Unbundled Government: A Critical Analysis of the Global Trend to Agencies, Quangos and Contractualisation

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 'arms length' or further from their 'parent' Ministry or Department and are freed from many of the normal rules governing civil service bodies. This 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 covering more than one country) critically examine how such agencies have been set up and managed. The introductory chapter distils the main elements of the agencification movement. An international panel of contributors 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 agencification in a theoretical context, looking at how it has been explained by both policy-makers and academics. This book will be essential reading for advanced students and researchers of public management.