Why Public Administration: When not to Privatize

In our haste to privatize these days we seem to have forgotten that there have been good reasons for the development and refinement of the modern administrative state. This article is meant to remind us of our roots and to offer a series of criteria to assist in making judgments about whether to pri...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Administrative theory & praxis 1999-10, Vol.21 (3), p.362-370
Main Author: Van Riper, Paul P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Coercion
Commentary
Government
Government corruption
Income taxes
Market economies
Monopoly
Privately held corporations
Privatization
Public administration
Quality of life
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In our haste to privatize these days we seem to have forgotten that there have been good reasons for the development and refinement of the modern administrative state. This article is meant to remind us of our roots and to offer a series of criteria to assist in making judgments about whether to privatize. That is, this is a justification of government and public administration in a nation desirous of maintaining a capitalist democracy. The underlying theme derives from a letter by the late Justice Holmes. "When I pay taxes," he wrote, "I buy civilization."
ISSN:1084-1806
1949-0461
DOI:10.1080/10841806.1999.11643384