A Comparative View of the Traditional, New Public Management and New Public Service Approach
Introduction
Government is undergoing one of the major challenges in governance in the public sector. The increasing demands for efficiency and the global pressures of a competitive driven market have transformed the way we do business today. This pressure is ever eminent in the evolution of public management, creating a public sector reform that challenges the role of government in society and the relationship between government and its citizens. There are many definitions of governance, depending in which context, it is used; but here “governance involves the interactions among structures, processes, and traditions that determine how power is exercised, how decisions are taken, and how citizens and other stakeholders have their say.” In the past, there has been different concepts that have impacted the governance of government; namely, the old (traditional) model (TM), also known as “public administration” which was based on a hierarchical system, the new public management model (NPM), based on a management approach adapting business principles, and the new public service model (NPS); built on democratic citizenship, community, civil society, organizational humanism and discourse theory. These concepts will be compared to assess the impact in governance through history. I will argue against the ideology of the NPM theory which states that government should be adapting more business-like values and transform the way they do business; we will discuss the different challenges government is facing today in view of these concepts; and demonstrate a different approach (drawn from NPS) that will benefit every actor involve in the governance of a democratic society. Let us work together in building a society that will encourage relationship between public-private organizations and other institutions for the benefit of our citizens and society as a whole.
The Traditional Model
This concept of governance was dominant in the early part of the twentieth
Government is undergoing one of the major challenges in governance in the public sector. The increasing demands for efficiency and the global pressures of a competitive driven market have transformed the way we do business today. This pressure is ever eminent in the evolution of public management, creating a public sector reform that challenges the role of government in society and the relationship between government and its citizens. There are many definitions of governance, depending in which context, it is used; but here “governance involves the interactions among structures, processes, and traditions that determine how power is exercised, how decisions are taken, and how citizens and other stakeholders have their say.” In the past, there has been different concepts that have impacted the governance of government; namely, the old (traditional) model (TM), also known as “public administration” which was based on a hierarchical system, the new public management model (NPM), based on a management approach adapting business principles, and the new public service model (NPS); built on democratic citizenship, community, civil society, organizational humanism and discourse theory. These concepts will be compared to assess the impact in governance through history. I will argue against the ideology of the NPM theory which states that government should be adapting more business-like values and transform the way they do business; we will discuss the different challenges government is facing today in view of these concepts; and demonstrate a different approach (drawn from NPS) that will benefit every actor involve in the governance of a democratic society. Let us work together in building a society that will encourage relationship between public-private organizations and other institutions for the benefit of our citizens and society as a whole.
The Traditional Model
This concept of governance was dominant in the early part of the twentieth