Reform is a politicized, ideological, sometimes drifting, and chaotic process. As such, what public administration reform means, why it occurs, whose interests it serves, and whether it makes the world a better place, remain contested. Addressing these questions, this major comparative study sheds new light on existing and emerging issues in the field of public administration reform.

Through a global range of country-focused case studies, chapters look closely at the key strands of public administration reform, including bureaucratic models, new public management, post-new public management, big data, integrity, and human resources. Spanning the Anglo-Celtic democracies, Brazil, Central Europe, South Asia, and the developing countries of the South Pacific, they analyze how public sectors have been reformed in recent decades, what factors have contributed to this, and what we can learn from these reforms to achieve better governance in the future.

Broad in scope and accessible in approach, this topical Handbook will be an invaluable resource to students and scholars of public administration and management and of policy and politics. With practical applications, it will also prove vital to policy-makers concerned with public administration reform, alongside relevant civil servants, think tanks, and pressure groups.