Performance Management

Tackling the key topics of reform and modernization, this important new book systematically examines performance in public management systems. The authors present this seminal subject in an informative and accessible manner, tackling some of the most important themes.

Performance Management in the Public Sector takes as its point of departure a broad definition of performance to redefine major and basic mechanisms in public administration, both theoretically and in practice. The book:

• situates performance in some of the current public management debates;
• discusses the many definitions of ‘performance’ and how it has become one of the contested agendas of public management;
• examines measurement, incorporation and use of performance information; and
• explores the challenges and future directions of performance management.

A must-read for any student or practitioner of public management, this core text will prove invaluable to anyone wanting to improve their understanding of performance management in the public sector.

Wouter Van Dooren is Assistant Professor of Public Administration at the Department of Political Science, University of Antwerp, Belgium, and Research Fellow at the Public Management Institute at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. He researches performance measurement and management.

Geert Bouckaert is Director and Professor of Public Management at the Public Management Institute at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. He is President of the European Group for Public Administration and he researches performance management, financial management and public sector reform.

John Halligan is Research Professor of Government and Public Administration at the University of Canberra, Australia. His research interests are comparative public governance and management, performance management and public sector reform.