Research
You will find a complete range of our monographs, muti-authored and edited works including peer-reviewed, original scholarly research across the social sciences and aligned disciplines. We publish long and short form research and you can browse the complete Bristol University Press and Policy Press archive of over 1400 titles.
Policy Press also publishes policy reviews and polemic work which aim to challenge policy and practice in certain fields. These books have a practitioner in mind and are practical, accessible in style, as well as being academically sound and referenced.
Addressing needs and safeguard rights, public services are a crucial part of modern states and everyday lives. This book presents an in-depth introduction to public services as a field of study and provides a holistic guide to both the discipline of public services and core elements of working in public services. Aiming to provide a comprehensive account of core public service topics, this book explores the context in which public services operate, the delivery of public services between the state, the market and civil society as well as strategy, leadership and management of public services and emerging key themes of public service delivery. The introduction provides an outline of the aims and nature of public services. The first part of this book introduces the reader to the relationship between public services and public policies, explores organisations and the mixed economy of public service provision, and outlines the legal framework that shapes public services. Focusing on the internal dimension of public services, the second part then explores strategy, management and leadership of and in public services. Contributions on current and emerging issues and themes, from sustainability and the environment to equality, and their relationship to public services form the third part of the book.
Climate change has emerged as the most important environmental problem of our era that also affects the function of public services. This chapter introduces the reader to climate change as a challenge for public services and outlines potential contributions of public services to tackling climate change. Based on the central importance of energy for climate change, the chapter focuses on how public services adapt in the era of an unprecedented in scale and timeframe energy transition. More specifically, this chapter examines energy-related functions of public services actors and outlines how these can contribute to facilitating an energy transition as part of a response to climate change. Overall, this chapter raises questions in regard to the ways and the extent to which public services adapt their functions and strategies in a climate-burdened world and to the appropriate balance between the marketisation and public provision of public services. Finally, it assesses the degree to which public services provision adjusts to climate change concerns.
Drawing on the previous chapters, the conclusion brings together main insights developed throughout the book. It highlights that, like many welfare state institutions, public services are exposed and adapting to a changing social, economic and political environment. This chapter outlines the challenges of ever more complex issues reshaping the way public service organisations interact with the state and the other sectors and the influences these developments have on the internal operations of public services. Many of the attempts to adapt to broader changes draw on best practice from a range of industries but they also show the barriers to applying management concepts in different settings. As a result, public services have to find new techniques to meet the challenges of shifting demographics, financial restrictions and ecological change in a sustainable way.
Addressing needs and safeguard rights, public services are a crucial part of modern states and everyday lives. This book presents an in-depth introduction to public services as a field of study and provides a holistic guide to both the discipline of public services and core elements of working in public services. Aiming to provide a comprehensive account of core public service topics, this book explores the context in which public services operate, the delivery of public services between the state, the market and civil society as well as strategy, leadership and management of public services and emerging key themes of public service delivery. The introduction provides an outline of the aims and nature of public services. The first part of this book introduces the reader to the relationship between public services and public policies, explores organisations and the mixed economy of public service provision, and outlines the legal framework that shapes public services. Focusing on the internal dimension of public services, the second part then explores strategy, management and leadership of and in public services. Contributions on current and emerging issues and themes, from sustainability and the environment to equality, and their relationship to public services form the third part of the book.
Public services comprise a wide range of organisations carrying out an array of activities. Starting with an exploration of the broad variance of services and the different ways in which they are organised and delivered, this chapter examines the nature and goals of ‘public services’. This chapter outlines the complexity involved in defining the term ‘public services’, particularly in cross-cultural and cross-national perspective. It argues that public services can be defined as services provided by or on behalf of the state based on political decisions. This chapter then proceeds to place public services in the context of social policy and public administration.
Effective management and good leadership are vital for public services. Yet, while both are important for effective public services, leadership and management are two distinct concepts. Taking the difference between management and leadership as a starting point, this chapter examines leadership and management with reference to public services. It explores the main theories of leadership and management and traces their development over time. Throughout the chapter, leadership and management are placed in ‘real world’ contexts through a series of case studies for modern public service organisations.
The last decades have seen growing privatisation and contracting out of public services, which are increasingly delivered by private and third sector organisations. Providing a long-term historical view of the delivery of public services, this chapter examines this mixed economy of public services and showcases that the involvement of private and third sector organisations in the delivery of public services is, in fact, not a new development. It examines different actors involved in the delivery of services and explores the increasing need for innovation and partnerships. The growing importance of partnerships and collaboration leads to a need to understand the different sectors involved in the delivery of public services, their interactions as well as an understanding of challenges and opportunities.
Public services are delivered by a range of public, private and voluntary sector organisations, which are embedded in an ever-changing context. Drawing on ideas behind the creation of public service organisations and their history, this chapter examines continuity and change in and of public service organisations. It explores organisational structures, organisational culture and organisational dynamics and their impact and outlines key concepts and theories of organisational change. Based on an outline of organisational change, this chapter further outlines key developments impacting public services, such as e-government and co-production of public services which are essential parts of the public services in the COVID-19 era.
Since the mid-20th century, tackling inequality and promoting equality have become increasingly important concerns in many countries. Equality is also a core concern for public services for a number of reasons ranging from legal obligations to concerns about the ability of public services to effectively fulfil their goals. Outlining that equality is also an important consideration for public services, this chapter explores equality in relation to public services. It examines different concepts of equality and highlights the multifaceted and complex nature of inequalities. Turning to public services, it highlights the impact that (implicit) access requirements, the service and the conditions under which it is delivered can have for equality, and outlines key strategies public services are using to promote equality both externally and internally.
Public services are embedded in and shaped by a multitude of external factors, among which the sociopolitical context features prominently. Focusing on the interaction between public policies and public services, this chapter examines public policies and their interaction with public services and familiarises the reader with key concepts. The chapter showcases that the relationship between public policies and public services is not unilateral. At the same time as being shaped by public policies, public services are also core actors in the implementation of public policies. Based on an outline of policymaking, this chapter highlights the crucial role of public services and street-level bureaucrats in the implementation of policies. It argues that the implementation of policies exacerbates a crucial influence on the definition and operationalisation of the goals followed and the outcomes achieved, making public services crucial actors shaping public policy outcomes.
