Includes bibliographical references (p. [363]-512) and index.

Introduction: government by contract: outsourcing and American democracy / Jody Freeman and Martha Minow -- Recent developments -- Public-private governance: an historical introduction / William J. Novak -- The transformation of government work: causes, consequences and distortions / John Donahue -- The federal framework for competing commercial work between the public and private sectors / Matthew Blum -- Cases and critiques -- Rent-a-regulator: design and innovation in environmental decisionmaking / Miriam Seifter -- Outsourcing power: privatizing military efforts and the risks to accountability, professionalism, and democracy / Martha Minow -- How privatization thinks: the case of prisons / Sharon Dolovich -- Responses and reforms -- A. Don't increase regulation -- Achieving contracting goals and recognizing public law concerns: a contracting management perspective / Steven J. Kelman -- Federal contracting in context: what drives it, how to improve it / Stan Soloway and Alan Chvotkin -- B. Use existing tools -- Some legal reforms to increase contractor accountability / Nina A. Mendelson -- Privatization and democracy: resources in administrative law / Alfred C. Aman, Jr -- Press constitutional restrictions -- Private delegations, due process, and the duty to supervise / Gillian E. Metzger -- Outsourcing and the duty to govern / Paul R. Verkuil -- Public values/private contract / Laura A. Dickinson.

Explains the phenomenon and scope of government outsourcing and sets an agenda for future research attentive to workforce capacities as well as legal, economic, and political concerns.