About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

28 Fordham Urb. L.J. 1611 (2000-2001)
The New Governance and the Tools of Public Action: An Introduction

handle is hein.journals/frdurb28 and id is 1625 raw text is: THE NEW GOVERNANCE AND THE TOOLS OF PUBLIC ACTION: AN INTRODUCTION Lester M. Salamon* In economic life the possibilities for rational social action, for planning, for reform-in short, for solving problems-depend not upon our choice among mythical grand alternatives but largely upon choice among particular social techniques... tech- niques and not isms are the kernel of rational social action in the Western world.' Far-reaching developments in the global economy have us revisit- ing basic questions about government: what its role should be, what it can and cannot do, and how best to do it.2 INTRODUCTION: THE REVOLUTION THAT No ONE NOTICED A fundamental re-thinking is currently underway throughout the world about how to cope with public problems.3 Stimulated by popular frustrations with the cost and effectiveness of government programs and by a new-found faith in liberal economic theories, serious questions are being raised about the capabilities, and even the motivations, of public-sector institutions. Long a staple of American political discourse, such questioning has spread to other parts of the world as well, unleashing an extraordinary torrent of * Lester M. Salamon is a Professor at the Johns Hopkins University and the Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies. This article is adapted from the introduction to THE TOOLS OF GOVERNMENT: A GUIDE TO THE NEW Gov- ERNANCE (Lester M. Salamon ed., 2001). 1. ROBERT A. DAHL & CHARLES E. LINDBLOM, POLITICS, ECONOMICS, AND WELFARE 6, 16 (1953). 2. WORLD BANK, WORLD DEVELOPMENT REPORT 1997: THE STATE IN A CHANGING WORLD 1 (1997). 3. Id.; see also Donald F. Kettl, The Global Revolution in Public Management.- Driving Themes, and Missing Links, 16 J. POL. ANALYSIS & MGMT. 446 (1997) (not- ing that the managerialism movement has radically transformed democracy and suggesting that we must build new administrative capacity and ask what government should do, and how can it do it best?); CHRISTOPHER POLLITr, MANAGERIALISM AND THE PUBLIC SERVICES: THE ANGLO-AMERICAN EXPERIENCE (1.990) (arguing that the novel approach to public services, found in managerialism, needs to be grasped for its ideological weight and immediate consequences). 1611

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most