The Public Administration Theory Primer

Traditional Management Th eory Th rust Forward 113

Development is a particularly strong advocate of the New Public Management
and encourages countries to adopt its principles. Although there is an extensive
scholarly critique of NPM, it is a safe generalization that its principles have been
widely accepted in the modern practice of public administration (Frederickson
1997b). Whether the application of these principles is better government, and
particularly better government for whom, is subject to debate. No doubt the ap-
plication of the early principles of management did result in cleaner, more ef-
fi cient, and more professional government. But with that has come larger and
more expensive government.
NPM is presently very infl uential in the practices of public administration.
In a postmodern and rhetorical sense, the New Public Management can be ex-
plained and understood as presently acceptable doctrines of management. But
the canons of social science demand a more precise identifi cation of variables,
more precision in the suggested association between variables, greater precision

TABLE 5.2 Comparisons of Traditional and Contemporary Principles of
Management in Public Administration
Doctrine Traditional Principles Contemporary Principles

Scale Large—centralized Small—decentralized

Service Provision Direct government service

Compel costs and benefits

Contract out

Choices in costs and benefits

Specialization By characteristics of work

By work processes and

purpose

By characteristics of clientele

By location

Control By professional practice

standards

By inputs (budgets, staff

size)

By outputs, processes

By administration

By competition

By outcomes

By administrative

Discretion By laws, regulations

By professional latitude

By deregulation

By risk taking

Employment By merit, affirmative action,

technical skill

Same

Leadership Based on neutral competence

Professional expertise

Based on entrepreneurial

advocating

Purpose To carry out the law

To manage orderly and

reliable institutions

To facilitate change

To create public value