A persistent ideal of public services networks amid alternative reform strategies: A study over three decades
van Gestel,N.
van Gestel,N.
Abstract
This article analyses how public service networks have evolved over three decades amid alternative reform strategies based on hierarchy or market principles. The longitudinal study of social and employment services in the Netherlands, based on 186 documents and 137 interviews, reveals an intriguing pattern of network rise and fall, repeating over time, with alternative reform strategies being crucial in network dissolution. This study contributes to understanding network evolution through external rather than internal factors. It shows a persistent network ideal, but depicts the ‘old’, traditional governance model as more robust than is usually presented in the public management literature.
Description
Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Date
2024
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Keywords
longitudinal study, network evolution, Public management reform, social and employment services
Citation
van Gestel, N 2024, 'A persistent ideal of public services networks amid alternative reform strategies : A study over three decades', Public Management Review, vol. 26, no. 8, pp. 2380-2401. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2023.2269962