The neo-Weberian state and the neodevelopmentalist strategies in Latin America: the case of Uruguay

2018 ◽  
Vol 86 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Conrado Ramos ◽  
Alejandro Milanesi

This article seeks to contribute to the development of the neo-Weberian theory of public administration by making it travel to the Latin American context. We argue that this model of public administration reform, identified in continental European states, tends to be present in some Latin American countries that have followed neodevelopmentalist models of economic development. The neo-Weberian political strategy promotes a public sector modernization that enhances its steering and coordination capacities which is functional to a neodevelopmental view that aims to rebuild the state’s central role in leading economic growth and social cohesiveness. Yet, the public management model that is implanted resembles an ‘imperfect’ neo-Weberianism due to the institutional deficiencies of these countries and the difficulties in providing a clear reform script. We provide this link by decoding the main outlines of the public management model in Uruguay in the context of the reforms implemented by the Frente Amplio.Points for practitionersThe article demonstrates two central points. First, that the processes of public sector reform are usually linked to other broader development strategies and to calculations of political feasibility. This can explain to some extent the options taken by politicians. Second, public sector reforms are often a combination of multiple administrative doctrines. This poses the risk of being unsystematic, incoherent or even contradictory.

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Ewa Stroińska

AbstractObjective: The implementation of mechanisms stimulating marketization of the public sector is an elementary assumption of a modern public management system. The main goals of these processes are to increase efficiency, reduce bureaucracy, create a platform for cooperation between public and private entities, and extend decentralization. The set of rules practiced in modern local governments increasingly resembles a private enterprise managed by efficient managers. The traditional approach, which was only the administration process itself, is being replaced by a focus on economy, efficiency, quality, and effectiveness.Methodology: The material was created based on the qualitative method in the form of secondary analysis of literature data. At the same time, it provides the theoretical background for conducted empirical research on changing the management system in public administration. The effect of further research explorations will be another material presented in the form of a research reportValue Added: The New Public Management (NPM) concept is based on changing the orientation of management of public organizations consisting in ceasing to apply the approach focusing only on procedures and rules of conduct related to expenditure, and implementing rules based on the analysis of the results related to expenditure incurred, adopting strategic orientation and introducing market mechanism for the process of providing public services (Zalewski, 2006, p. 74). The purpose of the article is to describe the New Public Management model, the implementation of which helps public institutions to respond to challenges posed by external and internal stakeholders.Findings: The article presents the thesis that changes in public administration require the transformation of a management system characterized by entrepreneurship, the use of different business-oriented strategies for implementing effective actions.Recommendations: The idea of New Public Management is to replace the bureaucratic administrative management model and to introduce a managerial model, i.e. the application in the public sector of the principles and solutions of management systems known and used in the business sector (Alford & Huges, 2008, pp. 130–148). This is caused by the increase in citizens’ expectations regarding the increase in the quality of service provision, while at the same time unwilling to raise taxes. To achieve this goal, NPM has introduced certain assumptions to help in effective management (Templatka, n.d.).


2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-285
Author(s):  
Claudia Petrescu ◽  
Flavis Mihalache

Public services represent an important dimension of quality of society, as they create the contextual conditions for people to further their quality of life. Romanian public administration reform has brought about a constant institutional transformation, which has influenced both the specific features and the quality of the services. This article aims to analyse trends regarding the perceived quality of public services in Romania, in European comparative perspective, using the data of the European Quality of Life Survey (2003–2016). The article aims to understand the low satisfaction with public services in Romania against the background of the public service reform measures taken by government in this period. The article describes the context of Romanian public administration and public service reform, the most important public policy measures adopted and the most important challenges. The lack of vision in the public service reform, the partial introduction of reform elements, the permanent and, sometimes, conflicting changes are issues that may have influenced the way in which the population perceives the quality of public services. The decentralisation process of public services and the insufficient allocation of public funds for delivering such services at local level might have an impact on their quality and quantity perceived by the population. Keywords: public services; public administration reform; citizens’ satisfaction; New Public Management; New Weberianism.


