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Public Management

Code: 101111
Credits: 6
2026/2027
Degree programme Type Course
Political Science and Public Management OB 3

Contact lecturer

Name :
Mercè Cortina Oriol
Email :
merce.cortina@uab.cat

Teaching staff

Mercè Cortina Oriol

Group languages

You can consult this information at the end of the document.

Prerequisites

It is recommended to have undertaken a course in Public Administration and Public Policies

Objectives

1. Presenting the main paradigms of public management and assess their influence on the public sector.
 
2. Assessing the scope, meaning and consequences of "privatizing" tendencies in public management 
 
3. Assessing the scope, meaning and consequences of the "democraticatising" reforms of public management
 
4. Analysing the impact of the crisis/epochal change on public sector reform  

Learning outcomes

  1. Working in teams and networking, particularly in interdisciplinary conditions.
  2. Identifying sources of data and conducting bibliographic and documentary searches.
  3. Synthesizing and critically analysing information.
  4. Interpreting and applying English texts in an academic way.
  5. Arguing from different theoretical perspectives.
  6. Working by using quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques in order to apply them to research processes.
  7. Using the main information and documentation techniques (ICT) as an essential tool for the analysis.
  8. Demonstrating good writing skills in different contexts.
  9. Showing a good capacity for transmitting information, distinguishing key messages for their different recipients.
  10. Realising effective oral presentations that are suited to the audience.
  11. Managing the available time in order to accomplish the established objectives and fulfil the intended task.
  12. Working autonomously.
  13. Producing and planning researches or analytical reports.
  14. Designing data collection techniques, coordinating the information processing and meticulously applying hypothesis verification methods.
  15. Properly explaining and describing main theoretical approaches of the analysis of political sciences: cycle of politics, actor-network, institutional approaches, rational choice theory.
  16. Appropriately using the contributions of Lindblom, Wildavsky, Marsh and Rhodes, Lowi.
  17. Distinguishing the phases of public politics: formulation, decision, implementation and evaluation.
  18. Critically analysing the configuration process of the public agenda.
  19. Suggesting and explaining a case study of a concrete public policy.
  20. Critically assessing some of the public policies carried out by an authority in the State of Autonomies.
  21. Describing and understanding the functioning of the Public Administration on a state, sub-state and supranational level.
  22. Applying the knowledge of the Public Administrations on its various levels to practical and professional concrete cases.
  23. Demonstrating the understanding of intergovernmental relationships and identifying the position of Public Administrations in the political system.
  24. Analysing public policies, both in their elaboration and implementation processes.
  25. Using different tools for the analysis and explanation of the formulation, decision, implementation and evaluation processes in public policies.

Contents

BLOCK 1: Theoretical dimension of Public Management


ISSUE 1: Introduction to Public Management


• Administration vs Management


• Public Management vs Private Management


• Public Management within the state framework


 


ISSUE 2: The bureaucratic model of Public Administration


• Characteristics of the bureaucratic organization


• Virtues and problems of the bureaucratic model: a model to be overcome?


 


ISSUE 3: The path to New Public Management (NPM)


• Private precedents: the excellence model in business management


• Public derivatives: the reinvention of government


• The NPM model and its expansion worldwide


• Criticism of NPM


 


ISSUE 4: Alternatives to NPM


• Redefining the problem: democratic deficit and ‘wicked issues’


• New Public Governance and democratizing alternatives: Deliberative Public Administration and Community Management


• Future challenges of Public Management: systemic crisis, AI, and Public Management.


 


BLOCK 2: Practical dimension of Public Management


ISSUE 5: Privatization and competition in public management


• Privatizations


• Vouchers, coupons, and consumption checks


• Agencification, program contracts, and management by results


• Outsourcing, the use of the Third Sector, and Responsible Public Procurement


• Copayments


 


ISSUE 6: Quality Management in the public sector


• Concept, measurement, and management of Quality in the public sector: micro, meso, and macro quality


• Total Quality Management Models


 


ISSUE 7: Collaborative management and democratic deepening


• Network management in the public sector


• Public-community-cooperative partnerships and co-production


• Citizen participation mechanisms


• Community management


 


BLOCK 3: Course Work


ISSUE 8: Administrative reform in times of crisis


• Cuts and reforms in the Welfare State


• Administrative and Civil Service reforms


• Open government and participatory networks

Learning activities and methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Tutoring 12.5 0.5 2, 8, 10, 13, 14, 17, 19, 25
Lectures 50 2 3, 4, 5, 7, 14, 15, 18, 24
Reading, study and team-working 50 2 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 24, 25

Guided activities:

- Lectures: presentations by the teacher with ICT support and large group discussions.

