developed in that framework make sense in that line of thinking by contrast to market rationality advocated by the Right and based upon micro economics.
However, this is only one part of the story. Another part of the New Labour project is the continuity of the market-making society promoted by Mrs Thatcher and the new Right and legitimized by the massive use of economics, rational choice and micro eco- nomics in particular, determining policy instrumentation, i.e. choice of instruments characterizing New Labour governance.
The Thatcher governments centralized and reformed the state, and destroyed traditional social structures (including at the heart of the British establishment, in the organization of the City, or in the legal and medical profes- sions), social solidarities, and institutions. They encouraged actors to behave like egois- tic, rational individuals. Establishing rewards and penalties makes it possible to pilot changes in individual and organizational behaviour. According to Max Weber, the ‘bureaucratic revolution’ changes individuals ‘from without’ by transforming the conditions to which they must adapt (Le Galès and Scott, 2008). Bureaucracy is a force for social change, for the destruction of traditional social systems and the creation of new systems, with all that that entails in terms of violence and resistance. Bureaucratic rationalization is wholly compatible with modernization of the economy. It makes behaviour more predicta- ble and helps create social order organized on the basis of calculation and efficiency.
The bureaucratic revolution initiated by Margaret Thatcher was at the heart of New Labour’s strategy for modernizing Britain. New Labour wanted to put consumers of public services at the centre of public serv- ices and, to the maximum possible extent, limit the influence of producers – in particular, the public sector unions, which were regarded as one of the most conservative forces in the country. Transformation of the mode of governing – that is, incessant, sometimes contradictory reform of the public sector – was the badge of the Blair governments.
It took the form of autonomy for the basic units of public management (schools, hospitals, social services), but flanked by a battery of statistical measures, indicators, and objectives for results or improvements in performance.
The New Labour team elected in 1997 was largely won over to the rather vague thesies of ‘new public management’ inspired by public choice economics. This resulted in the application of the principles of rational choice and classical microeconomics to public management, sometimes by transferring the recipes of private management to public management. Blair and Brown clearly under- stood that a redefinition of the rules of politi- cal action (in the direction of the regulatory state) went hand in hand with an increase in controls. While part of the traditional bureauc- racy was dismantled and subjected to market mechanisms, the core executive gained in independence. The new government did not intend to reconsider the framework of public management left by the Conservatives. The inheritance was adopted, mobilized and con- solidated by New Labour, whose action can be characterized as follows:
• indicators for good public management extend- ing beyond performance were developed for the precise piloting of public action
• according to the social model of neoclassical economists, individuals respond to stimulation
• the delivery of public policy combined public and private partners in flexible ways
• priority was given to delivery and the definition of objectives
• Power was centralized in order to initiate reforms, monitor delivery, and make government action coherent
• the inspiration for reforms no longer derived from the senior civil service, but from think-tanks, experts, consultants, academics, and foreign experience (essentially the USA).
New Labour systematized a way of steer- ing government on the basis of performance objectives, league tables, and strict financial control. These developments revealed their credence in the magical powers of synthetic
developed in that framework make sense in that line of thinking by contrast to market rationality advocated by the Right and based upon micro economics.
However, this is only one part of the story. Another part of the New Labour project is the continuity of the market-making society promoted by Mrs Thatcher and the new Right and legitimized by the massive use of economics, rational choice and micro eco- nomics in particular, determining policy instrumentation, i.e. choice of instruments characterizing New Labour governance.
The Thatcher governments centralized and reformed the state, and destroyed traditional social structures (including at the heart of the British establishment, in the organization of the City, or in the legal and medical profes- sions), social solidarities, and institutions. They encouraged actors to behave like egois- tic, rational individuals. Establishing rewards and penalties makes it possible to pilot changes in individual and organizational behaviour. According to Max Weber, the ‘bureaucratic revolution’ changes individuals ‘from without’ by transforming the conditions to which they must adapt (Le Galès and Scott, 2008). Bureaucracy is a force for social change, for the destruction of traditional social systems and the creation of new systems, with all that that entails in terms of violence and resistance. Bureaucratic rationalization is wholly compatible with modernization of the economy. It makes behaviour more predicta- ble and helps create social order organized on the basis of calculation and efficiency.
The bureaucratic revolution initiated by Margaret Thatcher was at the heart of New Labour’s strategy for modernizing Britain. New Labour wanted to put consumers of public services at the centre of public serv- ices and, to the maximum possible extent, limit the influence of producers – in particular, the public sector unions, which were regarded as one of the most conservative forces in the country. Transformation of the mode of governing – that is, incessant, sometimes contradictory reform of the public sector – was the badge of the Blair governments.
It took the form of autonomy for the basic units of public management (schools, hospitals, social services), but flanked by a battery of statistical measures, indicators, and objectives for results or improvements in performance.
The New Labour team elected in 1997 was largely won over to the rather vague thesies of ‘new public management’ inspired by public choice economics. This resulted in the application of the principles of rational choice and classical microeconomics to public management, sometimes by transferring the recipes of private management to public management. Blair and Brown clearly under- stood that a redefinition of the rules of politi- cal action (in the direction of the regulatory state) went hand in hand with an increase in controls. While part of the traditional bureauc- racy was dismantled and subjected to market mechanisms, the core executive gained in independence. The new government did not intend to reconsider the framework of public management left by the Conservatives. The inheritance was adopted, mobilized and con- solidated by New Labour, whose action can be characterized as follows:
• indicators for good public management extend- ing beyond performance were developed for the precise piloting of public action
• according to the social model of neoclassical economists, individuals respond to stimulation
• the delivery of public policy combined public and private partners in flexible ways
• priority was given to delivery and the definition of objectives
• Power was centralized in order to initiate reforms, monitor delivery, and make government action coherent
• the inspiration for reforms no longer derived from the senior civil service, but from think-tanks, experts, consultants, academics, and foreign experience (essentially the USA).
New Labour systematized a way of steer- ing government on the basis of performance objectives, league tables, and strict financial control. These developments revealed their credence in the magical powers of synthetic
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