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Perspectives on Public Services and the Public Sector

Overview

  • Credit value: 30 credits at Level 7
  • Convenor and tutor: Deborah Mabbett
  • Assessment: a 1000-1500-word case study of a public service reform (25%) and 3500-4000-word essay (75%)

Module description

In this module we explore contemporary issues in the governance of public services, drawing on insights from both politics and economics. We will analyse the structure of government, particularly the relationship between politicians and bureaucrats and between levels of government. We will also examine the rationale for, and experience of, market and quasi-market mechanisms in public services and the implications of the increased involvement of private and charitable funders and providers in public service delivery.

Lectures introduce key concepts around incentives, competition, choice, markets and hierarchy. Seminars discuss case studies drawn from the UK and abroad.

Indicative syllabus

  • The mixed economy: Why not leave everything to the market?
  • The transfer state: a minimal solution
  • Public provision: employment in public services from a transaction cost perspective
  • Politicians and bureaucrats
  • Relations between levels of government
  • Contracting out to private sector for-profit providers
  • Contracting out to charities and ‘third sector’ organisations
  • Creating quasi-markets in education: regulating the ‘choice architecture’
  • Public services and private substitutes: coexistence or assured destruction?
  • Politics, fiscal resources and the financing of public services

Learning objectives

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

  • compare, apply and, where appropriate, synthesise the main theoretical approaches to the study of the public sector and public services
  • understand issues and debates about public sector reform
  • understand issues in evaluating reforms, and be able to weigh up incomplete and contradictory evidence
  • draw on both economic and political analyses to contribute to debates about the organisation of the public sector and its reform
  • demonstrate skills of critical thinking, enquiry, synthesis, analysis and evaluation that can be employed in other areas of postgraduate study as well as senior public service management positions.