Governmental Transparency in the Path of Administrative Reform

By Suzanne J. Piotrowski

Subjects: Management
Paperback : 9780791470862, 150 pages, January 2008
Hardcover : 9780791470855, 150 pages, April 2007

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Table of contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
1.  Sunlight Is the Best Disinfectant
2. Two Governmental Narratives Juxtaposed
3. The Impact of Performance Management
4. The Impact of Customer Service and Employee Empowerment
5. The Impact of Contracting
6. Analysis
Appendix
Research Design
Notes
Works Cited
Index

How federal management reforms have impacted the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act.

Description

The consequences of governmental reform are not always intended. In this book, Suzanne J. Piotrowski examines how federal management reforms associated with the National Performance Review have affected, and are still affecting, implementation of the Freedom of Information Act. The intersection of the New Public Management movement and the implementation of the U. S. federal government's transparency policy is, she argues, a clear example of unforeseen outcomes. Particular attention is paid to performance management, customer service, and contracting out initiatives, as well as to unintended consequences and their future implications for public administration scholars, practitioners, and reformers.

Suzanne J. Piotrowski is Assistant Professor of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers University.

Reviews

"Solid … and of interest … to scholars of this small slice of American public policy. " — CHOICE

"…[An] excellent, heavily researched, and thoroughly detailed examination of the efforts, successes, and missteps in the ongoing effort to guard against corruption through transparency. " — The Midwest Book Review

"The author heightens sensitivity to, and awareness of, the possibilities of unforeseen outcomes in efforts at public management reform. " — Harold C. Relyea, author of Government at the Dawn of the 21st Century