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Public Management: Theories and Innovations (PUBL0008)

Key information

Faculty
Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences
Teaching department
Political Science
Credit value
15
Restrictions
N/A
Timetable

Alternative credit options

There are no alternative credit options available for this module.

Description

In this module, we will examine the role of public bureaucracies in the policy making process, with a strong focus on reforms within and across public agencies, which are often collectively referred to as 鈥淣ew Public Management鈥 and 鈥淕overnance鈥. We will also examine new technologies, including digital transformation and artificial intelligence, to understand how they affect the delivery of public services. 听

We will begin with a look at some of the basic questions of public administration, such as, why do public bureaucracies exist, how have they evolved over time and why does their organisational structure matter for making public policy. We will also examine how bureaucratic agencies are constructed by politicians, as well as how politicians interact with bureaucrats, and how these interactions matter for public policy outcomes. 听

We will then analyse numerous reforms that have been implemented in public agencies across the world-reforms that are designed to make agencies more like the free market and more results-driven, such as privatisation, performance measurement and contracting public services to the private sector. We will analyse how these reforms are designed, how they are implemented and ultimately how effective they are. Finally, we will explore governance and digital governance. This includes, for instance, citizen participation in public bureaucracies and the use of digitalization and artificial intelligence in public administration 鈥 including how algorithms increasingly make decisions that were previously made by humans.听

Some of the questions we explore in this module typically include:听
鈥 How do public sector organisation affect public policy outcomes?听
鈥 Why are some agencies highly independent and autonomous while others are tightly controlled by politicians?听
鈥 Does performance-related pay work for public sector employees?听
鈥 Under what circumstances do governments contract out public services to the private sector? Is contracting cost-effective?听
鈥 How reliable are indicators that measure public sector performance?听
鈥 Under what circumstances do agencies successfully work together to implement policy?听
鈥 What is the role of citizens in public management and policy implementation?听
鈥 How can governments effectively digitize public services?听 How is artificial intelligence used in public administration? What are the effects of such use?听

By the end of this module, students should be able to understand why and how public agencies are designed and constructed as they are; why and how politicians and bureaucrats interact as they do, and how this affects public policy; and why and how New Public Management and governance reforms have been implemented and what it means for policy outputs and outcomes. 鈥疐inally, students learn research methods skills through course readings and assessment.听

Module deliveries for 2024/25 academic year

Intended teaching term: Term 2 听听听 Postgraduate (FHEQ Level 7)

Teaching and assessment

Mode of study
In person
Methods of assessment
100% Coursework
Mark scheme
Numeric Marks

Other information

Number of students on module in previous year
38
Module leader
Dr Christian Schuster

Last updated

This module description was last updated on 8th April 2024.