By David HirschmannThis article presents a case study of performance measurement in the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s) democracy and governance program. Its purpose is to illustrate the juxtaposition between the high standards of causal logic and accuracy required of performance measurement, and the untidiness involved in the ‘politics of democratization’. Based on USAID experiences in numerous countries, the article concentrates on four specific themes drawn mainly from the literature on re-engineering but also from new public administration. Problems of measurement are clearly complicated by the fact that the Agency does not deliver service directly, has limited control over its expenditures, and by the need to operate in a complex and sensitive area, across international borders and diverse political systems and cultures.

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The Transport Minister John Spellar has announced that a new national independent police authority is to be set up for the British Transport Police.The Minister also intends to put the force’s jurisdiction on the railways on a statutory basis.

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The Government has outlined its plans to revolutionise the relationship between itself and the voluntary and community sector.It wants to move away from the voluntary sector being seen as the ‘poor relation’, by offering a new relationship and new money.

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