Money and Good Intentions Are Not Enough

John E. Brandl

doi:10.5771/9780815717133

Summary

State governments are spending a lot, accomplishing too little, and failing to meet their responsibilities to the public. In this book, John Brandl argues that the usual remedies for ineffective government bureaucracy--cutting or adding to budgets, urging civil servants to become more entrepreneurial, hiring tougher managers, or appointing smarter bureaucrats--won't provide substantial, long-term improvement. Examining public schools Brandl points out that although real spending per student has tripled in the last 30 years and the average class size has shrunk from 27 to 17, educational performance "has become a national disgrace." He provides alternative policies that rely on harnessing self-interest through competition and incentives and encouraging affiliations that inspire community to forge a strong connection between spending and results.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2010
ISBN-Print: 978-0-8157-1060-8
ISBN-Online: 978-0-8157-1713-3
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 177
Product type: Book Titles

1. Contents No access
1. A Policy Requires a Theory No access
2. The Book's Mode of Argument No access
3. An Outline of the Book No access
1. What State Governments Do Now No access
2. Fiscal Prospects for the States No access
3. Conclusion No access
1. The Dismal Record of Elementary and Secondary Education No access
2. Spending on Schools Can Make a Difference No access
3. The Inefficacy of Other State-Funded Bureaus No access
4. The Record of State Government Enterprises No access
5. State Grants to Local Governments No access
6. Conclusion No access
1. How the Founders Sought to Harness Self-interest No access
2. How Faulty Theories Have Contributed to Governmental Inefficiency No access
3. A New Understanding of Government Failure in the States No access
4. How Legislatures Operate No access
5. How Governments and Private Markets Fail in Like Fashion No access
6. Conclusion No access
1. Policymaking as the Design of Government No access
2. A Menu for Public Policy Design No access
3. The Importance of the New Economics of Organization No access
4. Who Oversees the Overseers? No access
5. Conclusion No access
1. The Communitarian Critique No access
2. Varieties of Community No access
3. Conclusion No access
1. Using Competition No access
2. The Three Kinds of Competition-Inducing Policies No access
3. Using Community No access
4. The Complementarity of Competition and Community No access
5. Choice and Community: An Agenda for the States No access
6. Conclusion No access
8 Reprise No access Pages 134 - 142
Notes No access Pages 143 - 172
1. A No access
2. B No access
3. C No access
4. D No access
5. E No access
6. F No access
7. G No access
8. H No access
9. I No access
10. J No access
11. K No access
12. L No access
13. M No access
14. N No access
15. O No access
16. P No access
17. R No access
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21. W No access
22. Y No access