Aggiornato A.A. 2014-2015
Course syllabus
Global Public Management (6 ECTS)
Course description
Public management has been part of the globalization process as attested by public sector reform models such as the New Public Management in the late 1980s and Public Governance in the early 1990s that have affected, although with different pace and approaches, almost every country in the world.
In developed countries, the mid-1970s crisis stimulated an international conversation, led by the OECD Public management Committee that public sector reform should be a policy field in its own right. In developing countries, development organizations such as the UNDP and the World Bank realized that economic performance depended on an effective and efficient public sector and adopted and promoted the New Public Management model as well. Finally, also post-communism countries joined the managerial wave of modernization.
While the current global economic crisis has highlighted the fact once again that economic performance hinges on an effective public sector, models of reform have changed shifting from market-type mechanisms to networked approaches.
The course examines both the theoretical frameworks underlying public sector reforms in the past thirty years and the empirical evidence gathered so far. Particular emphasis will be put on the role of international institutions and on the context-dependency issue by examining the dynamics of “policy transfer” and “policy diffusion” and the spread of so-called “best practices”.
Issues addressed during the course refer to the way in which globalization affects structure and purpose of governments, administrative reforms implemented to respond to globalization and their impact.
Emerging theories guiding public management at the global level will also be discussed such as networks and public-private partnerships, co-production and open innovation.
Finally, the potential contribution of strategic foresight in public management will be discussed, as an approach able to overcome the main weaknesses of the previous modernization attempts.
Topics1. Intro to the course: collective problems and tentative answers at the global level.
2. Public management as a policy field. Global trends.
3. The New Public Management and the Public Governance.
4. Public sector reforms in OECD countries in the past three decades. International institutions and policy diffusion.
5. Public management and development. Public sector reforms in developed countries: specificities and the role of international development agencies.
6. Networks: management, leadership and performance.
7. Co-production and collaborative innovation in the public sector.
8. Performance data at the global level (WB Worldwide Governance Indicators; WB Doing Business; OECD Government at a Glance; Transparency International; EU public sector data).
9. Strategic foresight in the public sector.
10. Management reforms in global institutions.
Learning objectives
This course will provide students with a mixture of theoretical and class discussion on globalization as it relates to public management and public administration.
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
• Describe, explain and provide a critical assessment of public management reforms at the global level.
• Analyse international policy networks around public sector reform and policy dynamics.
Teaching methods
The course includes lectures, case study discussions involving out of the class readings, and group work on selected problems, followed by presentation of main findings.
Required readings
• Slides and materials made available through the course website.
• Hood, C. (1995). The “New Public Management” in the 1980s: variations on a theme. Accounting, organizations and society, 20(2), 93-109.
• Matheson, A., & Kwon, H. S. 2003. Public sector modernisation: A new agenda. OECD Journal on Budgeting, 3(1), 7-24.
• Frederickson, H. G. (2005). Whatever happened to public administration. Governance, governance everywhere. Chapter 12, The Oxford Handbook of public management, 282.
• Cepiku D. (2014). “Collaborative governance: rationale, conceptualization, instances and management issues”. In Handbook on Global Public Policy and Administration (forthcoming), Routledge.
• Cepiku, D. 2014. “Network Performance: Towards a Dynamic Multidimensional Model.” In Network Theory in the Public Sector: Building New Theoretical Frameworks, R. Keast, M. P. Mandell, and R. Agranoff (eds). New York: Taylor & Francis.
• Cepiku D., Giordano F. (2014). "Co-production in developing countries. Insights from the Community Health Workers experiences". Public Management Review. 16:3, pp. 317-340.
• Cepiku D. 2014. “Can strategic foresight in public management succeed?”. In Governance and Public Management. Strategic foundations for volatile times. Edited by Charles Conteh, Thomas J. Greitens, David K. Jesuit and Ian Roberge, Routledge Critical Studies in Public Management.
Non mandatory readings
• Kettl, D. F. 2000. The global public management revolution: A report on the transformation of governance. Brookings Institution Press. Second Edition.
• Kickert, W. (ed.). 2008. The Study of Public Management in Europe and the US: A Comparative Analysis of National Distinctiveness. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
• Barzelay, M. 2001. The new public management: Improving research and policy dialogue (Vol. 3). Univ of California Press.
• Osborne, S. P. (ed.). 2010. The New Public Governance?: Emerging Perspectives on the Theory and Practice of Public Governance. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
• OECD. 2005. Modernising government: the way forward. Paris.
• Pollitt, Christopher and G. Bouckaert. 2000. Public Management Reforms: A Comparative Analysis. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• Schiavo-Campo, Salvatore and Hazel M. McFerson. 2008. Public Management in Global Perspective. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe. ISBN: 978-0-7656-1726-2
Exam: Oral exam. The final grade refers to preparation on lectures and seminars, classroom case study discussions and individual/group essay.