OUTCOME-BASED PUBLIC MANAGEMENT AND THE BALANCE OF POWERS IN THE CONTEXT OF DIRECT DEMOCRACY |
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Authors: | ADRIAN RITZ FRITZ SAGER |
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Affiliation: | 1Adrian Ritz is Assistant Professor of Public Administration, Centre of Competence for Public Management, University of Bern;. 2Fritz Sager is Professor of Political Science, Centre of Competence for Public Management, University of Bern;. |
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Abstract: | We argue that direct democracy forms a specific context for NPM reform, with the voting population as a third agent beside legislature and executive constituting a considerable limit to the legislature's political steering capacity. In this context we expect that NPM will lead to a shift in political power between sovereign, legislature and administration. This article investigates the possibilities of outcome-based public management to ameliorate public action under these circumstances. The findings of the analysis of the NPM reform in the Swiss city of Bern indicate that problems of outcome-based public management are accentuated in a direct democratic system. The puzzling finding is that while the political players themselves see a shift in power between the electorate, legislature and executive, they are doing nothing to compensate this shift. |
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