New Public Management and ethics

Spano, Dominick

doi:10.2478/hjbpa-2022-0016

Abstract

New Public Management (NPM) is a business-oriented approach to public administration that has existed for many years. While there are mixed opinions on NPM’s level of effectiveness, I believe that the more pressing question is if it is ethical. This paper seeks to answer said question by utilizing Terry Cooper’s insights on ethics. By discussing various matters and providing multiple illustrations, such as NPM’s relationship to privatization, contrasting out, elites, and everyday citizens, this work concludes that NPM is not an ethical methodology to public administration.

References

Allison, G.T. (2004). Public and private management: Are they fundamentally alike in allunimportant respects? In J.M. Shafritz, A.C. Hyde, and S.J. Parkers (Eds.), Classics of Public Administration (pp. 396-413). Thompson.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Azadinamin, A. (2013). The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers: Causes of failure & recommendations going forward. Social Science Research, 8, 1-19.10.2139/ssrn.2016892
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Baumgartner, F. R., & Jones, B. D. (2009). Agendas and instability in American politics (2nd ed.). Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Box, R. C. (1998). Citizen governance: Leading America communities into the 21st century.New York, NY: Sage Publications.10.4135/9781483328249
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Box, R. C. (1999). Running government like a business: Implications for public administration theory and practice. The American Review of Public Administration, 29(1), 19-43.10.1177/02750749922064256
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Bozeman, B. (2007). Public values and public interest: Counterbalancing economic individualism. Washington, D. C.: Georgetown University Press.10.1353/book13027
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Cooper, T. L. (1987). Hierarchy, virtue, and the practice of public administration: A perspective for normative ethics. Public Administration Review, 47(4), 320-328.10.2307/975312
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Cooper, T. L. (2004). Big questions in administrative ethics: A need for focused, collaborative effort. Public Administration Review, 64(4), 395-407.10.1111/j.1540-6210.2004.00386.x
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Cooper, T. L. (2006). The responsible administrator: An approach to ethics for the administrative role (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Denhardt, J., & Denhardt, R. B. (2011). The new public service: Serving not steering (3rd ed.). New York, NY: M.E. Sharpe.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Denhardt, R.B., & Grubbs, J. W. (2003). Public administration: An action orientation (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Dong, L. (2015). Public administration theories: Instrumental and value rationalities. New York, NY: Springer Publishing.10.1057/9781137536426_2
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Drechsler, W. (2020). Good bureaucracy: Max Weber and public administration today. Max Weber Studies, 20(2), 219-224.10.1353/max.2020.0014
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Farazmand, A. (1999). The elite question: Toward a normative elite theory of organization. Administration & Society, 31(3), 321-360.10.1177/00953999922019166
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Goldfinch, S. (1998). Evaluating public sector reform in New Zealand: Have the benefits been oversold? Asian Journal of Public Administration, 20(2), 203-232.10.1080/02598272.1998.10800354
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Gruening, G. (2001). Origin and theoretical basis of new public management. International Public Management Journal, 4(1), 1-25.10.1016/S1096-7494(01)00041-1
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Hood, C. (1991). A public management for all seasons? Public Administration, 69(1), 3-19.10.1111/j.1467-9299.1991.tb00779.x
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Hood, C., & Jackson, M. (1992). The new public management: A recipe for disaster. In D. Parker, and J. Handmer (Eds.), Hazard management and emergency planning: Perspectives on Britain (pp. 109-125). Routledge.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Hughes, O.W. (1998). Public management & administration (2nd ed.). London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.10.1007/978-1-349-26896-2_3
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Jespersen, P. K., & Greve, C. (1999). New public management and its critics: Alternative roads to flexible service delivery to citizens? In L. Rouban (Ed.), Citizens and the new Governance: Beyond new public management (pp. 143-156). OS Press.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Kearney, R. C., & Mareschal, P. M. (2014). Labor Relations in the public sector (5th ed.). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Kettl, D. F. (2005). The global public management revolution: A report on the transformation of governance. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Li, Y. (2010). The case analysis of the scandal of Enron. International Journal of business and management, 5(10), 37-41.10.5539/ijbm.v5n10p37
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Lynn, L. E., (2006). Public management: Old and new. New York, NY: Routledge.10.4324/9780203964774
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
McFarland, A. S. (1987). Interest groups and theories of power in America. British Journal of Political Science, 17(2), 129-147.10.1017/S0007123400004683
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Meier, K.J., & O’Toole, L. J., (2006). Bureaucracy in democratic state: A governance perspective. Baltimore, MA: The Johns Hopkins University Press.10.56021/9780801883569
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Mosher, F.C. (1968). Democracy and the public service. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Ogy, V. I. (2000). Private sector participation and municipal waste management in Benin City, Nigeria. Environment and Urbanization, 12(2), 103-117.10.1177/095624780001200209
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Pokharel, T. R. (2019). Power approaches to policy-making. NCC Journal, 4(1), 171-180.10.3126/nccj.v4i1.24751
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Pollitt, C., & Bouchaert, G. (2000). Public management reform: A comparative analysis. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.10.1093/oso/9780198295969.003.0002
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Rhodes, R.A.W. (1996). The new governance: Governing without government. Political Studies, 44(4), 652-667.10.1111/j.1467-9248.1996.tb01747.x
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Riccucci, N. M. (2010). Public administration: Traditions of inquiry and philosophies of knowledge. Washington, D. C.: Georgetown University Press.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Samaratunge, R., Alam, Q., & Teicher, J. (2008). The new public management reforms in Asia: A comparison of South and Southeast Asian countries. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 74(1), 25-46.10.1177/0020852307085732
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Savas, E.S. (2000). Privatization and public-private partnerships. New York, NY: Chatham House Publishers.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Spicer, M. W. (2001). Public administration and the state: A postmodern perspective. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Thompson, F. (2003). New public management and bureaucracy versus business values and bureaucracy. Review of Public Personal Administration, 23(4), 328-343.10.1177/0734371X03257478
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Veetikazhi, R., & Krishnan, G. (2019). Wells Fargo: Fall from great to miserable: A case study on corporate governance failures. South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases, 8(1), 88-99.10.1177/2277977918803476
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Walters, J. (2000). The welfare bonanza. Governing, 13(4), 34-36.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Zia, Y. A., & Khan, M. Z. (2014). A comparative review of traditional and new public administration and critique of new public management. Dialogue, 9(4), 428-442.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article

New Public Management and ethics

Abstract

Paradigm

My account