Literature Review: The Use of Public Sector Contracting, Purchasing/Procurement and Public/Private Partnerships as Tools of Governance
Each student will write an original literature review on the use of public sector contracting, purchasing/procurement and public/private partnerships as tools of governance. Applying the concepts of New Public Management and the move from “government to governance” and informed by an appropriate theoretical perspective, i.e. principle-agent theory, transaction costs theory, institutional theory, etc., the literature review will define each of these tools, highlight the advantages and disadvantages of each and make a case for which tool should be utilized at the local government level and why.
Papers will be evaluated based on the thoroughness of the discussion, professional appearance, correct grammar, spelling and use of third person throughout. The final paper should be well-reasoned, present evidence (means well researched), be well-organized (means structured), and substantive (means you have something significant to say from a scholarly viewpoint). Reports will be graded based on:
1. How well you describe the tools.
2. The degree to which you integrate materials and concepts from the course texts and lectures
3. The depth of the evaluation of the tools.
4. Six to eight double-spaced pages excluding cover page and references, 12 pt. font, 1 inch margins, Times New Roman, APA style
5. You should have a minimum of 5-8 professional academic sources
The final paper should contain a cover page, abstract, introduction, literature review, conclusion and references. The use of current APA format is required with a reference list. See the online APA resource under the resources tab in your course shell for information.
Preparation Guidelines for the Literature Review
Each of the items in BOLD must be listed as a heading in your paper. The final product must include the following:
Cover Page (consult and APA style guide)
Abstract (no more than 1 page, gives a brief overview of the contents of your paper, the abstract is written last after you have completed your entire paper, the abstract is on its own page, write this section as if your reader were only going to read this one page)
Introduction (2-3 pages in length, here you are introducing your topic and the problem statement or research questions you will answer in your literature review, do not use a heading, here you are defining all your terms, giving the background)
o Your thesis statement should be placed in the 1st or 2nd paragraph.
o Describe or summarize the tools which you intend to evaluate.
o What are the historical/political issues?
o How do the tools fit into the idea of New Public Management
o What are the goals or desired outcomes of the tools?
o Why are the goals or outcomes important?
o Your research questions should come at the end of the introduction.
Literature Review (3-5 pages in length, everything in this section should relate back to your research questions, use sub-headings based on your research questions, if you don’t have a research question about “it” then don’t put “it” in your paper, begins on a new page after the introduction)
o What theory or theories connect the tool to its goals or desired outcomes?
o What does the literature (academic journal articles, books on your topic) have to say about your topic? Is there literature regarding how other researchers have evaluated the tools? What were their conclusions?
Conclusion (2-3 pages in length)
o Analyze what you have learned and inform the reader.
o What policy or programmatic recommendations might emerge from your evaluation?
References (must be in APA style, not all citation generation programs will produce a correct APA reference page, you must double check)
PRESENTATION OF LITERATURE REVIEW
Create a Power Point/Prezi presentation that you will present to the class. The presentation should include 6-10 slides and should last no more than 10 min. Be sure and practice your presentation as it will be timed. Do not read your paper. Use bullet points not paragraphs.
