Book Reviews 943 Nissim Cohen University of Haifa Itzhak Galnoor, Public Management in Israel: Development, Structure, Functions and Reforms (London: Routledge, 2011). 191 pp. $100 (cloth), ISBN: 9780415563949. C ertain scholars in the field of public policy and administration distinguish between the study of public administration and of public policy as two separate disciplines or subdisciplines. Indeed, in institutes of higher education around the world, the two fields usually are taught in separate courses. Tus, the field of public policy, for the most part, is limited to studying the outcomes of the interactions among politicians, bureaucrats, inter- est groups, and the general public, focusing on three main stages: policy design, implementation, and evaluation. Public administration, on the other hand, concerns itself with all aspects of civil service and with the implementation stage of public policy, looking at the various organizations that make up the public administration. Although, in recent years, a relatively large number of books focusing on public policy in Israel have been published, there is a great lack in terms of books dealing with Israel’s public administration, especially ones that also could be used as textbooks by university students. In fact, with the exception of a few collec- tions of essays, since the publication of a textbook in Hebrew in 1996 by the Open University of Israel (Dery 1996), which focused specifically on public administration in Israel, no comprehensive book has been written on this subject. Moreover, for the most part, that important text was more concerned with public policy than with public administration. Terefore, for those involved in the study of public administration in Israel, Itzhak Galnoor’s book can be considered a real event. Galnoor, who, after a career as a professor of politi- cal science at Hebrew University, served as the Israeli civil service commissioner in 1994–96 and wrote a book based on his personal diary from this period (Galnoor 2003), combines his academic abilities with rich practical experience to provide readers with an updated description of the Israeli civil service from a broad perspective. However, as I shall detail here, the book’s contribution goes further, and several parts of it provide new empirical foundations. Te fact that the only serious attempt at fundamental reform in the Israeli civil service was made (unsuccessfully) under the author’s leadership also contributes to the book’s insights regarding the nature of the changes required in this civil service and the barriers to such changes. An earlier Hebrew version of Galnoor’s book (2007) was awarded the Israeli Political Science Association’s prize for best textbook for 2008. Te English version will serve to enrich the knowledge of anyone who is interested in the science of public administration and provides an empirical basis for comparing the Israeli case with others. In essence, Galnoor analyzes the status of the civil service in the Israeli political system and the changes that have taken place in its struc- ture and function. Te only disadvantage is that the book hardly expands or adds details beyond what the author already has outlined in previous publications. Much more could be included in this short book of 11 chapters. Te first chapter, “Civil Service: A Comparative Perspective,” provides the reader with a comparative basis for understanding the civil service in rela- tion to the many changes that have occurred in the role of the Western state. Te second chapter, “Te Public Sector in Israel Broadly Defined,” provides an important contribution (even to the informed reader) in that it offers, perhaps for the first time for Israel, a systematic map of the organizations and units related to the public sector in its broadest definition. Some of the definitions in the typology suggested by Galnoor appear to be quite vague. Perhaps the reason is that, in fact, it is impossible to come up with a clear defini- tion of many institutions related to Israeli public administration. For example, the health maintenance organizations discussed in this chapter are defined Public Administration in Israel: Between Governability and Collapse Nissim Cohen is a a member of the de- partment of Public Administration & Policy, School of Political Sciences, University of Haifa, Israel. In 2010–11, he served as a postdoctoral fellow in the Center for the Study of Public Choice at George Mason University. E-mail: nissimcohe@gmail.com