Research Programs: Globalization, Public Management, and Public Accountability

Maintaining public accountability while engaging the para-public sector in a globalized environment

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Overview

The research program focusing on public management and accountability in a globalized environment will look at how globalization is expanding and thickening economic and social networks and stimulating the emergence of 'spheres of authority' (corporations, NGOs, civil society, etc.) that are assuming greater governance responsibilities. Governments have long contracted out the 'business of government' in an effort to capture management efficiencies or specialized knowledge but, decisions about the quantity and quality of goods and services governments provide are increasing made outside of government—a dilemma of public accountability. Managing within public agencies increasingly means less direct public administration and more reliance on non-governmental players to carry out what has been government's traditional responsibilities. New models of governance and global governance are needed to ensure public accountability remains central to public administration. The research will include aspects of the on going discussion about the impact of globalization on governance, governing through engagement of networks, and the evolving role of the public manager. A book entitled "Globalization, Public Management, and Public Accountability" examining this changing environment, and how those changes are impacting the role of the public manager.

Directors

Dr. John Forrer
Associate Research Professor of International Business, School of Business
Director, Center for the Study of Globalization, The George Washington University

Dr. James E. Kee
Professor of Public Policy and Public Administration, The George Washington University

Current Activities

Works currently in progress:

  • "What Makes PFI, PFI?"
    A study into what defines the Private Finance Initiative.
  • "Not Your Father's Public Administration"
    An article looking into the current state of public management education and the need for changes in the training if future public leaders.
  • "Case Study: Dulles Greenway II"
    Dr. John Forrer and Dr. James E. Kee 2004
    A draft study into the problems and merits of Virginia's Dulles Greenway private road experience.

Conferences Participation:

Media

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"Private Toll Roads, British Style"
Washington Post op-ed on the proposed sale of the Dulles Toll Road in Northern Virginia to private investors

Other Publications

  • "Private Finance Initiative—The Theory behind the Practice"
    Dr. James E. Kee and Dr. John Forrer, 2004
    A history of the Private Finance Initiative in the United Kingdom.
  • "Public Servants as Contract Managers"
    Dr. John Forrer and Dr. James E. Kee, 2004
    a look into the changing role of the public manager.
  • "Private Finance Initiative: A Better Public-Private Partnership?"
    Dr. John Forrer, Dr. James E. Kee, and Dr. Zhibin Zhang
    A look at the Private Finance Initiative and its relation to more traditional public-private partnerships.
  • "Privatization and Organizational Change"
    Dr. James E. Kee with Laila El Bayerde, John Forrer, Kathryn Newcomer, and Michelle Amante
    An examination of how privatization efforts in several nations with a view towards determining in what fashion the models popularized in the United Kingdom and promoted heavily by a number of United States and international organizations (World Bank, IMF, ect.) have challenged organizational behavior and the relationship between the private and public sectors.
  • "Empirical Analysis of Chinese Privatization"
    Dr. Zhibin Zhang
    An examination of privatization trends in China and specifically examined whether certain organizational characteristics led to changes in organizational behavior and performance of privatized firms.
  • "China's Experience in SOE Reform and Privatization"
    Dr. Zhibin Zhang
    This paper identifies the characteristics of the Chinese model of privatization in China. It describes the background and environment of China's privatization, namely the process and consequences of economic and State-owned enterprise (SOE) reforms.