The Fifth Edition of this popular textbook provides students and practitioners with a jargon-free description, analysis and critique of the management of the public sector by the UK government. Fully revised and updated, it assesses the policies and performance of the second and third Blair administrations with completely new material on Public-Private Partnerships, Private Finance Initiative and the management of the railways and London Underground. Written in a highly accessible yet analytical style, The Fifth Edition includes chapter summaries, thematically organized further reading, and a website with resources for students and lecturers.

Norman Flynn is Programme Director of the MSc in Public Policy and Management at Centre for Financial and Management Studies, SOAS, University of London. He is the author of Public Sector Management (Sage), co-editor of The Market and Social Policy in China (Palgrave) and Public Sector Management in Europe (Pearson), author of Miracle to Meltdown in Asia: Business Government and Society (Oxford University Press.) He has held academic positions at the London Business School and the London School of Economics and the University of Birmingham, and was Chair Professor at City University of Hong Kong. He lives in north London.