Context in Public Policy and Management

Edited by the Late Christopher Pollitt, formerly Emeritus Professor, Public Governance Institute, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium

• Contents:Preface: Context – a Missing Link?Christopher PollittPART I: FRAMING AND UNDERSTANDING1. Context in the Context – Missing the Missing Links in the Field of Public AdministrationTuro Virtanen2. Contexts: Forms of Agency and Action John Clarke3. Constituting Context? Janet Newman4. The Intransigent Context: Glimpses at the History of a Problem Fabio Rugge5. Three Visions of Context as HistoryMark Bevir and Rod Rhodes6. Numbers in Context: Applying Frege’s Principles to Public Administration Geert BouckaertFirst Link Christopher PollittPART II: PUTTING CONTEXT INTO THEORY (AND THEORY INTO CONTEXT)7. Institution in Context, and as ContextB. Guy Peters8. Can Cultural Theory Give us a Handle on the Difference Context Makes to Management by Numbers? Christopher Hood9. Context, Theory and Rationality: An Uneasy Relationship? Jon Pierre10. Contexts and Administrative Reforms: A Transformative Approach Tom Christensen and Per Lægreid11. Context in Public Policy: Implications of Complexity Theory Tony Bovaird12. The Service-Dominant Context of Public Services: A Suitable Case for Treatment?Stephen P. Osborne, Greta Nasi and Zoe Radnor13. Explaining Contextual Influences on the Dynamics of Public Management Reforms: Reflections on Some Ways ForwardEdoardo OngaroSecond LinkChristopher PollittPART III: EMPIRICAL APPLICATIONS14. What We Know So Far and How to Proceed: Contextual Variables in NPM Reform ResearchIsabella ProellerThird LinkChristopher Pollitt15. Context in Governance Networks: Complex Interactions between Macro, Meso and Micro. A Theoretical Exploration and Some Empirical Evidence on the Impact of Context Factors in Taiwan, Spain and the NetherlandsErik-Hans Klijn, Vicenta Sierra, Tamyko Ysa, Evan M. Berman, Jurian Edelenbos and Don-yun Chen16. Seeing Context Where There’s No ‘There’ There: The EU/USA Financial Crises and the Missing State Richard Stillman17. The Context of Public Administration from a Neo-institutionalist Point of View: An Analysis with Finland as the Case Pertti Ahonen18. The Uses and Abuses of Historical Context: A Case Study in the ‘Mutualisation’ of Public ServicesJohnston Birchall19. Context and Accountability: Factors Shaping Performance Audit Jeremy Lonsdale20. The Role of Significance of Context in Comparing Country Systems John Halligan21. Hospitals and the Dynamics of Multiple Contexts Christopher PollittFourth LinkChristopher PollittPART IV: REFLECTIONS22. Context: What Kind of Missing Link?Christopher PollittIndex