An Era of Change
Introduction
There has been a transformation in the management of the public sectors of advanced countries. The traditional model of public administration, which predominated for most of the twentieth century, has changed since the mid-1980s to a flexible, market-based form of public management. This is not simply a matter of reform or a minor change in management style, but a change in the role of government in society and the relationship between government and citizenry. Traditional public administration has been discredited theoretically and the adoption of new forms of public management means the emergence of a new paradigm in the public sector.
This new paradigm poses a direct challenge to several of what had previously been regarded as fundamental principles of traditional public administration. The first of these was that of bureaucracy, that governments should organize themselves according to the hierarchical, bureaucratic principles most clearly enunciated in the classic analysis of bureaucracy by the German sociologist Max Weber (Gerth and Mills, 1970X). Although adopted by business and other institutions, these precepts were carried out far more diligently and for longer in the public sector. Secondly, there was one-best-way of working and procedures were set out in comprehensive manuals for administrators to follow. Strict adherence to these scientific management principles (Taylor, 1911) would provide the single best way of operating an organization. The third principle was bureaucratic delivery; once government involved itself in a policy area, it also became the direct provider of goods and services through the bureaucracy. Fourthly, there was general belief among administrators in the politics/administration dichotomy, that is, where political and administrative matters could be separated. the administration would be an instrument merely to carry out instructions, while any matters of policy or strategy were the preserve of the political leadership (Wilson, 1941) Fifthly, the motivation of the individual public servant was assumed to be that of the public interest; in that service to the public was provided selflessly, sixthly, public administration was considered a special king of activity and, therefore, required a professional bureaucracy, neutral, anonymous, employed for life, with the ability to serve any political master equally, Seventhly, the tasks involved in public service were indeed administrative in the dictionary sense, that is, following the instructions provided by others without personal responsibility for results.
These seven seeming verities have been challenged. First, bureaucracy is indeed powerful but does not work well in all circumstances and has some negative consequences. Secondly, trying to find the one-best-way is elusive and can lead to rigidity in operation. Flexible management systems pioneered by the private sector are being adopted by governments. Thirdly, delivery by bureaucracy is not the only way to provide public goods and services; governments can operate indirectly through subsidies, regulation or contracts, instead of always being the direct provider. Fourthly, political and administrative matters have in reality been intertwined for a long time, but the implications of this for management structures are only now being worked through. The public demands better mechanisms of accountability where once the bureaucracy operated separately from the society. Fifthly, while there may be public servants motivated by the public interest, it now seems incontrovertible that they are political players in their own right. They may also be assumed to work for their own advancement and that of their agency, instead of being pure and selfless. Sixthly, the case for unusual employment conditions in the public services is now much weaker, especially given the changes that have taken place in the private sector where jobs for life are rare. Finally, the tasks involved in the public sector are now considered more managerial, that is, requiring someone to take responsibility for the achievement of results, instead of being regarded as administrative and with public servants merely following instructions.
Economic problems in the 1980s meant governments reassessed their bureaucracies and demanded changes. As Caiden argued, ‘All blamed the dead hand of bureaucracy, especially the poor performance of public bureaucracies and the daily annoyances of irksome restrictions, cumbrous red-tape, unpleasant officials, poor service and corrupt practices’ (1991,p.74). A radical change in organizational culture is occurring, but not without cost. The new approach has problems, not the least of them the disruption to standard operating procedures and poor morale. There seemed to be a long way to go before a new results-based management could emerge, although there was no going back to the traditional model of public administration.
All these points will be discussed at greater length later, but the main point is there has been total change in a profession that saw little change for around a hundred years. It is argued that the seven verities constitute a paradigm of their own – the traditional model of public administration – and that a paradigm shift has occurred due to the problems of the traditional model.
A new paradigm
There is some debate over whether or not public management, particularly the new public management, is a new paradigm for public sector management. There are those in favour of regarding the reforms as a new paradigm (Osbcme and Gaebler, 1992; Behn, 1998, 2001; Borins, 1999; Mathiasen, 1999; Holmes and Shand, 1995; OECD, 1998). There are others who argue against the notion of paradigm change in public sector management (Hood, 1995, 1996; Lynn, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2001a; Pollitt, 1990, 1993; Gruening, 2001; Pollitt and Bouckaert, 2000). It is argued here that, either using the ordinary meaning of the more recent usage associated with the work of Kuhn(1970). the term ‘paradigm’ is appropriate both for the traditional model of administration and the public management reforms most commonly linked together as the new public management.
Some argue that a paradigm is a large hurdle to jump, requiring agreement among all a discipline’s practitioners – a more of less permanent way of looking at the world (Lynn, 1997; Gruening, 2001). This is a misreading of Kuhn (1970). Instead of a paradigm being a generally agreed framework of all the practitioners in a field, it is actually a contested idea. It does not require agreement among all practitioners; there are often competing paradigms in the same field.
