Public Management: Recovering Designs through Case Study Research
“Reimagining a conventional discipline through a fundamentally new idea is challenging; inventing a methodology to operationalize that idea is even harder. Building on his 2019 vision of Public Management as a design-oriented discipline, Michael Barzelay and his international collaborators have now provided the essential ‘how’.
By introducing the Design Recovery in Cases (DRC) methodology, they offer a rigorous and actionable framework for uncovering the functional logic of public endeavors. This book is a landmark contribution that empowers Public Administration with its own distinct research logic, moving beyond borrowed social science or engineering methodologies.
For scholars seeking alternative approaches to understand and theorize about the novel governance endeavors observed in the field, this transformative work is essential reading.”
MEI, Ciqi, Professor, School of Public Policy and Management, and Dean, Xinya College, Tsinghua University, Beijing
Companion materials
(Forthcoming)
This site will host companion materials for Public Management: Recovering Designs through Case Study Research by Michael Barzelay and collaborators (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2026). Materials will include teaching resources, supplementary case study documentation, and a glossary of core concepts of the Design Recovery in Cases (DRC) research practice.
Michael Barzelay (PhD)
Michael Barzelay is one of the leading scholars in contemporary public administration, widely recognized for his contributions to public management, public sector reform, organizational change, institutional learning, and governance. He is a Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where his research integrates organizational theory, public policy analysis, and case-based inquiry to examine how governments can strengthen their capacity to formulate and implement public policies.