Peter Aucoin
Published: 1995
Total Pages: 304
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In the face of the need to make choices between programs that governments consider essential to administer themselves and programs that may be discontinued or transferred to other organizations, a new vision of government functioning has emerged, notably with greater emphasis on performance and results. This book analyzes the impact of an increasingly influential paradigm called new public management on the public services of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Major challenges common to these countries include powerful bureaucracies, restrictive organizational designs, and rigid rules and procedures blocking change. The book reviews various reform initiatives launched in response to those challenges in the areas of career public service, statecraft, administrative fragmentation and centralization, consolidation and devolution of authority, moving beyond bureaucracy, enhancing performance, and securing accountability. The book concludes with an agenda for public management.