Abstract
The Nordic countries have been portrayed as model states when it comes to government reform. This chapter introduces the central theme of the book: Is there a Nordic administrative reform model, and what are the main similarities and differences between the Nordic countries and the rest of Europe? It presents an overview of the main research questions and analytical model as well as the individual chapters of the book. This chapter takes stock of earlier research on public sector reform in Europe and the Nordic countries, introducing central concepts and reform trajectories, identified by New Public Management, New Public Governance, the Neo Weberian State, and post-New Public Management, and discusses reform drivers, the effects of reform, and the impact of administrative traditions.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alford, J. 2011. Engaging Public Sector Clients. London: Palgrave.
Andrew, R. 2010. ‘NPM and the Search for Efficiencu’, in T. Christensen and P. Lægreid (eds), The ashgate Research Companion to New Public Management. Aldershot: Ashgate, 281–94.
Aucoin, P. 1990. Administrative Reform in Public Management: Paradigms, Principles, Paradoxes and Pendulums. Governance 3(2): 115–137.
Brunsson, N. 1989. The Organization of Hypocrisy. Chichester: Wiley.
Carron, N., C. Dahlstrøm, and V. Lapuente. 2012. No Law Without a State. Journal of Comparative Economics 40(2): 176–193.
Christensen, T., and Lægreid P. 2013. Contexts and administrative reforms: a transformative perspective, in C. Pollitt, ed. Context in Public Policy and Management. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Christensen, T., and P. Lægreid, eds. 2001. New Public Management. The Transformation of Ideas and Practice. Aldershot: Ashgate.
———, eds. 2007a. Transcending New Public Management. The Transformation of Public Sector Refroms. Aldershot: Ashgate.
———. 2007b. The Whole of Government Approach to Public Sector Reform. Public Administration Review 67(6): 1059–1066.
———, eds. 2011a. The Ashgate Research Companion to New Public Management. Aldershot: Ashgate.
———. 2011b. Beyond NPM? Some Development Features. In The Ashgate Research Companion to New Public Management, eds. T. Christensen, and P. Lægreid. Aldershot: Ashgate.
———. 2012. Administrative Reforms in Western Democracies. In The SAGE Handbook of Public Administration, eds. B.G. Peters, and J. Pierre. London: Sage.
Clark, J. and J. Newman (1997). The Managerial State. London: Sage
Curry, D., S. Jilke, G. Hammerschmid, and S. Van de Walle. 2015. The State and Perceptions of Public Sector Reform in Europe. In The International Handbook of Public Administration and Governance, eds. A. Massey, and K. Miller. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Dahlström, C., B. Peters, and J. Pierre, eds. 2011. Steering from the Centre. Strengthening Political Control in Western Democracies. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Dan, S., and C. Pollitt. 2015. NPM Can Work. An Optimistic Review of the Impact of New Public Management Reforms in Central and Eastern Europe. Public Management Review 17(9): 1305–1332.
De Vries, M., and J. Nemec. 2013. Public Sector Reform: An Overview of Recent Literature and Research on NPM and Alternative Paths. International Journal of Public Sector Management 26(1): 4–16.
Drechsler, W., and T. Randma-Liiv. 2015. In Some Central and Eastern European Countries, Some NPM Tools May Sometimes Work: A Reply to Dan and Pollitt’s ‘NPM Can Work’. Public Management Review, Online first.
Dunleavy, P., and L. Carrera. 2013. Growing the Productivity of Government Services. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Dunleavy, P., and V. Hood. 1994. From Old Public Administration to New Public Management. Public Policy & Management 14(3): 9–16.
Dunleavy, P., H. Margetts, S. Bastow, and J. Tinkler. 2006a. Digital Era Governance. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Dunleavy, P., H. Margetts, and S. Bastow. 2006b. New Public Management is Dead—Long Live Digital-Era Governance. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 16: 467–494.
Ejersbo and Greve 2014. Moderniseringen af den offentlige sektor. 3. udgave. København: Akademinsk Forlag Business.
Foss Hansen, H. 2011. NPM in Scandinavia. In The Ashgate Research Companion to New Public Management, eds. T. Christensen, and P. Lægreid. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Fukuyama, F. 2004. State-building: Governance and World Order in the Twenty-first Century. London: Profile Books.
Fukuyama, F. 2013. What is Governance? Governance 26(3): 347–368.
Hall, P. 2012. Management-Byråkrati. Malmø: Liber.
