Government executives are increasingly using independent
and public organizations to deliver public services and
carry out public policy and are relying less on top-down
management, according to a new book from the Brookings
Institution Press.
“Governing by Network, The New Shape of the Public Sector,”
argues that, “agencies are becoming less important as
direct service providers, and more vital as levers of the
public good.”
Governing by network means working through relationships
and partners and according to a synopsis on the Brookings
Institution website, the book examines the government’s
transformation to working through networks of
non-governmental entities and borrows from the experiences
of “public innovators.”
Written by Stephen Goldsmith, faculty director of the
Innovations in American Government Program at Harvard
University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, chair
of the Manhattan Institute Center on Civic Innovation,
and William D. Eggers, global director at Deloitte
Research, Public Sector, and a senior fellow at the
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, the book also
demonstrates how managing provider networks differs from
managing divisions of employees and draws on case studies
to offer network-governance principles.
Drawing from dozens of case studies, as well as established
best practices, it aims to develop lessons to inform
elected officials, business executives, and the broader
public. The paperback is available for $18.95 plus shipping
at brook.edu.