This book has explored many paths to reasserting public control over government functions. In doing so, a careful line has been drawn between respecting privatization or outsourcing as a reform movement, while challenging its transformative effects. Originally seen as a way to overcome the unresponsive bureaucracy, it had many successes. But outsourcing has become so pervasive that it now operates with an unwarranted degree of acceptance. The role of the private contractor in the bureaucratic state should not be accepted uncritically. The constitutional, statutory, and regulatory options already discussed are essential to restore balance to government. But they will carry the cause only so far. A fresh look at the way the government functions – one that both utilizes and criticizes the services provided by private contractors – can help fulfill the public-private structure on which our democracy depends.

This chapter reviews and builds on established efforts to reform the bureaucracy. These efforts were not undertaken to solve the outsourcing problem, but, when so refocused, they support the ideas expressed in this book. Ultimately, inside government critiques may have the best chance to control outsourcing practices; it is surely the case that such practices will not be controlled without them. Gaining an internal perspective on the problem is an indispensable condition to solving it.

DISTINGUISHING PUBLIC SERVANTS FROM PRIVATE CONTRACTORS: OF FOXES AND HEDGEHOGS

Before discussing ways to reform and improve the civil service, some goals should be identified.