The ubiquitous nature of performance -- The performance mindset -- One size fits all -- Demeaning professionals : throwing out the baby with the bathwater? -- Competing values : can the performance movement deal with equity? -- The reality of fragmentation : power and authority in the U.S. political system -- Intergovernmental relationships : power and authority in the U.S. political system -- Information, interests, and ideology -- Competing values in a global context : performance activities in the World Bank -- Conflicting patterns of assumptions : where do we go from here?
Summary
Accountability is a watchword of our era. Dissatisfaction with a range of public and private institutions is widespread and often expressed in strong critical rhetoric. The reasons for these views are varied and difficult to translate into concrete action, but this hasn't deterred governments and nongovernmental organizations from putting into place formal processes for determining whether their own and others' goals have been achieved and problems with performance have been avoided. In this thought-provoking book, government and public administration scholar Beryl Radin takes on many of the a
