Managing Contracting Complexity: A Public Values Perspective

Abstract

The expansion of government contracting raises issues for public administrators responsible for outsourcing decisions and oversight. Summarizing findings from our research and existing literature, we discuss contracting in the context of values frameworks. We include the roles of constitutional and political values such as accountability, due process, transparency, equity, effectiveness, and other public values (Nabatchi 2011, Frederickson and Stazyk 2010, Bozeman 2007, Radin, 2006, Rosenbloom and Piotrowski 2005, Cooper 2002, Warner and Hefetz 2002; Frederickson 1996; Moe 1987, Rosenbloom 1983). Although government contracting offers the promise of enhanced efficiency and service effectiveness, the policies adopted to enhance these values can diminish others – typically values associated with our democratic and political priorities. In this paper, we present a conceptual analysis around questions of how such values can be compromised, how contemporary administrators try to reconcile conflicting values, and why it is important to consider the potential for the erosion of non-market values when undertaking market-based reforms such as contracting. Interview and survey data from contract administrators is used to supplement the analysis. We find that government contracting, often implemented to achieve more efficient, market-like government, can detract from other important public values. Further, the incorporation of these values into service delivery is complicated by government contracts.