New Public Management which was coined by Christopher Hood’s (ed) ‘ A Public Management for All Seasons (1991)’ is the new thrust of administrative reforms sweeping through the world. It has its foundations in economy management and promotes decentralised control. The central spirit of New Public Management is about getting things done better. It has been assumed to be a tool for Good Governance in the present times.
Features
01) Business Administration as the right model of Public Administration
It is influenced by neo-conservatism or New Right Philosophy which believes in the superiority of the market as the guiding principle for the society as a whole.
E.g.: it advocates the incorporation of the established principles of private sector organization and market competition in the public sector.
02) Focus on efficient public management
i.e. It aims at providing high quality of goods and services that citizens value.
03) Managerial autonomy
It gives freedom to manage resources with the end goal of achieving client satisfaction.
04) People dimension
The efficiency of the manager is judged by how well he performs in the area of managing people.
05) Managers should be policy sensitive
Managers should explore various alternatives in order to make public administration more cost effective.
06) Limited and entrepreneurial role of public administration – better governance
It emphasizes market-driven management which is receptive to competition.
07) Structural adjustment
The design of the administrative system is clusters rather than pyramids. Hence, autonomous agencies are linked to the parent department on the basis of contracts.
New Public Management Perspective
David Osborne and Ted Gaebler’s, ‘Reinventing Government’ have highlighted some of the requirements of the New Public Management perspective. The book suggests a ten-point programme for what it calls ‘Entrepreneurial Governments (EGs)’
01) Mission-driven Government
Transforming rule-driven government into mission-oriented government.
02) Results-oriented Government
Funding outcomes, encouraging target achievement and goal-directed efforts.
03) Decentralised Government
i.e. from pyramid to clusters.
04) Catalytic Government
The government engaged in steering rather than rowing/seeing.
05) Anticipatory Government
Identification and prevention before occurrence of problems.
06) Market-oriented Government
Leveraging change through market forces.
07) Enterprising Government
Emphasis on earning and resource mobilisation rather than spending.
08) Community-owned Government
Strengthening and empowering communities to solve their own problems.
09) Competitive Government
Injecting competition into service delivery by rewarding efficiency and economy.
10) Customer-driven Government
i.e. The government defines clients as customers.
Criticism
- Its emphasis on management does not seem particularly new or original.
- It focuses on automisation of management at the cost of politics.
- New Public Management perspective has resulted in overlooking the contributions of career civil servants by criticizing the bureaucracy. as the mainspring of mal-governance.
- New Public Management overemphasizes market orientation politics.
- It favours downsizing the government.
Conclusion
If the New Public Management paradigm is implemented, it can bring about improvement in the traditional style of Public Administration. The bureaucracy should change itself into a result oriented, responsible and responsive organization.
The New Public Management contributes to our understanding of effective blending of the political and administrative aspects of government. It will turn out to be an important component of the governance of the advanced political economy.