The Cube: Learning to Manage the Multi-sector Delivery of Criminal Justice Services

Abstract

This paper discusses a new course designed to prepare MPA students to manage the multi-sector delivery of public services. Many areas of public service, including criminal justice, are increasingly delivered through partnerships involving the public, nonprofit, and private sectors. These new service delivery arrangements have coevolved along with new tools of governance. The course described in this article introduces students to the tools approach to public action (Salamon, 2002) and examines the legitimacy, accountability, and stakeholder issues associated with service delivery in each of the sectors. A new conceptual framework, referred to as the cube, is presented to help guide student learning and research. Pedagogical techniques include group work with a peer evaluation, computer-mediated study and communications, and original case study development through a process of multiple iterations. The overall approach, though focused on the criminal justice system, may serve as a guide for examining other fields in which public services are provided through complex, multi-sector relationships.

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