Do Metaphors of Globalization Destroy the Public Service?

Abstract

Today, a sense of crisis hectors the public sector. Debates about the future of the public services inevitably refer to the rising power of global markets and the declining power of the nation state (Held, 1995). The values of public service are said to be eroding quickly, replaced with a commitment to market-based competition (Haque, 2001). Employees within the public sector find themselves caught in a bind between being a public servant and an enterprising employee (Thomas and Davies, 2005). Users are not sure whether they are a member of the public, or a consumer ready to gobble up what is on offer. These painful questions have led some to claim that the public sector in most western states is suffering a ‘legitimation crisis’ (Habermas, 1999). By this I mean that people are questioning the relevance, usefulness, importance and appropriateness of the public sector in contemporary life. The result is that we are increasingly unsure about what the public sector should do, can do, or whether it even has a right to exist. This has prompted some to speculate that we are witnessing the destruction of the public sector.