Public Management Course Notes

Chapter 1 An era of change The traditional model of public administration (which dominated most of the 20th century changed since the mid-1980s to a flexible, market based form of public management. (not only a change in management style, but also in role of government in society and the relationship between government and citizenry). Traditional public administration has been discredited theoretically and practically -adoption of new forms of public management means the emergence of a new paradigm in the public sector.
- New paradigm poses a direct challenge to the fundamental principles of traditional public administration: 1.Bureaucracy (govts should organize themselves according to the hierarchical, bureaucratic principles enunciated by Weber) 2.One best way (of working and procedures were set out in manuals for admins to follow. strict adherence to these scientific mgmt principles would provide one best way of operating an org) 3.Bureaucratic delivery (once govt involved itself in a policy area, it would become direct provider of goods/services) 4.Politics/administration dichotomy (admin is instrument used to carry out instruction and matters of policy or strategy belong to political leadership) 5. Public interest (service to the public was provided selflessly) 6.Professional bureaucracy (neutral, anonymous employed for life with ability serve political master equally) 7. Administrative (following instructions provided by others without personal resp)
-Challenges:
1. Bureaucracy is powerful but doesn't work well in all circumstances and has some negative consequences. 2.Trying to find the one best way is elusive and can lead to rigidity in operation 3. Delivery by bureaucracy is not the only way: subsidies, regulation, contracts. 4. Politics and administration are entwined -public demands better mechanisms of accountability where once bureaucracy operated separately from society. 5. There