This slim volume, a seminal study, provides a positive picture of public managers eager to learn and to create management capacity, which is posited as the key to governmental performance... A must read for students of public management. Choice 2004 The authors of this volume argue that one quality above all is crucial to the overall performance of government: effective management. International Review of Administrative Sciences An ambitious and well-publicized attempt to define criteria for measuring government performance... Well argued and rich in material. -- Sandford Borins Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 2004