Smart Contracting for Local Government Services

Processes and Experience

Kevin Lavery

• Publisher: Praeger
• Year: 1999
• Print ISBN: 9780275964283
• eBook ISBN: 9780313028458
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Economics
• Subtopic: Economic Policy
• Index: Economics

Privatization of local government is making headlines throughout the world. Scottsdale, Arizona, contracts for fire protection; Baltimore, to run nine city schools; and Chicago and Philadelphia for a range of services from janitors to recreational facilities. The United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia have arguably gone further than the United States. But much of the debate on contracting has been high on politics, philosophy, and emotion with little attention to practical issues of how to do contracting well. The book shifts the debate away from the politics and rhetoric to the practicalities and realities of contracting. The book is concerned with four issues—the role of contracting in government, the appropriateness of different contracting strategies, the process of contracting, and who does the contracting. Drawing on examples in the United States and the United Kingdom, the author considers the historical and cultural context of contracting, where contracting works and where it doesn't, the features of smart contracting, and the conditions that are conducive to smart contracting. The book provides an invaluable guide to those concerned with the practicalities of contracting.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• 1 Setting the Scene
• 2 Local Governments in the U.S. and the U.K.
• 3 How Are Services Provided?
• 4 What Difference Does Contracting Make?
• 5 The Make or Buy Decision and Contract Management
• 6 Smart Contracting for Public Services
• 7 Only in Los Angeles—Contract Cities and LA County
• 8 The Indianapolis Experience—Using Competitive Contracting to Improve Services and Efficiency
• 9 Careless Contracting in New York City—The Problems of Designing a Contracting System to Avoid Corruption
• 10 Competition Affects Everybody—Contracting for Support Services in Milwaukee
• 11 Alarm Bells Ringing—Can Putting Out Fires for Profit Work?
• 12 The English Contracting Revolution
• 13 Conclusions
• References and Bibliography
• Index