John D. Donahue is associate professor of public policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. From 1993 to 1995 he served in the labour Department, first as an Assistant Secretary, then as Counselor to the Secretary. He is the author of The Privatization Decision: Public Ends, Private Means and coauthor (with Robert B. Reich) of New Deals: The Chrysler Revival and the American System. He and his family live in Lexington, Massachusetts.

• The Stakes * The Architecture of Accountability * Privatization and Public Spending Evidence And Arguments * Organizational Form and Function * The Evidence On Efficiency * The Terms of the Privatization Decision Cases And Cautionary Tales * Lessons from the Pentagon * Local Service Contracting * The Private Prisons Debate * Business, Government, and Job Training Conclusions * The (Limited) Promise of Privatization