Public Service Logic and Public Service Reform: State of the Art, New Perspectives, and Future Directions

This book extends and develops the theoretical framework of Public Service Logic (PSL). This framework has become established as one of the major frameworks for the delivery of public services. It draws upon the service management literature to present an understanding of public services as ’services’, with significant implication both for public administration and management theory and research and for public policy and public service management practice. It shifts the focus away from a pre-occupation with the production of public services alone and rather explores the way in which they add value to both citizens and society - and what such ’value’ may comprise. This edited volume challenges the product-dominant assumptions of the New Public Management (NPM) about the nature and management of public service delivery and will bring together the ’state of the art’ in the development of PSL theory by leading researchers in the field.

It will be of interest to researchers and academics in the field of public management, as well as to students studying public management and administration around the world. It will also engage with thoughtful and critical practitioners.

Stephen P Osborne is the Chair of International Public Management and Director of the Centre for Service Excellence at the University of Edinburgh Business School, Scotland, UK.

Carmine Bianchi is the Chair of Public Management & Governance in the Department of Political Sciences at University of Palermo, Italy.

Joanne Macfarlane is a Research Fellow in Public Management at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.