Reshaping the State in the Age of Fiasco

Reshaping the State in the Age of Fiasco meticulously analyses fifty years of structural innovation in UK public management reform. Rather than ascribing policymaking blunders to the ascendency of New Public Management, the book focuses on how the rise of managerialism led to pathologies and contradictions arising from the traditions and culture of British government. The book addresses the dynamic of waves of centralisation and fragmentation – the back-and-forth between ‘filling-in’ and ‘hollowing-out’ – that animated the reform process in Britain since the mid-twentieth century. In the post-war era, the myth prevailed that UK institutions, policies and solutions offered a model for the rest of the world, while there was little meaningful that could be learnt from elsewhere. Yet recent governing crises, notably fiscal austerity, Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic underlined that despite decades of reform, the performance of the British state and public services remained glaringly inadequate. There has been far less improvement in efficiency, economy and effectiveness than was promised. The volume asks why that is so, and what can be done.