New Ideas, Better Government

The quest for better public sector management is worldwide. Every country is exploring ways of providing services better and more efficiently - ways of reinventing government. Learning from one another is an obvious strategy for governments intent on reform. Other countries' experiences often seem to promise simple solutions. But how far is this a realistic strategy? This book enables lessons to be drawn from comparative experiences. By examining the reform strategies of governments in Australia, the United States, Britain and New Zealand, and by comparing or analysing their impact, the authors provide insights into the process and lessons on what does, or does not, work. The starting point for this book was the 1994 Fulbright Symposium, hosted by the Centre for Australian Public Sector Management at Griffith University and held in Brisbane in June 1994. The contributors are both practitioners and academics, drawing on years of experience from Downing Street to the White House, from Canberra to Brisbane. The result is stimulating and provocative, and will encourage readers to asses the impact of the reform agenda, challenging their assumptions about th