Multiple Perspectives on Economic Rationalism and the New Managerialism: Power and Public Interest?

Abstract

The economic rationalist, new managerialist (ERNM) paradigm of public management, based on neo-classical economics is promoted as offering potential benefits for all. It could be argued that adoption of an ERNM-directed framework by governments favors power elites at the expense of the rest of the community. In this environment, the rhetoric of wider opportunity may be used simply for electoral purposes to persuade the polity that there is some egalitarian benefit from adherence to such a paradigm. Another interpretation suggests that political elites have been unwittingly persuaded by the rhetoric of the business and intellectual neo-liberalists to develop strategic public governance frameworks that favor them. The third possibility is that altruism has motivated key elites who are acting in the interests of all the polity. In this article, the first and second possibilities are the basis of an examination of the extent to which power is a critical influence on contemporary government policy and administrative action.