Public or Private Goods?: Redefining Res Publica

Legitimized by the arguments of efficiency gains, public housing, pensions, unemployment insurance and health care are all being gradually privatized. In many countries, even the state's 'night-watchmen' role of providing security is offered by private prisons and security guards. In the face of these and other developments, this book argues that on the basis of efficiency, morality and equality there is still an overwhelming need for public intervention - the res publica.

Public or Private Goods? brings together leading scholars from various disciplines including economics, sociology, political science, geography and spatial planning. The book explores core public tasks that the state has traditionally provided but which are increasingly privatized and subsumed into the private sector. For example, although the state still funds and regulates core domains, it provides fewer and fewer visible goods. The authors show how this apparent invisibility of the state presents serious challenges for both income equality and democracy.

This thoughtful interdisciplinary book will appeal to advanced students and academics in political science, public sector economics and public finance. It will also provide stimulating reading for politicians, policymakers and anyone interested in the provision of public services.

Contributors include: F. Blank, G. Bonvissuto, J. Ferwerda, M. Getzner, G. Gutheil-Knopp-Kirchwald, J. Kadi, T. Knijn, I. Koetsier, J. Lewis, B. Unger, D. van der Linde, K. van Egmond, F. van Waarden

Edited by Brigitte Unger, Utrecht University School of Economics, the Netherlands and former Director, Institute of Economic and Social Research WSI in Dusseldorf, Germany, Daan van der Linde, Utrecht University School of Economics, the Netherlands and Michael Getzner, Center of Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy, Department of Spatial Planning, Vienna University of Technology, Austria