01316pab a2200169 454500008004000000100002200040245011300062260000900175300001400184362000800198520079300206650003700999650002101036700002401057700002001081773004501101180718b2008   xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d  aFernandez, Sergio  aExploring variations in contracting for services among American local governments: do politics still matter?  c2008  ap.439-62.  aDec  aDuring the previous two decades, researchers have conducted an array of empirical studies of local government contracting for services. Some of the more recent findings have suggested that this form of privatization has become less politically controversial and more accepted as a service delivery approach. Do politics still matter when it comes to explaining patterns in local government contracting? The findings from this study indicate that the influence of political factors, such as demand for smaller government and public employee opposition to privatization, still help to account for variations in local government contracting, as they did during the 1980s and early 1990s. Contract management capacity is an important determinant of local government contracting. - Reproduced.  aLocal government - United States  aLocal government  aBrudney, Jeffrey L.  aRyu, Jay Eungha  aAmerican Review of Public Administration