Revisiting the New Public Management

Abstract

ne of the most widely discussed models for public sector reform in recent years is the New Public Management (NPM). Born and evolved during the 1990s, it was hailed as a paradigm shift in public administration. However, discussion of NPM has often been fragmented, inconsistent, technical, and uncritical. In fact, the original public management model of NPM does not appear to have had a coherent analytical framework. For example, when Christopher Hood (1991) first elaborated the NPM framework, he reviewed seven features of public sector reform that he considered the doctrinal components of NPM without explaining their mutual connection and taxonomic order. Although he mentioned some theoretical sources of NPM (e.g., public choice theory) and normative priorities (e.g., frugality and efficiency), he barely related them to the seven doctrines. Despite this disjointed framework, NPM has been reified into a global model and used as a dominant yardstick to shape later research on public administration. In this regard, Argyriades identifies two crucial features of NPM: scientific pretensions and its global ambitions (2006, 281).