Public and Nonprofit Management and the “New Governance”

Abstract

Many public functions originally performed primarily by state actors now routinely rest not with the responsible government agencies but with a host of nongovernmental, third-party surrogates or proxies. There has also been an increase in partnerships and collaboration between nonprofits, corporations, and governments, necessitating new skills and competencies for public and nonprofit leaders alike. The authors summarize the literature on these issues and identify important areas of agreement. They then report the results of a research project intended to help public and nonprofit managers identify characteristics of nonprofit organizations that are most likely to signal the existence of an effective and accountable organization.