Is the Emperor In His Underwear?

This paper assesses our state of knowledge concerning the ‘New Public Management’ (NPM) reforms which seem to have been launched in so many countries. In the first section it appraises the types of materials available as a basis for such an assessment. It then considers, and rejects, the thesis that, because of the improved performance they bring, these reforms are global in reach and inevitable in nature. Subsequently, the main part of the paper assesses the available evidence with respect to a number of key dimensions of reform impacts. It concludes that, while there is evidence of specific improvements in particular instances, the general case for NPM as a solution to diverse problems of governance in many different countries is far less firmly established than is commonly supposed.     

Public Management Developments In Australia and New Zealand

The article argues that public manage-ment has undergone fundamental change, generated by developments in public choice and principal agency theories. These theoretical frames are being applied to management strategies and practices, where both competition and contracts feature significantly. The role of the state is subject to change as a result of these developments.     

Book Review

Following review of definitions of New Public Management (NPM), the paper assesses whether Canada has adopted the NPM, organized by Kernaghan and Charih's (1997) categories and using Loeffler's (1997) definition. Canada has reorganized the machinery of government, changed management methods and reduced the federal public sector substantially. Despite high debt, Canada's federal government reduced its expenditures and/or public service as much or more than the UK and New Zealand. Its expenditures as a proportion of GDP are now similar to those of the UK and New Zealand, the major proponents of NPM.     

NEW PUBLIC MANAGEMENT: The effects of contractualism and devolution on political control

This article analyzes effects and implications of New Public Management (NPM) when implemented in the civil service systems in New Zealand and Norway, focusing especially on the effects of devolution and contractualism on political control. Using a transformative perspective, we interpret these effects as a result of a melding of environmental factors, polity features and national historical-institutional constraints. Norway scores low on both environmental and internal factors enhancing administrative reform, furthering a soft version of NPM and small changes in political control. In contrast a combination of external pressure, weak countervailing cultural forces and ‘elective dictatorship’ in New Zealand produces a radical version of NPM, resulting in a weakening of central political control.     

PUBLIC MANAGEMENT REFORM UNDER STRESS - The Ukrainian civil service experience

This article presents a heuristic continuum for the development and reform of civil service systems, drawing implications for the usefulness of western civil service reforms to the current Ukrainian situation. The authors argue that the current reform ideology common to western democracies may not be appropriate when applied to Ukraine and other nascent states.     

Accrual output based budgeting systems in Australia The rhetoric-reality gap

This paper describes accrual output based budgeting (AOBB) systems and examines their adoption in Australia. An analysis of claims made about AOBB systems by central agency reformers is set out, and the conclusion offered that these claims are fundamentally rhetorical in their characteristics. These rhetorical claims are contrasted against a critical analysis which suggests that despite the claims made by reformist elements in favour of the adoption of these systems, the structural and empirical elements of AOBB systems as implemented in Australia raise considerable doubts as to whether suggested benefits will be realised in practice.     

我国政府采购支出绩效评价体系的构建

新公共管理运动对西方政府采购支出的绩效管理产生了重要影响,西方政府采购支出绩效管理伴随着新公共管理运动已经形成了系统化、科学化、制度化和经常化的评价标准和方法。本文对我国政府采购支出绩效管理进行可能性分析,并构建了我国政府采购支出绩效评价的指标体系和实现的方法。     

新公共管理与政府绩效审计

新公共管理兴起于20世纪70年代末,是公共行政模式由权力至上发展到责任至上的进化历程,其核心特征是对政府绩效及其责任的高度关注。新公共管理导致政府绩效审计从政治意义上的权力制约机制转变为权力制约和绩效评估并重的政府治理工具,为政府绩效审计的发展提供了方向性指引。本文认为,为推动我国政府绩效审计的发展,需要科学界定政府绩效审计的内容和审计信息的种类,建立审计信息披露制度,建立和完善以绩效为导向的预算评价体系和绩效审计系统的制度设计。     

People consultation to construct the future: A Delphi application

This work presents the Delphi method, in its Policy Delphi variant, as an efficient mechanism for carrying out consultations regarding regulatory actions that affect professional bureaucracies, and also, in the last analysis, for forecasting and constructing their future. The Delphi application presented here incorporates some specific characteristics which are aimed at making the plurality of opinions in the organisation under analysis visible, facilitating reasoned debate, minimising the risk of manipulation by study leaders, and maximising the generalised acceptance of the results by the whole collective.This study was performed on the university community of the Basque Country, prior to the enactment of the Act which was to organise the Basque university system. Its results, which were accepted as being representative of the real dissensus existing in the community, constituted a valuable input for the final drawing up of the Act, and for its acceptance without conflict.This Delphi application cannot be classified within its traditional field of exploratory forecasting, but it can be situated within the normative sphere, geared towards the construction of a desired future.