Carleton University - School of Public Policy and Administration
PADM-5421: Globalizing Public Management - Measuring and Monitoring Governance
Description: The contemporary emphasis on continuous improvement, reform and the measurement of government performance now seems unremarkable and even commonplace, but has only emerged in the last 30 years. Previously, governments of course undertook reforms of their public sectors and their policy activities, but did so in piecemeal fashion and in fairly traditional ways (e.g., human resource improvements, training, or modest re-organizations). The change came as a result of several factors. One was the realization among development organizations such as the UNDP and the World Bank that economic performance often depended on an effective and efficient public sector. Another was the series of crises in the mid-1970s that stimulated an international conversation among international agencies, academic institutions, and others that public sector reform should be a "policy field" in its own right. The collapse of communism required massive reforms in former Soviet satellite states in central and Eastern Europe. More recently, the global financial crisis has highlighted the fact once again that economic performance hinges on an effective public sector.
This course examines the "measuring and monitoring" of public sector performance from several perspectives: the emphasis on measuring performance and the different types of measures and their strengths and weaknesses; how international agencies are at the centre of global efforts to stimulate reform; the dynamics of "policy transfer" and "policy diffusion"; the spread of so-called "best practices"; and how governments respond to these efforts.
Faculty: Leslie Pal (Fall 2013)
Source: Syllabus downloaded from http://carleton.ca/sppa/academics/course-information/2013-fall-course-outlines/ (accessed 7 January 2014)