THE ENABLING STATE: THE ROLE OF MARKETS AND CONTRACTS

Abstract

Contracts have been a key element in the recent reform of British public services. Their introduction has formed part of a broader process of change in which the market structures and values have featured prominently. In practice, contracts have both brought benefits and presented problems. More particularly, greater organizational formality has raised some important issues – the role of trust and the form and practice of accountability prominent among them. Evidence from a recent esrc ‐supported study shows that some services (the simpler ones) have generally gained from the reforms; but the evidence for more complex ones is equivocal at best.