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Christopher Pollitt and Geert Bouckaert (2011) Public Management Reform:

A Comparative Analysis − New Public Management, Governance, and the Neo
−Weberian State
Donald J. Savoie
International Review of Administrative Sciences 2012 78: 180
DOI: 10.1177/0020852312437323

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International Review of
Administrative Sciences
78(1) 180–182
Book review ! The Author(s) 2012
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DOI: 10.1177/0020852312437323
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Christopher Pollitt and Geert Bouckaert (2011) Public Management Reform: A Comparative
Analysis – New Public Management, Governance, and the Neo–Weberian State. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, Third Edition, 352 pp., ISBN: 978-0-19-926849-8 (pbk)
Academic disciplines require a point of reference, a major work that establishes
their most salient points and that provide important insights and set the stage for
future work. Studies of comparative public management in its various forms are
blessed. Christopher Pollitt and Geert Bouckaert have produced a seminal contri-
bution to the discipline. Students and practitioners of public management wishing
to gain a thorough understanding of public sector management reform efforts, the
theories that underpin them, as well as their strengths and weaknesses, need to look
no further than to Public Management Reform: A Comparative Analysis – New
Public Management, Governance, and the Neo-Weberian State, third edition.
Readers familiar with the book’s first and second editions already have an
appreciation of the book’s contribution to the discipline. A major effort was
made in preparing the third edition – it not only provides up-to-date material
and references, but also offers fresh insights into both the strengths and weaknesses
of more recent public sector management reform measures.
The book has eight chapters, two appendices, a bibliography and an index. The
appendices are valuable contributions in their own right. One provides a socio-
economic overview of the experiences of the 12 countries surveyed in the book. It
looks to key indicators from GDP growth, government spending as a percentage of
GDP, income inequity and so on. The second appendix will be of interest to
students of government as an easily accessible reference describing the political-
administrative institutions of the 12 countries. It also looks at broad policy initia-
tives, measures to reform management, the implementation process and a brief
commentary on the success or lack of success of the efforts.
The book’s first chapter sets the scene, outlining the reasons for the rise of New
Public Management (NPM) and other reform measures and the extent to which the
measures have gone global. It also seeks to answer some fundamental questions –
how have the rise of networking and the focus on ‘governance’ inspired more recent
management reform attempts? It assesses the impact of the 2008 global financial
crisis on the public management reform agenda.
The second chapter seeks to answer a key question – why has the public man-
agement reform agenda been so widely embraced? Pollitt and Bouckaert go to the
heart of the matter when they write that it is ‘no longer possible for a government

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Book review 181

to sustain for very long a level of public spending that global markets deem to be
imprudent’ (p. 35). The capacity of national governments to tax is not what it once
was, hence the search for more efficiency in government operations. This may well
explain why the bulk of the management reform initiatives has been and continues
to be a top-down rather than a bottom-up process.
Chapter three makes the point that it is not possible to review public manage-
ment reform without taking into account a country’s political-administrative insti-
tutional arrangements. The authors consider how the 12 countries differ and how
the differences can influence the choice and implementation of management reform
measures. Chapter four explores ‘trajectories’ in reviewing management reform
themes, notably financial and human resources management.
Chapter five explores the performance of government from an international
perspective. The challenge, of course, is what to measure and how. Pollitt and
Bouckaert explore the full gamut of measurements, ways to assess improvements
and determine success. They also identify the many pitfalls when assessing perfor-
mance in government.
The last three chapters deal with what students of government and practitioners
understand all too well but others less so. How to square public management
reform with politics and how to establish a proper working relationship between
politicians and public servants? The chapters not only provide an excellent over-
view of the literature, but also offer fresh thinking on the impact management
reform efforts have had on the traditional politician-civil servant bargain. Here,
the authors could have extended their reach somewhat to review how the role of the
politicians has changed in recent years in shaping public policy due, at least in part,
to management reform efforts.
The same can be said about the role of the media and the impact they have had
on management reform. The chapters do explore the relationships between citizens
and government, between civil servants and taxpayers, and how accountability has
evolved. However, they have little to say about the 24-hour television news and the
rise of the social media and their impact on government operations.
The concluding chapter – Reflections – is the strongest of the eight chapters. It
neatly ties together the book’s findings, revisits the three models – New Public
Management, Neo-Weberian State and New Public Governance – and offers
insights on possible future research efforts.
The book has a number of strengths. It is very well written and accessible to a
wide audience. It skilfully weaves a comparative viewpoint throughout and looks at
public sector management from a broad all-encompassing perspective. The book’s
third edition will likely have a greater impact and a wider readership than the first
two because its publication comes at a critical time. Both students and practitioners
will find important lessons learned for the public sector as governments everywhere
seek a more solid footing to deal with today’s turbulent socio-economic
circumstances.
Public Management Reforms stands out from its peers as a remarkably impartial
look at how twelve governments have sought to reform their operations. The book

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182 International Review of Administrative Sciences 78(1)

will stand the test of time and take its place among the classics in public
administration.

Donald J. Savoie
Senior Canada Research Chair in Public Administration and Governance, Universite´ de
Moncton
Email: Donald.savoie@umoncton.ca

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