2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 255-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ileana Steccolini

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reflect various pathways for public sector accounting and accountability research in a post-new public management (NPM) context. Design/methodology/approach The paper first discusses the relationship between NPM and public sector accounting research. It then explores the possible stimuli that inter-disciplinary accounting scholars may derive from recent public administration studies, public policy and societal trends, highlighting possible ways to extend public sector accounting research and strengthen dialogue with other disciplines. Findings NPM may have represented a golden age, but also a “golden cage,” for the development of public sector accounting research. The paper reflects possible ways out of this golden cage, discussing future avenues for public sector accounting research. In doing so, it highlights the opportunities offered by re-considering the “public” side of accounting research and shifting the attention from the public sector, seen as a context for public sector accounting research, to publicness, as a concept central to such research. Originality/value The paper calls for stronger engagement with contemporary developments in public administration and policy. This could be achieved by looking at how public sector accounting accounts for, but also impacts on, issues of wider societal relevance, such as co-production and hybridization of public services, austerity, crises and wicked problems, the creation and maintenance of public value and democratic participation.


2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Wael Omran Aly

Abstract:After the Second World War, the newly emerged independent third world countries faced immense problems such as poverty, illiteracy, poor health, low agriculture and industrial productivity and social instability. The idea of development administration was born with the above-stated pragmatic concern. Since then, third world countries strived to adopt development administration principles and techniques; in order to transform their conventional traditional public administration into modern development administration that can lead the prospective development.Such conventional public administration deals with regulatory aspects of administration such as law and order, judicial administration and revenue collection, development administration is concerned with the socio-economic developmental activities. Thus, traditional public administration is structure-oriented while developmental administration is action- oriented. Many third world countries failed in realizing such desired shift by converting its conventional public administration to effective development administration; able to achieve the intended national development via the formulation and the implementation of plans, policies, programs and projects necessary for sustainable development purposes. Such bad governance had led the people to go up against such government; as it happens lately in some Arab countries like Egypt and Tunisia.Therefore, the public sector in Egypt need to be deregulated, a new results-based management is a must; to hold managers accountable. This is a fundamental change: holding managers accountable for what they do, not how they do it. The public sector reform initiatives (especially the New Public management –NPM) have resulted in changing the accountability concept; from accountability in terms of procedural compliance to accountability in terms of efficiency and results (effectiveness and cost effectiveness).  


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dejan Milenković ◽  
Vladimir Đurić

Public administration reform, better known as the New Public Management - NPM, which began in the mid-1970s, had a key impact on the development of modern public administration. The NPM emphasizes the economic values of public administration, to the detriment of its other values. Public Private Partnership- PPP is one of the basic elements of NPM doctrine. PPP is a partnership between the public and private sector that aims to provide a service traditionally provided by the public sector. An integral part of every PPP is the Value for Money methodology. The “Value for money”- VfM method emerged in this process of public administration reform, first in the UK. The document of the British Government Private Finance Initiative (PFI) from the year 1992, presented the basis for the creation of a new so-called “Venture”, which at that time was called a joint venture, and which is today known as PPP. PPP is a relatively new institute that has existed in the Republic of Serbia since 2011. In this paper, we will deal with the application of the VfM methodology in PPP projects related to street lighting in the Republic of Serbia, and try to give answer about social and economic justification of PPP and potential economic savings that can be achieved in the public sector through the implementation of PPP. At the present time, when there is more and more talk about the need for environmental protection, sustainable development and energy efficiency, PPP projects can have an increasing importance in this area. For this reason, we have limited the application of VfM methods in PPP projects in the Republic of Serbia only to street lighting projects which provide the mentioned goals.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 209-216
Author(s):  
Valerii Bakumenko ◽  
Oleksiy Krasnorutskyy ◽  
Anatolii Hatsko

The modernization of the management system and the knowledge management model is needed in the context of the public administration reform, taking into account the concept of decentralization and Good Governance. That is why the article focuses on the author’s approach to substantiating the formation of a modern knowledge system in public management and administration in Ukraine. It is proved that the approach to the knowledge system formation should be based on the identification of the needs of public administration objects. The need to comply with the necessary diversity law for a management subject of public entity regarding its knowledge of the entity has been identified. The content of the principle «from general to specific» for the objects of public administration is considered. The formation structure of the basic knowledge system in the public sphere is presented, which unites a number of blocks. The first block deals with the system of basic knowledge of public management and administration. The second block deals with the idea of a public authorities system at different levels. The third block concerns the formation of basic knowledge about public service. The fourth block concerns the formation of a basic knowledge system about current trends in the development of domestic public administration. The fifth block deals with the knowledge about the development and implementation of public policy and implementation of public administration. The sixth block deals with the consideration of public administration as a deliberate activity to establish internal procedures and processes in public administration to ensure their smooth functioning. The seventh block concerns the knowledge system for ensuring social stability. The eighth block is a glossary of basic terms and the ninth is a bibliography. The proposed approach is the scientific substantiation of the development of educational and professional programs of the basic textbook and standards for the specialty 281 – «Public Management and Administration». Keywords: knowledge, public administration, the necessary diversity law, public policy, public service, public authorities, public stability.


