Public Management: Performance, Professionalism and Politics, Paperback

This major new text on the theory and practice of public management moves away from descriptive accounts of its evolution to provide a systematic treatment of the key paradigms of public management today. It examines their competing outlooks, values, tools and assumptions and - using a wide range of examples from different areas of management around the world - their implications for practice.

The text sets out three contrasting 'logics' for management - performance, professionalism and politics - and shows how public managers act on the interplay between these for effective results. Relating all three logics to a wide range of diverse contexts - from police services to healthcare, social services to educational providers - the text shows how managers can simultaneously perform to a high standard, act professionally through their work, and cope with internal and external politics.

Incorporating the latest theories and practices, this comprehensive book will appeal to readers around the world wanting to understand, and contribute to, public management today.

Mirko Noordegraaf is Professor of Public Management at the Utrecht School of Governance (USG), Utrecht University, the Netherlands. His main research interests within public management are organizational reform, public managers, professionals, managing professions and (new) professionalism. He focuses on public domains like safety, health care, welfare and education. He has published articles in Organization Studies, Public Administration, Administration & Society, Public Management Review, Current Sociology, Comparative Sociology, Journal of Management Studies, International Journal of Public Sector Management. He is a member of the editorial boards of Public Administration Review (PAR) and the Journal of Professions and Organization (JPO).