The basic paradigms for public sector management are those following from Ostrom’s (1989) argument that there are two opposing forms of organization: bureaucracy and markets. The key difference between the two forms of organization is the between choice and compulsion; allowing the market to find an agreed result or having it imposed by a bureaucratic hierarchy. At this most fundamental level, bureaucracy and markets are very different; they are based on very different ways of looking at the world. In short, the traditional model of administration is based on bureaucracy; public management is based on markets.
To Behn, the traditional model of administration qualifies as a paradigm; as a paradigm; as he continues, ‘certainly, those who support traditional public administration would argue that they have a “discipline”, complete with “theories, laws, and generalizations”, that focus their research’ (Behn, 2001, p. 231). A paradigm does not mean one set of views that everyone must agree on, rather views that exist for a time and are revealed in the discipline’s practices. The traditional model of administration, derived from Weber, Wilson and Taylor, does fit this in the sense of there being, at a given time, a corpus of knowledge, textbooks and ways of approaching the trade. In a paradigmatic sense it derives from the theory of bureaucracy.
The public management paradigm has the very different underlying theoretical bases of economics and private management. As an OECD paper argues, this new management paradigm emphasizes results in terms of “value for money”, to be achieved through management by objectives, the use of markets and market-type mechanisms, competition and choice, and devolution to staff through a better matching of authority, responsibility and accountability’ (1998, p. 13X).
However, it is not the case that at one pint in time everyone in the discipline decided that the traditional public administration paradigm had been superseded; it is more the case the case that paradigms change gradually. The decline of one school of thought occurs as a result of the rise of an alternative, in this case public management. As Kuhn argues, the decision to reject one paradigm is always simultaneously the decision to accept another, and the judgment leading to that decision involves the comparison of both paradigms with nature and with one another’ (1970, p. 77, emphasis in the original). Paradigmatic change involves the comparison of theories, neither of which work perfectly. If there are problems with the public management reforms, the response will be further changes in the managerial direction Public management is argued to be a new paradigm.
The emergence of a new approach
By the beginning of the 1990s, a new model of public sector management had emerged in most advanced countries and many developing ones. Initially, the new model had several names, including: ‘managerialism’ (Pollittt, 1993); ‘new public management’ (Hood, 1991); ‘market-based public administration’ (Lan and Rosenbloom, 1992); the ‘post-bureaucratic paradigm’ (Barzelay,1992) or ‘entreproneurial government’ (Osborne and Gaebler, 1992). Despite the differing names, they all essentially describe the same phenomenon. The literature has more or less settled o
An Era of Change
Introduction
There has been a transformation in the management of the public sectors of advanced countries. The traditional model of public administration, which predominated for most of the twentieth century, has changed since the mid-1980s to a flexible, market-based form of public management. This is not simply a matter of reform or a minor change in management style, but a change in the role of government in society and the relationship between government and citizenry. Traditional public administration has been discredited theoretically and the adoption of new forms of public management means the emergence of a new paradigm in the public sector.
This new paradigm poses a direct challenge to several of what had previously been regarded as fundamental principles of traditional public administration. The first of these was that of bureaucracy, that governments should organize themselves according to the hierarchical, bureaucratic principles most clearly enunciated in the classic analysis of bureaucracy by the German sociologist Max Weber (Gerth and Mills, 1970X). Although adopted by business and other institutions, these precepts were carried out far more diligently and for longer in the public sector. Secondly, there was one-best-way of working and procedures were set out in comprehensive manuals for administrators to follow. Strict adherence to these scientific management principles (Taylor, 1911) would provide the single best way of operating an organization. The third principle was bureaucratic delivery; once government involved itself in a policy area, it also became the direct provider of goods and services through the bureaucracy. Fourthly, there was general belief among administrators in the politics/administration dichotomy, that is, where political and administrative matters could be separated. the administration would be an instrument merely to carry out instructions, while any matters of policy or strategy were the preserve of the political leadership (Wilson, 1941) Fifthly, the motivation of the individual public servant was assumed to be that of the public interest; in that service to the public was provided selflessly, sixthly, public administration was considered a special king of activity and, therefore, required a professional bureaucracy, neutral, anonymous, employed for life, with the ability to serve any political master equally, Seventhly, the tasks involved in public service were indeed administrative in the dictionary sense, that is, following the instructions provided by others without personal responsibility for results.
These seven seeming verities have been challenged. First, bureaucracy is indeed powerful but does not work well in all circumstances and has some negative consequences. Secondly, trying to find the one-best-way is elusive and can lead to rigidity in operation. Flexible management systems pioneered by the private sector are being adopted by governments. Thirdly, delivery by bureaucracy is not the only way to provide public goods and services; governments can operate indirectly through subsidies, regulation or contracts, instead of always being the direct provider. Fourthly, political and administrative matters have in reality been intertwined for a long time, but the implications of this for management structures are only now being worked through. The public demands better mechanisms of accountability where once the bureaucracy operated separately from the society. Fifthly, while there may be public servants motivated by the public interest, it now seems incontrovertible that they are political players in their own right. They may also be assumed to work for their own advancement and that of their agency, instead of being pure and selfless. Sixthly, the case for unusual employment conditions in the public services is now much weaker, especially given the changes that have taken place in the private sector where jobs for life are rare. Finally, the tasks involved in the public sector are now considered more managerial, that is, requiring someone to take responsibility for the achievement of results, instead of being regarded as administrative and with public servants merely following instructions.
