes to government; agencies, quangos and contracts; autonomization
in continental Europe and Japan and autonomization in developing and
transitional countries. The concluding section locates this change to agen-
cification in a theoretical context, looking at how it has been explained by
both policy-makers and academics.
Unbundled Government will be essential reading for advanced students
and researchers of public management.
Christopher Pollitt is currently Professor of Public Management at
Erasmus University, Rotterdam. He has worked as a UK civil servant, as an
academic and consultant. He has been President of the European Evalu-
ation Society and has advised many public organisations and the Euro-
pean Commission.
Colin Talbot is currently Professor of Public Policy at the University of
Nottingham. He has worked in the public sector, as an academic and con-
sultant and founded the consulting group ‘Public Futures’. He has been a
Special Advisor to the UK Public Administration Select Committee and
advised many public organisations, in the UK and internationally.
Routledge Studies in Public Management
1 Unbundled Government
A critical analysis of the global trend to agencies, quangos and
contractualisation
Edited by Christopher Pollitt and Colin Talbot
Unbundled Government
A critical analysis of the global trend
to agencies, quangos and
contractualisation
Edited by Christopher Pollitt and
Colin Talbot
First published 2004
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2004.
© 2004 Editorial matter and selection, Christopher Pollitt and
ColinTalbot; individual chapters, the contributors
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN 0-203-50714-2 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-33794-8 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0-415-31448-8(Print Edition)
Contents
List of figures viii
List of tables ix
List of contributors xi
PART I
Setting the scene 1
1 The Agency idea: sometimes old, sometimes new,
sometimesborrowed, sometimes untrue 3
COLIN TALBOT
2 What is available and what is missing in the study of
quangos? 22
GEERT BOUCKAERT AND GUY B. PETERS
PART II
Agencies, quangos and contracts in the heartlands of the
NewPublic Management 51
3 Adapting the agency concept: variations within ‘Next Steps’ 53
FRANCESCA GAINS
4 Executive agencies and joined-up government in the UK 75
OLIVER JAMES
5 Contracting and accountability: a model of effective
contractingdrawn from the U.S. experience 94
JOCELYN M. JOHNSTON AND BARBARA S. ROMZEK
vi Contents
6 Contractualism and performance measurement in Australia 113
LINDA MCGUIRE
7 The agency concept in North America: failure, adaptation
andincremental change 140
ANDREW GRAHAM AND ALASDAIR ROBERTS
PART III
Autonomization in continental Europe and Japan 165
8 Quangos in Dutch government 167
SANDRA VAN THIEL
9 Lost in translation? Shifting interpretations of the concept
of‘agency’:the Dutch case 184
AMANDA SMULLEN
10 Central agencies in Sweden: a report from Utopia 203
JON PIERRE
11 Agencification in Japan: renaming or revolution? 215
KIYOSHI YAMAMOTO
PART IV
Autonomization in the developing and transitional countries 227
12 New public management in a developing country: creating
executiveagencies in Tanzania 229
JANICE CAULFIELD
13 Putting new public management to good use: autonomous
publicorganizations in Thailand 247
BIDHYA BOWORNWATHANA
14 The design, performance and sustainability of
semi-autonomousrevenue authorities in Africa and
Latin America 264
ROBERT R. TALIERCIO JR
Contents vii
15 Castles built on sand? Agencies in Latvia 283
CHRISTOPHER POLLITT
16 A radical departure? Executive agencies in Jamaica 297
COLIN TALBOT
PART V
Overview 317
17 Theoretical overview 319
CHRISTOPHER POLLITT
Index 343
Figures
4.1 Structures for joining-up Executive Agency working 84
5.1 “Ideal” accountability alignments: managerial strategy
and core task 105
6.1 Review of Commonwealth/state services 119
6.2 General performance indicators framework 121
6.3 Inputs, outputs and outcomes model 129
9.1 Agency Ideas Schema 186
11.1 Operational framework for IAIs 222
Tables
1.1 Percentage performance indicator types for all UK agencies
1994–7 16
3.1 Roles, responsibilities and governance arrangements in
framework documents in selected DTI, DSS and Home
Office agencies 61–3
5.1 A model of accountability effectiveness: contract features
affecting accountability in social services contracts 98
5.2 Use of range of accountability strategies in contracting
cases 103
6.1 Performance indicators and nationally comparable
reporting 2001 122–3
6.2 Performance indicators 2001 125
7.1 Candidates for PBO status 149
7.2 Special operating agencies and legislated service agencies
in the Canadian public service 152
8.1 Motives of Dutch politicians to establish quangos at
national level 169
8.2 Tasks of quangos at national level in 1993 and 2000 169
8.3 Number of quangos at national level per policy sector in
1993 and 2000 170
8.4 Motives for the establishment of local quangos 172
8.5 The use of autonomization, and other forms of service
provision by Dutch municipalities 1994–9 173
8.6 The use of quasi-autonomous organizations per policy
sector by Dutch municipalities 174
9.1 Motives for creating agencies in the Netherlands 190
9.2 Performance measures identified at the time of creating
Dutch agencies 192
9.3 Use and meanings associated with agency talk in Dutch
annual reports 196
9.4 Performance indicators presented in Dutch annual reports 197
11.1 The size and scope of IAIs 224
13.1 Types of reform diffusion processes 252