We explain what public management is and what New Public Management is. Also, why it is important and examples of public management.
What is public management?
When we talk about public management or public administration we refer to the implementation of government policies that is, to the application of State resources with the objective of promoting development and a state of well-being in its population. Public management is also called the university degree that trains professionals in the theories, tools and practices that pertain to the public policies of a nation.
Although public management and public administration are not 100% equivalent concepts, they can largely be used synonymously. Their difference lies in the fact that the first term refers to knowledge and conceptualization, while the other generally applies to the practical and real aspect of the same. But in both cases it is about how to manage State resources.
The study of public management also aspires to build public improvement methods which allow the elimination of regulations that hinder economic and social life, improvement of those that are necessary and replacement of obsolete ones with more up-to-date versions. All of this in favor of building more efficient public administration models, less prone to corruption and more democratic.
See also: Management in administration
New Public Management (NPM)
Towards the end of the 20th century, certain sectors of the political and economic life of developed countries proposed the need to radically and profoundly rethink the way in which we in the West conceive the Government and the State, thus proposing its debureaucratization and the review of the functioning of everything. the public and the subsidized, founding in the 1990s what was called New Public Management (NGP).
This radical criticism of the public, led by authors such as Ferlie (1996), Mönks (1998) and Bolgiani (2002), proposed four development models for the public:
- Efficiency model Based on state benefit contracts, it focuses on the productive performance of the public.
- Model of downsizing and decentralization of the State It proposes the shrinking of public structures and the radical decentralization of the administrative responsibilities of the State.
- Model of the search for excellence Whose idea of the State is that of the promoter of a culture of leadership and learning favorable to national productive processes.
- Public service orientation model The State must be governed by a model of excellence in the provision of services to the public, guaranteeing the satisfaction of its clientele.
Importance of public management
Public management is essential for the construction of more just, equitable and happy societies. Largely because the role of the State, a source of eternal debates between those who prefer minimal participation (liberals) and those who opt for full participation (interventionists) in economic and daily affairs, requires responsible, fair and democratic planning, which ensures always for gradual improvement and the fairest rules of life. Thinking about public policies allows people to build their own development alternatives based on their particularities as a nation.
Examples of public management
It is easy to exemplify public management in government change processes since outgoing and newly arrived authorities often implement different policies. Thus, for example, the Brazilian government of the State of Bahia implemented in 1995 a citizen service that implemented a Center of federal, provincial and national agencies that provide their services to the public in a comfortable and easy way. These SAC Centers (Citizen Service) were distributed in the neighborhoods and had public service departments with photocopying, photography, etc. services. All in favor of facilitating the procedures for the citizen.
Another case worth mentioning was the implementation of transportation cards via the Internet in the Government of the Community of Madrid in Spain. This new service, launched in 1998, significantly improved the quality of life of the public, by saving them long lines at charging windows and allowing them access to numerous information services linked to their rechargeable urban travel card.
You can read about other successful public management improvement practices here.
References
- “Public administration” on Wikipedia.
- “What is public management?” in Peru21.
- “What is public management?” in fude.
- “Improvement of public management” in the Anti-Corruption Program of the Mexican Government.
- “Public management” at the Catholic University of Córdoba.
- “Public Administration” in The Encyclopaedia Britannica.
