Quality of governance: Values and violations

“This volume arrives at a time when governance faces new, often dire, challenges and as traditional democratic values strain against the rise of populism and anti-government sentiment. This book should be read by anyone interested the values bases of governance and in exploring good ideas about how to improve policy and management.” Barry Bozeman, Arizona State University, USA “Public governance matters. It touches almost every aspect of our lives, from the most mundane to the most important. This book examines some of thorniest values and issues for 21st century governance, which are crucially important for practice and research on the quality of governance.” Tina Nabatchi, Syracuse University, USA “This volume provides an overview of key themes and theories about the quality of governance. Many of the field’s most thoughtful scholars have contributed chapters on the positive and problematic dimensions of good governance. This book is a must read for scholars, students, and practitioners.” Zeger van der Wal, National University of Singapore / Leiden University, the Netherlands This volume unravels the meaning of public values for the quality of governance, for good and bad governance, and examines their significance in governance practices. It addresses public values in context, in different countries, policy sectors and levels of governance. A series of in-depth studies casts a critical eye over eight central values: democratic legitimacy, accountability, transparency, integrity, lawfulness, effectiveness, professionalism and craftsmanship, and robustness. How does integrity or lawfulness contribute to the accomplishment and preservation of quality, and what happens if we fail to address it adequately? This unique exercise yields important lessons on the differences in normative interpretation and application of often abstract values in the demanding administrative settings of today. Practitioners, scholars and students of public administration and political science will find the volume a vital resource.