Migration and public trust in the commonwealth of independent states

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the post-Soviet space has seen regional integration in the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The CIS while moribund has affected migration in the post-Soviet space. Despite its persistence and effect on migration, few studies have sought to explore public perceptions towards the CIS. We address this limitation by developing several arguments, anchored on the literature on public opinion and European integration, to explain how perceptions towards migrants and employment status affect public trust in the CIS. Our analyses make use of the sixth wave of the World Values Survey that includes seven CIS member-states and finds strong support for our hypotheses. Our contribution lies in the investigation of public attitudes in a non-EU setting while applying arguments from EU literature and the wide coverage of our study compared to the extant literature on the CIS and public opinion.     

Explaining public education expenditure in OECD nations

Abstract. This article seeks to explain cross-sectional variation in public education expenditure levels and change since 1960. Five possible explanations are located: the incremental push of programme inertia, demographic and related pressures, economic resource growth, the impact of party and the cultural impact of Roman Catholicism. A multivariate analysis demonstrates that educational expenditure is an arena in which monocausal explanations are wholly inappropriate. With the exception of programme inertia, each of the explanations is seen to have an important bearing on this aspect of the people's welfare.     

The Commonwealth programme for applied studies in government: The commonwealth secretariat's division for the development of public management

The Programme of Applied Studies in Government in the Commonwealth Secretariat has been in operation for five years, and in this article the Assistant Director reports on the major features of the Programme. The staff of the Programme have arranged conferences and seminars, facilitated training and published bibliographies on topics and in a form that make them useful to civil service practitioners and institutions with small libraries. Matters to which attention has been given include the use in government of advances in science and technology, the functioning and role of public enterprise and among more specialized topics administration in microstates. The article emphasizes the way attention is given to application in the work of the Programme.     

Families of nations and public policy

Employing cluster analysis, this article reconsiders a concept formulated by Francis G. Castles that stresses the existence of four families of nations, which markedly differ in respect of public policy-making. For two policy fields - social and economic policy - the hypothesised families of nations can be shown to exist, and they are quite robust and stable over time. Cluster analysis also reveals different paths towards modernity. On the one hand, there are more state-oriented versus more market-oriented models of public policy-making; on the other, there is a cleavage in public policy-making between rich countries located at the centre and somewhat poorer countries located at the periphery.     

Families of nations and public policy

Employing cluster analysis, this article reconsiders a concept formulated by Francis G. Castles that stresses the existence of four families of nations, which markedly differ in respect of public policy‐making. For two policy fields — social and economic policy — the hypothesised families of nations can be shown to exist, and they are quite robust and stable over time. Cluster analysis also reveals different paths towards modernity. On the one hand, there are more state‐oriented versus more market‐oriented models of public policy‐making; on the other, there is a cleavage in public policy‐making between rich countries located at the centre and somewhat poorer countries located at the periphery.     

How to argue about the new public management

Hood and Jackson's (1991) distinction between administrative argument and administrative philosophy has been largely overlooked in writings on NPM. This seemingly subtle distinction flows from the more obvious one between “practical argument” and “social scientific explanation.” These terms refer to different scholarly practices. Practical reasoning is a highly-developed form of scholarship in law, public policy, and political theory. Explanation is a highly-developed scholarly activity in political science and related disciplines. The fact that practical argument and explanation are, in principle, complementary scholarly activities in practically-oriented fields such as public management is not a reason to overlook the distinction between them. If scholars writing on NPM made more of this distinction, it might prove easier for their readers to see precisely how social science explanations and practical arguments are interrelated. Discussion of how well claims have been supported would then be facilitated. Also, it would be easier for writers to decide how to engage the NPM literature. Not only would the issues be clearer, but it would also be easier to discuss the merits of alternative approaches to tackling them. If more weight is given to the distinction between practical argumentation and social scientific research by scholars of NPM, an urgent question is: how should the scholarly practice of practical argumentation be characterized?     

