Governance and Accountability in Reshaping Public Services
Open Challenges and Wicked Problems of the 21st Century
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6446559 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Carmela Barbera (0000-0002-6230-1277, University of Bergamo Bergamo Italy), Laurence Ferry (0000-0002-6686-4528, Durham University Durham UK), Noel Hyndman (0000-0002-4165-7223, Queen's University Belfast Belfast UK), Mariannunziata Liguori (0000-0003-2312-2273, Durham University Durham UK), Sean Mccandle (0000-0003-1820-7467, University of Texas at Dallas Richardson Texas USA, corresponding author), Henry Midgley (0000-0002-6998-6088, Durham University Durham UK) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 103 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 677-692 |
| Publication date | 2025-08-09 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Public Administration (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0033-3298 • E-ISSN: 1467-9299 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/padm.70012 |
| OpenAlex | W4413241160 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 173 |
Issues of accountability are ubiquitous in public governance. Accountability connects with other concerns like legitimacy, power, citizen engagement, and new modes of service production. These issues and connections become all the more poignant given the evolving landscape of public services amidst the backdrop of 21st‐century poly‐crises. The pieces in this special issue explore these dynamics, particularly concerning shifting governing modes, contractual arrangements, performance management, and digitalization. New service delivery models introduce complexities beyond efficiency, impacting power dynamics and stakeholder interests. In this introductory piece, the editors preview these issues, highlight the enduring questions from the literature informing this special issue, and summarize the 14 pieces. The editors end by reflecting on accountability's importance through discussions of accountability for neoliberalism and performance measurement, contracting out, liberty, democracy, social equity, and human‐centered public governance
Accountability · Business · Corporate governance · Economics · Equity (law · Legitimacy · Management · Neoliberalism (international relations · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Public relations · Public service · Service (business · Service delivery framework · Sociology · Stakeholder · Transparency (behavior · E-Government and Public Services · Law · Public Administration · Public Policy and Administration Research · Public-Private Partnership Projects
Justice for All: Promoting Social Equity in Public Administration
The Routledge Handbook on Crisis, Polycrisis, and Public Administration
The Tyranny of Metrics
Holding Power to Account
Liberty before Liberalism
Accountability in the Shadow of Hierarchy
Making the Invisible Visible
Managing the hollow state Collaboration and contracting
The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money.
The Myth of Bureaucratic Neutrality
From public service-dominant logic to public service logic
Contracting out by the public sector
Public Accountability
(Co)-Contamination as the Dark Side of Co-Production
Analysing and Assessing Accountability
A Theory of Justice
From Equality to Social Equity
An empirical conceptualization of front line enablement by performance management
The Covid-19 pandemic as a game changer for public administration and leadership? The need for robust governance responses to turbulent problems
Is government escaping blame? the effect of contracting and victim attributes in a prisoner transportation experiment
A policy-centred approach to inter-municipal cooperation
International survey evidence on user and community co-delivery of prevention activities relevant to public services and outcomes
The Oxford Handbook of Public Accountability
Human(e) government
The many outcomes from contracting out
Networked publics as agents of accountability
Structuring Neoliberal Governance
Opening Accounting to Critical Scrutiny
Counternarratives as Critical Perspectives in Public Administration Curricula
Transforming power dynamics through prefigurative public administration
The fallacy of representative bureaucracy theory
Citizen-generated open data
After the Ribbon Cutting
Does performance measurement improve public sector performance? A case of Australian government agencies
Outsourcing and Organizational Performance
Collaboration, Public-Private Intermediary Organizations, and the Transformation of Advocacy in the Field of Homeless Services
A New Theory for Public Service Management? Toward a (Public) Service-Dominant Approach
Exploring the Determinants of Decisions to Privatize State Prisons
Citizen-Assisted Performance Measurement? Reassessing Its Viability and Impact
Accountability in the Regulatory State
Information and communication technology (ICT), digital divide and urbanization
On Legitimacy
What is Bureaucratic Accountability and How can We Measure it
Government Contracts and “Managing the Market”
Social Accountability Between Consensus and Confrontation
Fighting Covid ‐19 with Agility, Transparency, and Participation
Are public sector accounts trusted? Exploring the verdict of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee in the United Kingdom
Corporatization of public services
Was Local Governance Such a Good Idea? A Global Comparative Perspective
Towards inclusive public administration systems
A long road
Rational Management, Performance Targets and Executive Agencies
Does Public Accountability Work? An Assessment Tool
Managerial Challenges in Public Service Contracting
What Works Best When Contracting for Services? An Analysis of Contracting Performance at the Local Level in the Us
Control Patterns in Contracting‐out Relationships
Accountability’
Intersectionality and equity
The administrative burden of doing business with the government
A recipe for success? The importance of perceptions of goal agreement in cross‐sector collaboration
Why we need bricoleurs to foster robust governance solutions in turbulent times
What’s Measured Is What Matters
A Practice of Fairness”
Capitalism and Freedom
What Is Populism
Symbolic Bureaucratic Representation and Client Cooperation
Auditing, the State and Democracy in a “New” Machine Age of Digitalization
Accountability as a function of power relationships in public governance networks
Unpacking Approaches to Digitalization Strategy
Can Cross‐Sector Collaboration Contribute to Boundaries Reshaping of Digital Government Platforms? Empirical Evidence Based on Machine Learning and Text Analysis
Accountability and High‐Effort Coping Strategies of Public Employees
Cross‐sectoral collaboration in times of crisis
Exploring Government‐Citizen Interaction in Public Service Performance Assessment
Chasing Digitalization
Understanding the Co‐Provision of Disaster‐Related Services in the United States
Maintaining Collective Legitimacy During Crisis
Efficiencies of and Motivations for Contracting Out in the Public Sector
Governance and Renegotiation in Public‐Private Partnerships During Crises
Does Outsourcing Reduce Public Scrutiny Toward Elected Officials
Two Concepts of Accountability
The Challenges of Contracting and Accountability Across the Federal System
Incentives in Third‐Party Governance
Power and Administration
Managing the Public Service Market
Whither Power in Public Administration? Attainment, Dissipation, and Loss
Toward a Public Administration Theory of Felt Accountability
Complex Contracting
Who Punishes More? Partisanship, Punitive Policies, and the Puzzle of Democratic Governors
Political Decoupling
Parliamentary questions to the House of Commons Commission
You are unmuted
Contracting or Public Delivery? The Importance of Service, Market, and Management Characteristics
Agents or Stewards
The Accountability Cube
It Depends on What You Share
Decision-Making in Collaborative Governance Networks
Governance without we. Wicked problems and collaborative governance
Social Construction and the Criminalization of Identity
Race and Social Equity
Beyond Engagement and Participation
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 4 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |