Conventional approaches to public administration are subtly being undermined by the steady expansion of "government by proxy": the provision of government goods and services through proxies such as contractors, grantees, and recipients of government tax breaks and guaranteed loans. Privatization advocates claim that such government by proxy improves the effectiveness and responsiveness of public programs, but a closer look reveals that the issue is far more complicated. The expansion of government by proxy is producing important changes in the government's work force and is multiplying administrative pathologies. New approaches to the theory and practice of public administration offer promise in better managing these emerging policy strategies.
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