ABSTRACT
It is indisputable that the idea of creating ‘agencies’ has become something of a fashionable initiative in the realms of public management, and especially central government, reform. If there were any doubt about this, the chapters assembled in this volume attest to the fact that agencycreation or modification initiatives – many allegedly drawing at least partial inspiration from the UK ‘Next Steps’ programme – have proliferated on virtually every continent and in many different kinds of states.
