This paper uses social theory to explicate the competing perspectives on the on-going and, increasing, privatization of public services in the U.K. It suggests that if business ignores these perspectives then political imperatives will come into play that will inevitably turn privatization...

Pressures to introduce market reforms to public social security system emerged as a reaction to state welfare paternalism, drawing strength from the spirit of liberalism and emphasizing the virtues of the marketplace. Market reform advocates seek to shift the prevailing social security paradigm...

Briefly outlines recent developments in the commercialization of the public sector at the federal level of government in Australia. After six years of planning and implementation, debate continues over whether the dramatic changes in practice are achieving the proclaimed ends of enhanced...

States the Australian Public Service (APS) has been engaged in a comprehensive reform process for more than 20 years. A significant dimension of this reform process has been commercialization. With this growing commercialization, the relationship between civil servants, as APS managers, and...

Of many managerialist panaceas, the most prevalent one today is the assertion that private sector practices will solve the public sector’s “self‐evident” inadequate performance. This managerialist view assumes hegemonic proportions in Anglo‐Saxon public sectors and largely goes...