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Motivation, Agency, and Public Policy
Of Knights and Knaves, Pawns and Queens
Julian Le Grand
206 pages
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234x156mm
978-0-19-926699-9
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Hardback
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18 September 2003
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- Lively and engaging text on the management of public services, written by one of the leading thinkers in the field.
- Argues that assumptions concerning motivation and agency are the key to the success of public policy.
- Analyses current public policy and demonstrates that much of it is founded on erroneous assumptions, before proposing economically and administratively viable reforms.
Can we rely on the altruism of professionals or the public service ethos to deliver good quality health and education services? And how should patients, parents, and pupils behave - as grateful recipients or active consumers?
This book provides new answers to these questions - a milestone in the analysis and development of public policy, from one of the leading thinkers in the field. It provides a new perspective on policy design, emphasising the importance of analysing the motivation of professionals and others who work within
the public sector, and both their and public service beneficiaries' capacity for agency or independent action. It argues that the conventional assumption that public sector professionals are public-spirited altruists or 'knights' is misplaced; but so is the alternative that they are all, in David Hume's terminology, 'knaves' or self-interested egoists. We also must not assume that individual citizens are passive recipients of public services (pawns); but nor can they be untrammelled sovereigns with unrestricted choices over services and resources (queens). Instead, policies must be designed so as to give the proper balance of motivation and agency.
The book illustrates how this can be done by detailed empirical examination of recent policies in health services,
education, social security and taxation. It puts forwards proposals for policy reform, several of which either originated with the author or with which he has been closely associated: universal capital or 'demogrants', discriminating vouchers, matching grants for pensions and for long-term care, and hypothecated taxes.
Readership: Academics and students of social policy, public policy, economics, social psychology, political philosophy, public management, and sociology; Civil Servants and policy-makers; Professionals and consultants involved in public policy.
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Julian Le Grand, Richard Titmuss Professor of Social Policy, London School of Economics
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"This important book develops a number of arguments ... The book is bold and ambitious in the way that it moves from concepts to policies ... The book is also powerful and compelling in its advocacy of quasi-markets ... works best as an analysis of how the diverse motivations of welfare providers can be channelled to ensure that benefits and services are both delivered more efficiently and become more responsive to the needs and aspirations of those who receive them." - Social Policy and Society "... splendid book." - The Spectator "... a compelling argument for the denationalisation of public service provision." - Prospect "This book is significant on two counts: for what it
says and for who is saying it." - Prospect "Professor Le Grand is interested in both the theory and the practice of social policy. His book will therefore appeal to teachers, students and policy makers. In around 200 pages, it offers a lucid review in which empirical data and economic analysis are used to unravel the changing perceptions of policy makers." - Health Service Journal "... a timely and welcome contribution to current debates about social policy reform." - Health Service Journal "... an important book ... well written and free of jargon." - Prospect "... a fascinating new book ... short, accessible and profound." - The Economist "His arguments
are lively and original." - John Rentoul The Independent
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Preface
1: Introduction: Motivation, Agency, and Public Policy
Part I: Theory: From Knave to Knight
2: Knights and Knaves in the Public Sector: What do we Mean and What do we Know?
3: Motivation and the Public Context
4: Knight and Knave: A Theory of Public Service Motivation
Part II: From Pawn to Queen
5: Agency and Public Services
6: Agency and Public Finance
Part III: Policy
7: Health Care
8: School Education
9: A Demogrant
10: Partnership Savings
11: Hypothecation
Epilogue: Doux Commerce Publique
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The specification in this catalogue, including without limitation price, format, extent, number of illustrations, and month of publication, was as accurate as possible at the time the catalogue was compiled. Occasionally, due to the nature of some contractual restrictions, we are unable to ship a specific product to a particular territory. Jacket images are provisional and liable to change before publication.
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