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Christopher C. Hoods and Helen Z. Margetts
Palgrave , Basingstoke, 2007 , 219pp. , £21.99 ,
ISBN: 978-0230001442
The development and rapid proliferation of digital technology is undoubtedly altering both the role and the capabilities of government. However, these changes are rarely matched by equally swift cultural or institutional developments within state bureaucracies. For that reason, Hood and Margetts's systematic treatment of the mechanisms available to craft government action, which is aimed not only at academics but also at policy-makers (pp. xiii-xiv), is a very welcome volume.
The book employs the 'NATO' scheme to define the tools available to government: nodality (the ability of government to reside at the centre of an information network); authority (legal powers); treasure (wealth and spendable resources); and organisation (the staff and bureaucracy government has direct control over). Furthermore, each...