Author(s):  
Babak Sohrabi ◽  
Amir Khanlari

Public administration has been challenged by “new public management” and “government redesign” paradigms. In addition, the relationship between government and citizen has been changed dramatically based on the mentioned paradigm shift. Customer orientation in the public sector is one of the changes originated from the private sector’s principles and paradigms. Nowadays, scholars emphasize applying concepts and techniques of customer orientation in e-government. In this text, firstly, customer orientation and its importance in government activities, especially e-government, is described. Then, principles, applications, and experiences of citizen relationship management as a technique of customer-oriented governments are described.


2015 ◽  
pp. 2183-2199
Author(s):  
Babak Sohrabi ◽  
Amir Khanlari

Public administration has been challenged by “new public management” and “government redesign” paradigms. In addition, the relationship between government and citizen has been changed dramatically based on the mentioned paradigm shift. Customer orientation in the public sector is one of the changes originated from the private sector's principles and paradigms. Nowadays, scholars emphasize applying concepts and techniques of customer orientation in e-government. In this text, firstly, customer orientation and its importance in government activities, especially e-government, is described. Then, principles, applications, and experiences of citizen relationship management as a technique of customer-oriented governments are described.


2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-200
Author(s):  
Muiris MacCarthaigh ◽  
Niamh Hardiman

Between 2008 and 2015, Ireland undertook unprecedented and systemic public sector reforms in a polity not traditionally considered a prominent reformer. While some of these reforms comprised part of the loan programme agreement with EU and international actors, many others did not. This article argues that the crisis in Ireland provided a window of opportunity to introduce reforms that political and administrative elites had previously found difficult to implement. The authority of the Troika was invoked to provide legitimacy for controversial initiatives, yet some of the reforms went further than the loan programme strictly required. A number of these concerning organisational rationalisation, the public service ‘bargain’ and transversal policy coordination are considered here. Agreements were negotiated with public sector unions that facilitated sharp cuts in pay and conditions, reducing the potential for opposition to change. The reform effort was further legitimated by the reformers’ post-New Public Management, whole-of-government discourse, which situated considerations of effectiveness and efficiency in a broader framework of public service quality and delivery.


2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-24
Author(s):  
Svajūnė Ungurytė-Ragauskienė ◽  
Mantas Bileišis

Some public administration literature that focuses on public administration reform indulges in constructing grand narrative theories such as New Public Management (NPM), or New Governance (NG). The most recent such theory that has been gaining attention over the past decade is the Neo Weberian State (NWS). The content of the theory with regard to its practical implication when it comes to reform is still unsettled. However, one key assumption behind the NWS is that reforms should be handled with care, as they may undermine the very institutions that have brought Western societies to the levels of their development they are in now. NPM’s drive to increase efficiency, and NG’s – democracy from the point of view of NWS is impossible if reforms deconstruct institutions that ensure the protection of the public interest and rule of law. NWS’s critique of post-communist reform efforts in the new eastern EU member-states is a case in point suggesting that leapfrogging the construction of a professional bureaucracy is ill-advised and does not lead to politically desired outcomes. In this paper we aim to evaluate which path of reform may lead to the best outcomes in a particular area of the public service – two non-military uniformed services of Lithuania – customs and penitentiary. These services have to a large degree avoided sweeping reforms throughout the independence period, in both cases – a soviet institutional legacy is also a factor. Both Customs and the Penitentiary service are suffering from multiple corruption scandals and very low public trust levels. These services are continuously in the crosshairs of reform, but few have been clearly articulated, even less so – implemented. Applying NPM to uniformed services, due to the nature of their functions was complicated, so as reforms in the 1990s and 2000s went along in the other sectors, policy-makers have largely left uniformed to their own devices, and this has led to retrenchment of the bureaucratic principles as would historical institutionalisms theory predict. We suggest that NPM-oriented governance avoids intervention in areas where NPM principles are hard to apply, leaving such areas without proper attention to continue down undesirable development paths. When the deconstruction of a hierarchy appears impossible, higher order governance needs to remain modelled as hierarchy as well. NWS in this case does offer a management modernization agenda, which could keep state institutions in step with social, technological, and economic developments.


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