New Public Management emerged in the 1980s and was perceived to be a solution many of the problems that had traditionally beset public administration. It emerged within the context of an ideological shift in the role of, amongst other things, public service provision, the welfare state,...

This article argues that it is possible to distinguish between the utility of different institutional structures by comparing the quality service that each typed delivers. As the executive agencies of the new public management are considered to be different from the traditional public sector...

This paper provides a new conceptualisation of high performance government for the public sector. Despite the concerted focus on performance management in both the public and private sectors, the performance puzzle remains. In part, we argue, this is because of a failure to recognise the complex...

The efficacy of alternative institutional arrangements depends upon the information costs that obtain under each. The information revolution has dramatically transformed information costs and, therefore, the optimal placement of the boundary between government, non-governmental organizations,...

Reception and implementation of public sector reform ideas varies across countries. Westminster-type systems (Britain, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada) adopted New Public Management ideas most enthusiastically. Ireland was slower to do so. Continental European countries were the least...

In recent years the United Kingdom government has increasingly adopted quasi-market arrangements (‘exit’) as a means of ensuring that public services in England meet the needs and wishes of users. However, the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales have been inclined to rely more on...

The Mexican public sector has undergone significant transformations in recent decades. This article argues against the view that these changes are the result of New Public Management-style reforms. Even though the Mexican government has applied some of the tools associated with this paradigm,...

The paper aims at assessing indicators and individual elements of e-government of selected countries in 2009-2010, and the interrelation of e-government with corruption in the public sector. The authors explore possible causal and dependency relations of the established interlink between...