In the article the attempt is made to identify and to compare some of the basic principles on which the intergovernmental and interorganisational setting of France and Germany has been traditionally built as well their recent development. A promising approach for such a discussion is seen in...

Het concept ‘prestatie’ staat centraal in een moderne overheid. Toch is er niet noodzakelijk duidelijkheid gekomen over de algemene doelstellingen ervan. Wat betekent het wanneer men zegt dat het prestatieniveau van de overheid moet verbeteren? Prestaties en prestatiemanagement zijn veel...

Discussing the future of research in public administration (PA) is more than just listing topics for reserach which are inspired by possible future challenges for the public sector. Even if national contexts determine a strong path dependency for research agendas, there are four major trends...

This article supports the Flemish Government’s efforts to improve the efficiency in the public sector, but points out that efficiency has to be considered in the broader context of a well-performing and well-functioning public sector. After describing the main motives for efficiency...

Reform of government financial management systems in the past decade has seen developments in accrual accounting and in results-based budgeting and reporting. Australia has worked with an accrual-based framework for outcomes and outputs budgeting and reporting since fiscal year 1999/2000. The...

Since its publication in 2000, Public Management Reform has established itself as the standard text in the field, presenting a comparative analysis of recent changes in Public Management and Public Administration in a range of countries in Europe, North America, and Australasia. This completely...

Charters are official commitments to quality and reform. Belgium introduced its Charter of the User of Public Services in 1993. The federal administration's Copernicus reform began in 1999 and had a strong external outlook. It therefore may be considered as a second User Charter. In this article...

Local government plays a central but altering role in local governance. Together with the shift from a night-watchman state to a welfare state , the models of governance provision changed. Government itself became larger and more scattered throughout the local community. Moreover, government was...