Governing Public Service Organizations: A Review and Research Agenda

Abstract

Critical issues and problem areas in governing public service organizations are increasingly discussed and the challenge is to develop good governance systems. However, the concept of governance is monopolizing the debate on Public Administration and Management. As a result, there are often overlaps, misuse and superficiality. The aim of this systematic literature review is to assess the state of the art on public service organizations governance structures and mechanisms analysing past, present and future evolutions. The arguments advanced in Osborne’s article (2006) that Public Administration and Management has actually passed through three dominant modes (Public Administration, New Public Management, and New Public Governance) are used. Drawing on this classification, 184 published (from 1970 to 2009) journal articles are quantitatively analysed. The results show significant associations between theories, research settings, sources of data, countries of analysis, and different governance regimes . Thus, moving from what has already been done, we identify critical areas that need further attention and insightful introspection. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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