Citation

Smith SR. Public Adm. Rev. 2008; 68: S132-S145.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, American Society for Public Administration, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1540-6210.2008.00984.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The Winter Commission Report was centrally concerned with improving the performance of state and local governments. Since the issuance of the commission’s report in 1993, the delivery of services by state and local government has been substantially changed by the growing role of nonprofit organizations in providing public services and representing citizen interests. As a result, state and local governments and nonprofit agencies are faced with complex governance challenges. The central argument of this paper is that despite the dramatic changes in the relationship between government and nonprofit organizations in recent years, the key tenets of the Winter Commission report—the need for improved training and education, greater transparency and accountability, more emphasis on performance, and improved citizen engagement—remain deeply relevant in improving the governance of the public services in an increasingly complex policy process and service delivery system at the state and local levels.