- Reading seminars: individual exercise and group discussion.

- Oral presentations: group presentations and round of questions and assessments

 

Supervised activities:

- Individual and group tutorials to carry out the work and to follow up the course.

 

Autonomous activities:

- Reading of texts: individual exercise of reading of texts

- Study: preparation of diagrams and summaries

- Preparation of works in group on the basis of a guide for its preparation

Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Assessment

Continuous assessment activities

Title Weight Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Reading seminars 25% 15 0.6 3, 4, 6, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20
Exams 50% 7.5 0.3 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25
Work in group 25% 15 0.6 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 21

Assessment for this subject will be based on the following deliverables from the student:

• Final exam: 50% of the grade. Passing the exam is a necessary but not sufficient condition to pass the course.

• Reading checks and participation in seminars: 25% of the grade (brief essays on required readings and active participation in seminars).

• Coursework: 25% of the grade (group work and presentation on one of the topics proposed by the professor).

 

Important considerations:

• The dates of reading seminars will be specified within the course’s schedule (see Moodle).

• Attendance at seminars is mandatory. You can only submit the corresponding exercise and score in each seminar if you attend the relevant session. Exercises without attendance will only be accepted due to force majeure, and with proper justification.

• Students must notify the composition of their group and the topic of their work by the date set by the professor (early October). Failure to do so will prevent submission.

• Submitting the exam exempts the student from the \"Not Presented\" grade.

• Students who fail the exam will have the opportunity to participate in compensatory activities, meaning they can retake the failed exam after the second semester’s teaching period ends. The maximum grade for this recovery exam is 5 (pass). Other activities (work and reading checks) are not recoverable.

• Any student who, for justified work or health reasons, or due to being on Erasmus, cannot attend the course regularly must inform the professor before the end of September to agree on the compensatory activities. If this notification is made later, without a valid reason, the student will not be able to pass the course.

• Use of Artificial Intelligence: Restricted use: For this subject, the use of AI technologies (AI) is allowed only for supportive tasks, such as bibliographic or information research, text correction, or translations. The student must clearly identify which parts were generated with this technology, specify the tools used, and include a critical reflection on how these have influenced the process and the final result of the activity. Lack of transparency in the use of AI in assessable activities will be considered academic dishonesty and may result in partial or total penalty in the activity grade, or higher sanctions in severe cases.

 

Single Assessment:

The assessment activities for students who choose single assessment will be concentrated on a single date, according to the current regulations. These activities will consist of:

• Exam (50% of the grade). Passing the exam is a necessary but not sufficient condition to pass the course.

• Reading checks (25% of the grade). Brief essays on required readings.

• Essay on one of the topics proposed by the professor (25% of the grade).

Bibliography

During the course, the teacher will specify the compulsory and complementary readings. This are general references that will facilitate the student the follow-up of the subject and the elaboration of the course essays. 

  

Brugué, Quim (2022). Organizations that Know, Organizations that Learn. Instituto Nacional de Administración Pública, Madrid.

Brugué, Q., Subirats, J. Lecturas de Gestión Pública. Madrid: INAP, 1996.

-          Denhardt, Janet and Robert Denhardt. The New Public Service: Serving, not Steering. M.E. Sharpe, Armonk 2003.

-          Ferlie E., Lynn, L, Pollit Ch. The Oxford Handbook of Public Management. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.

-          Hill, C.J., Lynn, L. Public Management. Thinking and Acting in Three Dimensions. London: Sage, 2015. 

-          Hughes, O. Public Management and Administration. An Introduction. Londres: Sage, 2003.

-          Kikert, W. Hans-Klijn, E., Koppenjan, W. Managing complex networks: strategies for the public sector. Londres: Sage, 1997.

-          Longo, F. i Ysa T. (eds.) Els Escenaris de la Gestió Pública del Segle XXI. Barcelona: EAPC. 2007.

-          López, G. (dir.) Los nuevos instrumentos de la Gestión Pública. La Caixa, Barcelona, 2003.

-          Moore, M. Gestión estratégica y creación de valor en el sector público, Barcelona, Paidós, 1998

-          Pollitt, Ch. The essential public manager. Berkshire, Open University Press, 2003

-          Pollitt, Ch. and Bouckaert. Public Management Reform. A Comparative Analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. 

-          Sullivan, H., Skelcher, Ch. Working across boundaries: collaboration in public services. Londres: Sage, 2002.

Software

 No specific software 

Course groups and languages

The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE

Type of teaching Group Language Semester Shift
(TE) Theory 1 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(SEM) Seminars 1 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 51 Catalan first semester afternoon
(SEM) Seminars 51 Catalan first semester afternoon