Introduction
PART ONE: DEFINITION AND OPERATIONALIZATION
Defining Quality - Christopher Pollitt and Geert Bouckaert
Measuring Quality - Geert Bouckaert
PART TWO: CASE STUDIES
Quality Measurement and Quality Assurance in European Higher Education - Frans van Vught and Don F Westerheijden
Quality in the French Public Service - Sylvie Trosa
Quality Improvement in German Local Government - Helmut Klages et al
Quality Improvement in Local Service Contracts - Lucy Gaster
Environmental Services in Harlow
Quality in Swedish Higher Education - Hellen Westlund
A Pilot Study
Costing Non-Conformance at an NHS Hospital - Richard Joss
A Pilot Study
Quality Improvement in the Dutch Department of Defence - Nico Mol
Enhancing Quality in the Police Service - Stephen Hanney
Leicestershire Constabulary
PART THREE: OVERVIEW
Improvement Strategies - Christopher Pollitt
Concluding Reflections - Geert Bouckaert

Since the late 1980s the quality of public services has become a major focus of attention for politicians, managers and citizens, but surprisingly there has been little material with a truly European focus. This book remedies this absence.

Part One provides a theoretical framework which helps the reader make sense of the detail contained in the later case studies. It also locates quality improvement in the special political and organizational context of the public sector. It shows how choosing a particular concept of quality has significant political and organizational consequences and also discusses how quality may be measured.

In Part Two seven case studies illuminate detailed operational issues in quality improvement by drawing on the experience of a range of different types of public services from a number of countries. The third part reviews the general lessons of the case studies in terms of fitting strategies for improvement to the purposes and circumstances of the organization in question, and reflects upon the nature of service quality and the range of approaches to its improvement.