Trends in training public managers: A report on a commonwealth seminar

This article reports on a conference on issues and trends in training practicing public managers. Some trends identified include: greater competition between civil service colleges and outside providers of training; university programs that compete in this market being based in business schools or autonomous units, rather than in traditional political science departments; a convergence among training providers on the use of adult education methodology; elite training programs now playing a larger role in training the entire public service; and some civil service training institutes simultaneously identifying more closely with strategic government priorities and developing a research role comparable to the university.     

The effects of new public management on the quality of public services

Have New Public Management (NPM) reforms in public organizations improved the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of the delivery of public policies? NPM reforms, understood as a style of organizing public services towards the efficiency and efficacy of outputs, have been controversial. They have been accused of importing practices and norms from the private sector that could collide with core public values, such as impartiality or equity. Yet, with few exceptions, we lack systematic empirical tests of the actual effects that NPM reforms have had on the delivery of public services. In this introductory article, we summarize a special issue devoted to cover this gap. And, overall, we find that neither the catastrophic nor the balsamic effects of NPM reforms are confirmed, but the success (or failure) depends on the administrative, political and policy context those reforms take place.     

The new public management and its critics

It is possible to view the New Public Management as nothing more than the public management equivalent of a cake recipe, a set of practices that can be readily transferred from one culture and one political system to another. If such is the case, then discussions of principles and paradigms are academic; it is necessary only to identify best practices. It will then be up to politicians to realize that they have only to open the book, follow the instructions, and reap the rewards. However, even within the Oecd countries such a possibility is not plausible. Within Europe, there are substantial differences in the political and cultural traditions of Oecd countries. And diversity within the Oecd goes beyond to include Mexico, Japan and Korea but also the former communist countries of Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland. Since the applicability and effectiveness of New Public Management concepts will vary considerably from one country to another, we are left with a considerable challenge: How might we apply these concepts to new settings?     

Education and training for new public management

This article argues for a new approach to educate and train public managers. Several functional requirements regarding knowledge, skills and attitudes are discussed. The status and trends of public management education and training in several countries are reviewed. Situation and recent developments of public management education in Germany are subject of an exemplary case study. Elements of an effective curriculum with an international perspective and steps towards a common understanding of public management education are suggested.     

浅析"新公共管理"理论在中国的应用

"新公共管理"在西方的兴起是官僚制寿终正寝的结果,而在中国,实际情况是还没有真正的官僚制,科层制并没有发挥出其真正的优势,本文并不反对把"新公共管理"应用到中国政府的改革中来,但却提醒大家在用"新公共管理"改造中国政府的时候,不要盲目崇拜"新公共管理"理论,把它当做救世良药,就我国目前形势来看还要充分发挥官僚制的优势.     

Expectancy theory in developing nations: Motivating Botswana public servants

The degree to which individuals are motivated to apply themselves depends in part on how far they expect to be able to achieve given goals. This study, based on interviews of local government administrators in Botswana, not only stresses the importance of expectancy in motivation but reports the importance of altruistic goals among these administrators. Among those interviewed there was a strong desire to advance their own careers, both by developing themselves in the job they currently hold, and by advancing through the organizational hierarchy. Employees, however, were also anxious to accomplish concrete objectives in their current jobs and thus to contribute to the development of the nation. Here unless officials have the expectancy of being able to achieve these goals their motivation is affected. Thus emphasis is placed in this article on the need to supplement traditional attention to pay and promotion as devices to improve motivation with a concern to remove road blocks to development. The enquiry thus strengthens the case for the performance improvement programme of the United Nations.     

