Subject
to exceptions, there is an important difference in the meaning of
the term "privatization" as used in the United States
compared to the rest of the world. In most of the world
"privatization" is equivalent to denationalization.
However, in the U.S. the term typically refers to outsourcing, i.e.,
the performance of certain tasks by outside contractors.
The distinction between denationalization and outsourcing is basic:
outsourcing usually entails neither diminution in public
accountability nor change in the interaction of individual citizens
with their government; however, denationalization relieves
government of further responsibility
(Fryklund, 1994).