Economic problems in the 1980s meant governments reassessed their bureaucracies and demanded changes. As Caiden argued, ‘All blamed the dead hand of bureaucracy, especially the poor performance of public bureaucracies and the daily annoyances of irksome restrictions, cumbrous red-tape, unpleasant officials, poor service and corrupt practices’ (1991,p.74). A radical change in organizational culture is occurring, but not without cost. The new approach has problems, not the least of them the disruption to standard operating procedures and poor morale. There seemed to be a long way to go before a new results-based management could emerge, although there was no going back to the traditional model of public administration.
All these points will be discussed at greater length later, but the main point is there has been total change in a profession that saw little change for around a hundred years. It is argued that the seven verities constitute a paradigm of their own – the traditional model of public administration – and that a paradigm shift has occurred due to the problems of the traditional model.
A new paradigm
There is some debate over whether or not public management, particularly the new public management, is a new paradigm for public sector management. There are those in favour of regarding the reforms as a new paradigm (Osbcme and Gaebler, 1992; Behn, 1998, 2001; Borins, 1999; Mathiasen, 1999; Holmes and Shand, 1995; OECD, 1998). There are others who argue against the notion of paradigm change in public sector management (Hood, 1995, 1996; Lynn, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2001a; Pollitt, 1990, 1993; Gruening, 2001; Pollitt and Bouckaert, 2000). It is argued here that, either using the ordinary meaning of the more recent usage associated with the work of Kuhn(1970). the term ‘paradigm’ is appropriate both for the traditional model of administration and the public management reforms most commonly linked together as the new public management.
Some argue that a paradigm is a large hurdle to jump, requiring agreement among all a discipline’s practitioners – a more of less permanent way of looking at the world (Lynn, 1997; Gruening, 2001). This is a misreading of Kuhn (1970). Instead of a paradigm being a generally agreed framework of all the practitioners in a field, it is actually a contested idea. It does not require agreement among all practitioners; there are often competing paradigms in the same field.
The basic paradigms for public sector management are those following from Ostrom’s (1989) argument that there are two opposing forms of organization: bureaucracy and markets. The key difference between the two forms of organization is the between choice and compulsion; allowing the market to find an agreed result or having it imposed by a bureaucratic hierarchy. At this most fundamental level, bureaucracy and markets are very different; they are based on very different ways of looking at the world. In short, the traditional model of administration is based on bureaucracy; public management is based on markets.
To Behn, the traditional model of administration qualifies as a paradigm; as a paradigm; as he continues, ‘certainly, those who support traditional public administration would argue that they have a “discipline”, complete with “theories, laws, and generalizations”, that focus their research’ (Behn, 2001, p. 231). A paradigm does not mean one set of views that everyone must agree on, rather views that exist for a time and are revealed in the discipline’s practices. The traditional model of administration, derived from Weber, Wilson and Taylor, does fit this in the sense of there being, at a given time, a corpus of knowledge, textbooks and ways of approaching the trade. In a paradigmatic sense it derives from the theory of bureaucracy.
The public management paradigm has the very different underlying theoretical bases of economics and private management. As an OECD paper argues, this new management paradigm emphasizes results in terms of “value for money”, to be achieved through management by objectives, the use of markets and market-type mechanisms, competition and choice, and devolution to staff through a better matching of authority, responsibility and accountability’ (1998, p. 13X).
However, it is not the case that at one pint in time everyone in the discipline decided that the traditional public administration paradigm had been superseded; it is more the case the case that paradigms change gradually. The decline of one school of thought occurs as a result of the rise of an alternative, in this case public management. As Kuhn argues, the decision to reject one paradigm is always simultaneously the decision to accept another, and the judgment leading to that decision involves the comparison of both paradigms with nature and with one another’ (1970, p. 77, emphasis in the original). Paradigmatic change involves the comparison of theories, neither of which work perfectly. If there are problems with the public management reforms, the response will be further changes in the managerial direction Public management is argued to be a new paradigm.
The emergence of a new approach
By the beginning of the 1990s, a new model of public sector management had emerged in most advanced countries and many developing ones. Initially, the new model had several names, including: ‘managerialism’ (Pollittt, 1993); ‘new public management’ (Hood, 1991); ‘market-based public administration’ (Lan and Rosenbloom, 1992); the ‘post-bureaucratic paradigm’ (Barzelay,1992) or ‘entreproneurial government’ (Osborne and Gaebler, 1992). Despite the differing names, they all essentially describe the same phenomenon. The literature has more or less settled o
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