论新公共管理之管理主义的理论缺陷

新公共管理是20世纪70年代后在西方国家政府改革过程中形成和发展起来,并颇具影响的公共行政理论派别。由于受管理主义传统的影响,新公共管理存在着许多值得反思与批判的缺陷:如“公共性”的阙失、对市场机制的崇拜、“顾客”隐喻的不当、人性假设的偏颇等。现代政府的正当性或合法性必须奠基于公平、正义、民主、责任的价值前提,不可陷入偏狭的牢笼。     

A contractual framework for new public management theory

This paper evaluates the potential for institutional economics to help us frame choices for the design of institutional arrangements aimed at improving public sector performance, and the lessons it offers for the development of a new public management theory. It defines the key elements of transaction cost and principal agency theory and their application to the public sector. Local government contracting, fiscal decentralization, and performance budgeting, applications that share problems resulting from divergent objectives, information costs associated with policy making and implementation, and risks to public sector accountability, are analyzed. This analysis demonstrates that institutional economics can illuminate how public management can effectively utilize private sector solutions by providing the theoretical underpinnings for government reform initiatives.     

Citizen perceptions of public management: Hybridisation and post‐new public management in Japan and New Zealand

An older body of research claims variously: a world‐wide transformation from new public management (NPM) to new public governance or post new public management (post‐NPM); a ‘layering’, where new management rhetoric and techniques are layered upon existing ones; or a ‘hybridisation’ synthesised from competing systems. More recent studies, particularly in central and Eastern Europe, suggest a nuanced and context‐specific degree of transformation. Influenced by a growing research interest in citizen perceptions of public management, this study expands this more nuanced approach by surveying local government public management perceptions of 1,140 New Zealand and 3,100 Japanese citizen online survey respondents. Using principal component analysis, we show both New Zealand and Japan exhibit degrees of hybridisation of public management paradigms, with Japan exhibiting a higher degree of eclecticism.     

从宪政维度审视新公共管理的"公共性"流失

新公共管理采取了一些旨在增强政府回应性、责任性的改革措施;然而,从公共行政合法性的宪政维度来看,该理论推行的诸多行政改革理念在事实上对政府的"公共性"形成了挑战,造成了公共行政民主价值观的流失.如"政府掌舵"论弱化了公共部门的回应性与代表性;"顾客导向"理念促使政府逃避相关责任;公共利益"废止论"将公民的公共利益降格为副产品:企业家精神鼓励行政人员制造风险和规避责任;政府职能市场化容易导致行政责任的流失.     

The new public management paradigm and the search for democratic accountability

Can we permit empowered, responsive civil servants to make decisions and be innovative and still have democratic accountability? This important question haunts those who would advocate a “new public management.” The proponents of a new public management paradigm emphasize performance the ability of their strategy to produce results. But they cannot ignore the troubling question of political accountability. They must develop a process that not only permits public managers to produce better results but also provides accountability to a democratic electorate.     

Missing pieces in each other's puzzles: Integrating the new public management and the new political economy

Although New Political Economy ideas have sometimes accompanied New Public Management ideas in programs of bureaucratic reform (especially outside the United States), the two schools of thought have remained separate. I argue that the problems of bureaucracy are largely political problems. Therefore, bureaucratic reform must be viewed in tandem with political reform. New Public Management can learn from New Political Economy's emphasis on the incentives of self-interested politicians, and New Political Economy can learn from New Public Management's normative approach and focus on citizens. I use an “exit and voice” framework to discuss and evaluate alternative approaches to reform.     

政府公共关系的科学化与专业化探析——基于“新公共管理”的视角

政府公共关系是政府实施公共管理的一项重要职能。随着政府治理和新公共管理实践的发展，迫切需要重新发掘政府公共关系的价值，促进其科学化和专业化。对于处在社会转型和逐步融入国际社会的发展中国家来说，是否具备科学化和专业化的政府公共关系职能，已经成为衡量政府治理能力现代化的重要指标。适时提出政府公共关系的科学化和专业化，是深入贯彻落实科学发展观，提高政府治理效能、转变政府职能、促进公民政治参与、构建和谐社会的需要，也是“新公共管理”实践发展的必然要求。