‘This lucid, vivid and intelligent book on “continuity and change” in policy and
management by Pollitt and Bouckaert follows in the footsteps of Pollitt’s previous book
on the issue of time, a vital but often neglected issue. In the present book the focus is
on comparisons: Britain and Belgium, hospitals and police, national and local, and
comparison over time. Again conceptually rich, this book makes you think. The best a book
can do.’
– Walter Kickert, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands
‘Students working on case studies often complain that theory comes in the way of the
actual story. This study provides an inspiring example of the opposite. While the authors
indeed strongly draw on their extensive theoretical knowledge, this is done in such an
elegant and subtle way that this book becomes a real pleasure to read. It is a welcome
reminder that excellent research is not only methodologically sound and theoretically
relevant, but can also be genuinely interesting and simply fun to read.’
– Jeroen Maesschalck, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
‘This ambitious analysis of public policy and management ranges over time, across two
fields (hospitals and police), two contrasting country systems (Belgium and the United
Kingdom) and levels of government. Using a grounded approach to address the complexities
and subtleties of different layers and rates of change, the study provides a pioneering
and profound analysis that few current books in public management and policy can equal.
The concluding chapters on theories of change and doctrines of comparison (essentially
methodology) provide masterly reflections on policy and management, and theoretical
insights for further examination.’
– John Halligan, University of Canberra, Australia
‘This comparative account of public policy and management in England and Belgium
provides a fascinating and absorbing analysis of change between 1965 and 2005. Using a
“historical institutionalist approach”, Pollitt and Bouckaert draw on local case
studies of the police and hospitals in Brighton and Leuven to illustrate the complex
interface between national policy making and its implementation and to highlight the
difficulties of managing change in major institutions. They argue that differences derive
from the distinctive features of the national political systems whereas similarities, such
as organisational specialisation, managerialism and technological change, are generated by
international trends in society and technology. This text, at once readable, thoughtful
and provocative, will appeal widely to both those who study policy and those whose aim is
to make and implement it at national or local level.’
– Sue Balloch, University of Brighton, UK
Continuity and Change in Public Policy and Management offers a major
reconsideration of patterns in long-term policymaking and organizational change.
Christopher Pollitt and Geert Bouckaert use international and inter-sectoral comparison to
challenge some currently fashionable models of policymaking.
Combining theory development, international comparison and original case study
analysis, two of Europe’s leading public policy and management scholars apply and
develop some of the main models of policy change and offer a revealing long-term view of
policy developments since 1965. Drawing on an extensive programme of elite interviews and
documentary analysis they provide an integrated treatment of national and local
policymaking in two major public services – hospital care and the police – in England
and Belgium. This timely book addresses the ‘paradigm wars’ in public policy, arguing
for a nuanced intermediate position that challenges the orthodox and the post-modernists
alike.
This fascinating core book will be highly sought by advanced students and academics in
public administration, public management, government, comparative politics or public
policy courses. It will also prove to be an important tool for students in police studies
and healthcare management.
Christopher Pollitt, Research Professor in Public Management, Public
Management Institute, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium and Geert Bouckaert,
Director, Public Management Institute, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and President,
European Group for Public Administration, Belgium
Table of Contents
1 Theory and method in comparative studies of organizational change 1
2 National reforms : the Belgian and English regimes 22
3 National reforms : hospitals 32
4 National reforms : police 50
5 National reforms : intersectoral comparison 71
6 What happened locally? : hospitals 81
7 What happened locally? : police 101
8 Reflections on theories of change 135
9 Reflections on doctrines of comparison 170
App The Brighton-Leuven project 195
References 198
Index 211
232 pages, Hardcover
