Policy Consultancy in Comparative Perspective
Patterns, Nuances and Implications of the Contractor State
Part of Cambridge Studies in Comparative Public Policy
- Authors:
- Caspar van den Berg, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, The Netherlands
- Michael Howlett, Simon Fraser University, British Columbia
- Andrea Migone, Institute of Public Administration of Canada
- Michael Howard, University of Newcastle, New South Wales
- Frida Pemer, Stockholm School of Economics
- Helen M. Gunter, University of Manchester
- Date Published: January 2020
- availability: Available
- format: Hardback
- isbn: 9781108496674
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Many Western countries have seen an increase in the volume and importance of external consultants in the public policy process. This book is the first to investigate this phenomenon in a comparative and interdisciplinary way. The analysis shows who these consultants are, how widely and for what reasons they are used in Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, The Netherlands and Sweden. In doing so, the book addresses the positive and negative implications of high levels of external policy consultancy, including its implications for the nature of the state (transforming into a contractor state?) and for democratically legitimized and accountable decision-making (transforming into consultocracy?). It provides valuable new insights for students and practitioners in the fields of public administration, public policy, public management, political science and human resource management.
Read more- Provides insights into policy consultancy from an interdisciplinary point of view involving public administration, management, policy studies and political science
- The first international-comparative study of policy consultancy involving six countries belonging to various political-administrative traditions - allowing a better understanding of public policy consultancy from different continents
- Takes the conceptualization of policy consultancy, the contractor state and consultocracy to the next level and provides readers with more elaborated conceptual tools for understanding policy consultancy
Reviews & endorsements
'Policy consultancy - 'the invisible public service' - has for a long time been somewhat of a blind spot in policy analysis. Caspar van den Berg, Michael Howlett, Andrea Migone, Michael Howard, Frida Pemer and Helen M. Gunter make a strong case that policy consultancy is far more important than the previous literature suggests. They sustain this argument by [providing] a detailed comparative analysis of policy consultancy in six countries representing three different types of institutional systems and administrative traditions. The book is a valuable resource to students and scholars in public administration, public management and political science.' Jon Pierre, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
See more reviews'We have known for some time that consultants can play an important role in governments - as part of consultocracy or the contracting state - but details have been elusive. This study of policy consultancy in six countries, representing three systems of government, opens this field up to scrutiny. What do policy consultants do and to what effect and how does their use vary and compare with other forms of external advice? In addressing these issues, the book will become a key resource for policymakers and scholars in public administration and policy and political sciences.' Andrew Sturdy, University of Bristol and co-author of Management as Consultancy
'This book fills a blind spot in the study of public policy and public administration. Consultants, especially policy consultancy, could be part of a solution, by thinking out of the box, but also, could become part of a problem, when a public sector contracts out its brains. The authors show a reality which is much more complex than just bureaucrats and consultocrats by giving a convincing picture of how supply and demand of ideas dynamically interact in different countries.' Geert Bouckaert, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
'Policy Consultancy in Comparative Perspective is a long-needed book that sheds light on the use of consultants, its scope, causes and implications. This empirically rich book is a valuable contribution to the field of public administration by showing how and why central governments increasingly turn to policy consultants and that in the contractor state the distinction between internal public servants and external consultants becomes evermore blurred. Everyone interested in the internal dynamics of governments and patterns of change in policy-making should read this book.' Thurid Hustedt, Hertie School of Governance, Berlin
'This is an important book, rich in its theoretical, empirical and comparative approach. By focusing on the role that consultants have come to play in the policy arena, it fills a gap in the public policy literature and clearly introduces something new that students of public administration need to be concerned with. The impact of these consultants has largely been ignored and this important work puts them where they belong: that is, in the mix of the forces that shape public policies. The work explores the multifarious tasks they perform in the policy-making arena: from analyzing … advising … recommending, and even to communicating and publicizing policies.' Ezra Suleiman, IBM Professor of International Studies, Princeton University, New Jersey
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×Product details
- Date Published: January 2020
- format: Hardback
- isbn: 9781108496674
- length: 332 pages
- dimensions: 235 x 157 x 22 mm
- weight: 0.58kg
- contains: 21 b/w illus. 61 tables
- availability: Available
Table of Contents
List of figures
List of tables
Author biographies
Acknowledgements
List of abbreviations
1. Policy consultancy in comparative perspective
2. Consultancy in the UK Government: modernising privatism
3. Policy consulting in the USA: significant but in decline? 4. Entrenched and escalating: policy-relevant consulting and contracting in Australia, 1987–2017
5. From corporatist to contractor state? Policy consulting in The Netherlands
6. Policy consultants for substance and process: a review of the supply and demand for Canadian policy consulting
7. Swedish government agencies' hiring of policy consultants: a phenomenon of increased magnitude and importance? 8. Conclusion: policy consulting in comparative perspective
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Appendix D
Appendix E
Appendix F
References
Index.
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