Adminstrative reform in most western democracies over the past couple of decades has been characterized by bringing in market-based concepts of public-service delivery. This book looks critically at administrative reform in a comparative perspective. The contributors - experts on administrative reform - assess its scope and objectives, and also the ways in which these reforms have impacted on the traditional roles of elective office and civil servants. This book will be an invaluable resource for students and academics in Politics and Public Administration, as well as for civil servants and experts on administrative reform.

1. Civil servants and politicians: the changing balance B. Guy Peters and Jon Pierre Part I The Anglo-American Democracies 2. Public service bargains and public service reform Christopher Hood 3. Reinventing government, or reinventing politics? The american experience Joel D. Alberach and Bert A. Rockman 4. Agencies, ministers and civil servants in Britain Brian W. Hogwood, D. Judge and M. McVicar Part II Continental Europe 5.Bureaucrats and politicians in the politics of administrative reforms in France (1988-1997) Phillipe Bezes 6. A solid rock in rough seas? Institutional change and continuity in the German federal bureaucracy Eckhard Schröter 7. New public management from a theoretical and Austrian perspective Barbara Liegl 8. Politicians, bureaucrats and administrative reform in Hungary: who stops whom? Laszlo Vass 9. Bureaucratic politics in Spain: a long lasting tradition Carlos Alba 10. (Re)shaping the politics-administration nexus in Greece: the decline of a symbiotic relationship? Calliope Spanou Part III Scandinavia 11. Bureaucratic autonomy as a political asset Jörgen Grönnegaard Christensen 12. Parallel paths?: administrative reform, public policy and politico-bureaucratic relationships in Sweden Jon Pierre 13. Reform industry in the Finnish government: towards the new welfare idea through the central and local administrative reforms of the 1980s and 1990s Ari Salminen Part IV The Pacific Region 14. Politicians, bureaucrats and public sector reform in Australia and New Zealand John Halligan 15. Party members, elite bureaucrats and government reform in Japan's changing political landscape Akira Nakamura Part V Conclusions 16. The comparative dimension of administrative reform: creating open villages nad redesigning the politics of administration Theo Toonen