emphasise that public policies are increasingly implemented in a
pragmatic way through a network of organisations which must then
be managed professionally: ‘Governance is about managing net-
works’ (Rhodes, 1996: 658).
A moderate and extremely influential version of this approach is to
be found in the work of the US writers Osborne and Gaebler (1992)
who argued that approaches to the delivery of public services should
be rethought along the lines of ten principles (Box 8.6).BOX 8.6 TEN PRINCIPLES FOR REINVENTING
GOVERNMENT
In the UK Mrs Thatcher was successful in cutting the size of the Civil
Service, privatised many nationalised industries, introduced require-
ments for contracting out as many central and local government
functions as possible, and began the process of subdividing existing
departments of state into business units (‘executive agencies’). The
overwhelming majority of public servants in the UK are now
either in executive agencies, national or local QUANGOs such as
National Health Service Trusts, or working for local government.230 POLICIES
Entrepreneurial public organisations should:
i steer more than they row
ii empower communities rather than simply deliver services
iii encourage competition rather than monopoly
iv be driven by their missions not rules
v fund outcomes not inputs
vi meets customer, not bureaucratic, needs
vii earn as well as spend
viii prevent rather than cure
ix decentralise authority
x lever the marketplace rather than spend on public programmes.
(Osborne and Gaebler, 1992)