Public Management Reform

Abstract

Public Management Reform (PMR) has come of age. In many countries, both developed and developing, change in the patterns of engagements both within administrative systems and outside with external entities - social, political and economic, is evident. Within the machinery of government the range of refinements and extensions has encompassed organizational, managerial, financial, technological and legal aspects, while in the external domain relational changes with political structures (the executive and legislatures), other public bodies, social organizations, private concerns and the general public have goaded the public bureaucracy to be more interactive, responsive, transparent and accountable. New configurations have transformed the bureaucracy's interface with society and the public, the methods of delivering services, ways of measuring and improving performance, and mechanisms for ensuring and maintaining ethical standards. The infusion of neo-liberal principles in a world of globalization has added a totally new dimension to the role of the state, in general, and its administrative arm, in particular, and reconfigured their inter-connections with civil society, the private sector and an array of international economic regimes.