Getting Agencies to Work Together the Practice and Theory of Managerial Craftsmanship

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Collaboration between government agencies, an old joke goes, is an unnatural act committed by nonconsenting adults. Eugene Bardach argues that today's opinion climate favoring more results-oriented government makes collaboration a lot more natural--though it is still far from easy.
In this book, Bardach diagnoses the difficulties, explains how they are sometimes overcome, and offers practical ideas for public managers, advocates, and others interested in developing interagency collaborative networks. Bardach provides examples from diverse policy areas, including children, youth, and family services; welfare-to-work; antipollution enforcement; fire prevention; and ecosystem management.

Reviews

"... a scholarly blend of theory and case with a concern to add to practical knowledge." Steve Guoppra, Kitts University, England, International Journal of Health Planning and Management, 1/1/2001

"...a welcome contribution with its insights on overcoming institutional pluralism and obsolescence, illuminated by case studies.
" A. F. Johnson, Bishop's University

"Drawing on extensive field research on front-line government operations, Bardach shines a spotlight on critical success factors for problem-centered public management practice. This valuable work is both practitioner-friendly and an advance in public management research methods. ," Michael Barzelay, London School of Economics and Political Science

Author Bio

Eugene Bardach is professor of public policy in the Richard and Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He is the author o f The Eight-Step Path of Policy Analysis: A Handbook for Practice (Berkeley Academic Press), for which he received the 1998 Donald T. Campbell award of the Policy Studies Organization for creative contributions to the methodology of policy analysis.