Reinventing Government in Iceland

The book describes a case study of governmental reform in Iceland during the period 1993-2000. Public management reform has become a political priority in Iceland as else-where in the world in the last two decades, a response to economic and administrative problems during this time. It has also been a reaction to ideas which have come in vogue for both diagnosing the problems of government and providing solutions. The problems identified involve the growing cost of the public sector and an inefficient and unresponsive bureaucracy. The solutions offered focus on ensuring efficiency, effectiveness and flexibility by transferring government activities to the competitive marketplace through privatization or by adopting a market mechanism within government. The literature has identified both theoretical flaws and potential limitations in the application of current governmental reform. The literature, however, does not provide voluminous empirical data on its effects. The book includes data on the significance of public management for the central government in Iceland and illustrates how various situational factors, such as administrative characteristics, reform management capacity and experiential learning efforts, have contributed to the reform outcome.