State and Executive Perceptions of Public Sector Reform in Europe.

Abstract

Like most other areas of the world, the public sector in Europe has undergone significant reform in the past two decades, shaped in part by a broader New Public Management (NPM) paradigm, but one that also introduces a unique European flavour to this form of public management. Whilst NPM and public administration in Europe shares similarities with other cases, the added complexity of differing starting points and the EU layer provide interesting insight into the nature of public administration. This chapter will draw on a large-scale survey of top European executives in central government, in order to develop a comprehensive picture of the perceptions of NPM reforms and their effects over the last five years. Focusing on a cross-selection of EU countries (plus Norway),2 the chapter will present findings about choice of policy instruments, relevance of different reform trends and their general success and impact within the case countries. The chapter will first provide a general overview of the state of the public sector in the European countries under study before turning to how the public sector and its reform are perceived by top executives. This will focus on key trends in the public sector in terms of both NPM and post-NPM reforms, including usage of different policy instruments and the prevalence of trends regarding issues such as transparency, cooperation, digital/e-government, downsizing, red tape, citizen participation, contracting out and others. The chapter will look at the importance of these trends in the various case countries and across Europe before examining the nature of these reforms. Finally, the perceived success and overall impact of these reforms will be assessed, along with a brief examination of the impacts of the fiscal crisis on reforms in Europe. Throughout, the chapter will explore convergences and divergences in these issues across the European countries under study, before providing some conclusions about the state of the public sector, its reform and prospects for its future.