Public administration
Subversive citizens
Power, agency and resistance in public services
Citizens' everyday conduct is shaped by governmental action, yet there is much evidence that both front-line public service staff and service users can sometimes act in ways that modify or disrupt intended policy outcomes. This book presents a highly original examination of how policy objectives can be 'subverted' through the actions of citizens.
The consumer in public services
Choice, values and difference
"The consumer in public services" critiques established assumptions surrounding citizenship and consumption. Drawing on empirical research, it challenges existing stereotypes about the 'consumer as chooser' and shows how we must develop a more sophisticated understanding of consumers, examining their place and role as users of public services.
Understanding the policy process
Analysing welfare policy and practice
Using core concepts of policy analysis "Understanding the policy process" builds up a full explanation of social policy change that can be applied to any aspect of welfare policy, public and social policy. This second edition of the book updates the first edition for the post-Blair era with international case studies from numerous countries.
Devolution and social citizenship in the UK
This timely book explores how changing territorial politics are impacting on social citizenship rights across the UK.
Partnerships
Machines of possibility
How did partnerships come to emerge almost everywhere and at almost the same time? What is the inner logic of partnerships? And at what point does that logic begin to break down? This book improves our understanding of the shifting ground on which partnerships and agreements must be reached in today's hyper-complex society.
Policy reconsidered
Meanings, politics and practices
This book identifies key topics in the policy arena, subjecting them to sustained theoretical and practical appraisal. It shows the advantage of applying a cross-disciplinary lens to the study of 'policy', presenting critical and reflective engagements with theory and practice at all levels of political organisation within a range of contexts.
Making policy in theory and practice
Set in the context of New Labour's emphasis on 'modernisation', and reflecting the growing emphasis on policy making as a skill, this unique book combines both academic and practitioner perspectives to provide critical consideration of contemporary policy-making and highlight examples of good practice at all levels of government.
The new bureaucracy
Quality assurance and its critics
This study, by a qualitative sociologist, uses interpretive methods to examine the impact of auditing and inspection on professional work in schools, hospitals, local government and the police and provides a true sense of what is practically involved in the work of counting, measuring and managing quality.
Using evidence
How research can inform public services
There is widespread commitment across public service agencies in the UK and elsewhere to ensuring that the best available evidence is used to improve public services. The challenge is not only making research evidence accessible and available but also getting it used. This book provides a timely contribution to enhancing evidence use.
Power, participation and political renewal
Case studies in public participation
This book offers a critical examination of both the discourse and practice of participation in order to understand the significance of this explosion in participatory forums, and the extent to which such practices represent a fundamental change in governance.
Citizens at the centre
Deliberative participation in healthcare decisions
Involving citizens in policy decision-making has been a central goal of the Labour government since it came to power. But what happens when the public are drawn into debate with unfamiliar others in the unknown world of policy making at national level? This book sets out to understand the contribution that citizens can realistically make.
The changing role of local politics in Britain
The Local Government Act 2000 has transformed the way in which local politics operates. Local councillors have had to adjust to the introduction of elected mayors, cabinet government and scrutiny committees, and cope with a range of new initiatives. This book is a unique attempt to provide a coherent analysis of the impact of these changes.