Introduction

Abstract

Of the many initiatives adopted to meet the challenge of improving public service delivery around the world, few have been as prevalent and controversial as privatisation. For some, privatisation is seen as sinister and synonymous with the neo-liberal version of globalisation that provokes high profile demonstrations at events such as G-8 summits and meetings of the World Trade Organisation. For others, privatisation is seen more benignly, as offering a means of rolling back the frontiers of the state and tapping into superior private sector enterprise and ideas. Regardless of one’s standpoint, there is little doubt that privatisation has captured the imagination of politicians and scholars since it first became popular in the late 1970s.