Summary:

In focusing on change and continuity in public sector organizations this book attempts to combine two fields of study that are generally treated separately: organization theory and political science. The latter is represented mostly by the sub-discipline public administration and also to some extent normative political theory. This synthetic approach is more common in Scandinavia than elsewhere. The book is written in honour of Per Lægreid, and includes contributions from some of his academic colleagues across the world. Among the authors are Geert Bouckaert, Tom Christensen, Morten Egeberg, Anne Lise Fimreite, Robert Gregory, John Halligan, Bengt Jacobsson, Werner Jann, James G. March, Johan P. Olsen, Ove K. Pedersen and Per Selle. All chapters provide theoretical, empirical, normative and/or prescriptive analyses of change and continuity in public sector organizations, applied to different institutional and regional contexts.

Content:
CHAPTER 1 - Paul G. Roness and Harald Sætren" Change and continuity in the study of public sector organizations" 7

CHAPTER 2 - James G. March" Public Administration, Organizations and Democracy" 23

CHAPTER 3 - G. Roness Handling theoretical diversity on agency autonomy" 45

CHAPTER 4 - Morten Egeberg" Towards an organization theory of international integration" 63

CHAPTER 5 - Ove K. Pedersen" EU and democratic challenges - in honour of Per Lægreid" 83

CHAPTER 6 - Bengt Jacobsson and Göran Sundström "Between autonomy and control: Transformation of the Swedish administrative model" 103

CHAPTER 7 - Tobias Bach and Werner Jann "Structure and Governance of Agencies in Germany: A lot of Continuity and Little Change" 127

CHAPTER 8 - Jostein Askim and Tom Christensen "Cross-cutting cleavages and the dynamicsof public sector reform" 149

CHAPTER 9 - Dag Runar Jacobsen "Dynamic interplay of state employees' unions and administrative reform: The case of the Norwegian welfare administration" 169

CHAPTER 10 - Anne Lise Fimreite and Per Selle "Norwegian regions - new wine and old bottles?" 19

CHAPTER 11 - Harald Sætren "A Comparative Study of the Anatomy of a Failed Efficiency Strategy in Denmark and Norway: Policy success despite programme failures?" 211

CHAPTER 12 - Koen Verhoest, Kristin Rubecksen and Muiris MacCarthaigh "Autonomy of Public Sector Agencies in Norway, Ireland and Flanders: Does politico-administrative culture help us to understand similarities and differences?" 231

CHAPTER 13 - John Halligan and Geert Bouckaert "Performance and Trust: Developmental paths and optional directions" 257

CHAPTER 14 - Robert Gregory "No Suspicious Circumstances? Contractualism and Reputation-Protection in Political-Bureaucratic Relations - The Case of New Zealand Immigration." 279

CHAPTER 15 - Johan P. Olsen "Institutional autonomy and democratic government" 299

Publications of Per Lægreid 1978-2008 321

Authors 333

Tabula Gratulatoria 335