Author: Smullen, Amanda J.
Title: Translating agency reform : rhetoric and culture in comparative perspective.
Description: [s.l.] : [s.n.], 2007. Paperback. [10],495 pp. Dissertation Erasmus University Rotterdam. English text. Mailorder only - Alleen verzending mogelijk. Book condition : as new. - Agency reform has recently been recognized as an international fashion in public management. In this thesis the extent to which convergence in afficial national talk about agency reform has occurred is examined in three different languages: Dutch, Swedish and English. The national official agency reform accounts in The Netherlands, Sweden and Australia are analyzed using thetorical analysis and Grid Group Cultural Theory. Two high group consensus political cultures (The Netherlands and Sweden) and one low group adversarial political culture (Australia) are compared to examine the roles of the cultural political administrative context, or rhetorical features of (fashionable) stories themselves, in shaping official agency accounts. It is shown that while an individualist story has traveled independently of cultural context, many of the features of agency talk can be attributed to the cultural political context and particular national styles of speaking. It is the speakers that are privileged in different contexts that provide the link between cultural context and the character of the arguments they expound. The thesis also reflects upon current knowledge in public management and identifies how to speak persuasively about management reform in the different political contexts under study.

Keywords: POLITICS,