Public Management Development in England: New Right, New Left and Third Way

Abstract

This article aims to evaluate the changing notions of public services as expressed in NPM, and to place these in the context of the emergence of new political ideas which are associated with the New Right, New Left and Third Way. There have been different attempts to theorise and formulate the rapidly changing nature of political and managerial re-organisation in Britain. Additionally, there have been different ways of defining and describing these developments. However, similar themes have been emphasized and an agenda of common concerns are recognised that can be articulated as a modernisation movement seeking to enhance democratic governance and effective public service delivery. Among new ideas, most emphasis was placed on corporate management, strategic planning, performance measurement and fundamental corporate review, quality management and administrative accountability. There is also a new emphasis on central-local government relations.