Public Value Measurement vs. Public Value Creating Imagination – the Constraining Influence of Old and New Public Management Paradigms

Abstract

ABSTRACT Public value management emerged as a response to the limitations of new public management, to incorporate notions of democracy and inclusive dialogue and deliberation. However, the contestation around the expression of public value limits its capacity to guide thinking and practice. This article explores the competing expression of accountability under new public management (NPM) and public value management (PVM) value frames. It argues that a measurement focus is a legacy of NPM values frames which are incompatible with those of PVM. As such, the focus on measurement is blocking a coherent exposition of an emerging PVM paradigm.