New Public Administration, New Public Management and Good Governance
New Public Administration, New Public Management and Good Governance
This domain tests three reform movements and their distinct assumptions about the state, citizens and management.
Core rules and concepts
- New Public Administration (late 1960s to 1970s; Minnowbrook) stressed social equity, relevance, values and citizen-oriented administration; it reacted against value-neutral efficiency.
- New Public Management (1980s to 1990s) imported market and private-sector techniques: managerial autonomy, performance targets, contracting, competition, user charges and steering rather than rowing.
- Good governance (1990s onward) is broader: participation, transparency, accountability, rule of law, responsiveness, effectiveness and efficiency. In India it is promoted through RTI, citizen charters, e-governance and service-guarantee laws.
- NPA is normative; NPM is managerial; good governance is a governance-quality framework. They overlap but are not synonyms.
Worked example
A transport department publishes service standards, appoints a citizen charter, and contracts out bus maintenance with performance indicators. The charter and transparency reflect good governance; the contract and indicators reflect NPM; a focus on equitable access for poor commuters reflects NPA concerns.
Traps
Do not call NPM a return to classical bureaucracy. Do not say good governance is only e-governance. Do not treat NPA as merely anti-government or NPM as identical to privatisation.