Beyond stereotype : comparing British and German bureaucracies in the age of NPM

Abstract

We are said to live in the 'New Public Management' (NPM) age. The cases of Germany and Britain are often taken as opposite examples of 'NPM' eagemess, the former often defined as a 'laggard', the latter as a 'reform leader. This article utilises the 'public sector bargain' perspective to provide for a more differentiated perspective on these two states. It does so in two steps. First this paper suggests that , over time, Germany bas witnessed a far larger number of 'major conjectures in its public service bargains than Bhtain. Second, by assessing reforms across three dimensions of the 'public service bargain', reward, competency, as well as loyalty and responsibility, this article also challenges established first-level approximations of the German and British public service by pointing to some developments that fly in the face of widely held beliefs regarding the two national administrative Systems and administrative reform features. Contemporary reforms have produced a multiplication and complication of bargains rather than a 'managehalist' bargain. Based on these findings, this article argues that it is time to move beyond the standard fare ofthe 'NPM' industry.