New Public Management Approach
The Concept of ‘New public management Approach’
New public management (NPM) denotes broadly the government policies, since the 1980s, which aimed to modernize and render more effective the public sector. The basic hypothesis holds that market oriented management of the public sector will lead to greater cost-efficiency for governments, without having negative side-effects on other objectives and considerations. The last two decades to 2006 have been associated with a fundamental shift in the principles of public sector management in all industrialized countries. This had, in turn, been a product of a general reinvention of the role of government, its agencies, the means by which services are delivered, and employment practices within public sector organizations. At its core, this has been associated with a move away from a traditional model of public administration towards variants of the ‘new public sector management’ model.
The traditional model of public administration, based on the doctrine of the separation of powers, was associated with the delegation of a specific set of functions to public administrators in the implementation of policy and the expenditure of public funds. A central principle associated with this model was the idea that public service employees were independent from the political process. Their role was encapsulated by the maxim of providing advice ‘without fear or favour’. This capacity for independent advice was assured through the idea of a career in the public service and explicit norms of behaviour and professional conduct. It has also been presumed that public service employees were less likely to be motivated by extrinsic rewards, more likely to identify with value of service to the public and the provision of public goods, and have a strong commitment to principles of justice, fairness and equity in discharging their duties.
This traditional model of public administration was associated with an expansive view of the role of
New public management (NPM) denotes broadly the government policies, since the 1980s, which aimed to modernize and render more effective the public sector. The basic hypothesis holds that market oriented management of the public sector will lead to greater cost-efficiency for governments, without having negative side-effects on other objectives and considerations. The last two decades to 2006 have been associated with a fundamental shift in the principles of public sector management in all industrialized countries. This had, in turn, been a product of a general reinvention of the role of government, its agencies, the means by which services are delivered, and employment practices within public sector organizations. At its core, this has been associated with a move away from a traditional model of public administration towards variants of the ‘new public sector management’ model.
The traditional model of public administration, based on the doctrine of the separation of powers, was associated with the delegation of a specific set of functions to public administrators in the implementation of policy and the expenditure of public funds. A central principle associated with this model was the idea that public service employees were independent from the political process. Their role was encapsulated by the maxim of providing advice ‘without fear or favour’. This capacity for independent advice was assured through the idea of a career in the public service and explicit norms of behaviour and professional conduct. It has also been presumed that public service employees were less likely to be motivated by extrinsic rewards, more likely to identify with value of service to the public and the provision of public goods, and have a strong commitment to principles of justice, fairness and equity in discharging their duties.
This traditional model of public administration was associated with an expansive view of the role of