Hammerschmid, G., V. Stimac, and K. Wegrich. 2014. Management Capacity and Performance in European Public Administration. In The Problem-Solving Capacity of the Modern State, eds. M. Lodge, and K. Wegrich. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hammerschmid, G., S. Van de Walle, R. Andrews, and P. Bezes, eds. 2016. Public Administration Reforms in Europe: The View from the Top. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Head, B.W., and J. Alford. 2015. Wicked Problems: Implications for Public Policy and Management. Administration & Society 47(6): 711–739.
Holmberg, S., and B. Rothstein, eds. 2014. Good Government: The Relevance of Political Science. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Hood, C. 1991. A New Public Management for All Seasons? Public Administration 69(1): 3–19.
Hood, C., and R. Dixon. 2015. A Government that Worked Better and Cost Less? Evaluating Three Decades of Reform and Change in UK Central Government. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Jacobsson, B., P. Lægreid, and O.K. Pedersen. 2004. Europeanization and Transnational States. Comparing Nordic Central Governments. London: Routledge.
Jacobsson, B., and G. Sundstrøm 1999. ‘Between Attonomy and Control: Transforamtion of the Swedish Administrtive Model’, in P.G. Roness and H. Sætren (eds) Change and Continuity in Public sector Organizations. Bergen: Fagbokforlaget.
Kettle, D.F. 2000. The Global Public Management Revolution: A Repory to the Transformation of Governance. Washington D.C.: Brookings Institution.
Kickert, W. 2011. Public Management Reform in Continental Europe. In The Ashgate Research Companion to New Public Management Reform, eds. T. Christensen, and P. Lægreid. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Kickert, W., and T. Randma-Liiv. 2015. Europe Managing the Crisis: The Politics of Fiscal Consolidation. London/New York: Routledge/Taylor and Francis.
Kickert, W., E.-H. Klijn, and J.F.M. Koppenjan. 1997. Managing Complex Networks: Strategies for the Public Sector. London: Sage Publications.
Klijn, E.H., and J.F.M. Koppenjan. 2015. Governance Networks in the Public Sector. London: Routledge.
Kuhlmann, S., and H. Wollmann. 2014. Introduction to Comparative Public Administration. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Lægreid, P 2013. Impact of the Global Financial Crisis That Started in 2008 on Norway: No Fiscal Crises and Cut-back Management (Unpublished Paper).
——— 2015. Christopher Hood, “A Public Management for All Seasons?”. In The Oxford Handbook of Classics in Public Policy and Administration, eds. S.J. Balla, M. Lodge, and E.C. Page. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lægreid, P., and O.K. Pedersen, eds. 1994. Forvaltningspolitik i Norden. Copenhagen: Jurist- og Økonomforbundets Forlag.
———, eds. 1999. Fra opbygning til ombygning i staten. Organisationsforandringer i tre nordiske lande. København: Jurist- og Økonomforbundets Forlag.
Lægreid, P., and K. Verhoest, eds. 2010. Governance of Public Sector Organizations. Proliferation, Autonomy and Performance. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Lægreid, P., K. Sarapuu, L.H. Rykkja, and T. Randma-Liiv. 2015. New Coordination Challenges in the Welfare State. Public Management Review 17(7): 927–939.
Lounghlin, J., and B.G. Peters. 1997. State Traditions, Administrative Reform and Regionalization. In The Political Economy of Regionalism, eds. M. Keating, and J. Loughlin. London: Frank Cass.
March, J.G. 1986. How We Talk and How We Act. In Leadership and Organizational Culture, eds. T.J. Segiovanni, and J.E. Corbally. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
OECD. 2010b. Value for Money: Public Administration after New Public Management. Paris: OECD.
———. 2011. Together for Better Public Services. Paris: OECD.
Olsen, J.P 2005. Maybe It Is Time to Rediscover Bureaucracy? Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 16(1): 1–24.
——— 2008. The Ups and Down of Bureaucratic Organization. American Annals of Political Science 11: 13–37.
Ongaro, E. 2009. Public Management Reform and Modernization. Trajectory of Administrative Change in Italy, France, Greece, Portugal and Spain. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Osborne, S.P. 2009. Debate: Delivering Public Services: Are We Asking the Right Questions? Public Money & Management 29 (1): 5–7.
Osborne, S 2011. Public Governance and Public Services: A ‘Brave New World’ or New Wine in Old Bottles? In The Ashgate Research Companion to New Public Management, eds. T. Christensen, and P. Lægreid, 417–430. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Painter, M., and B.G. Peters. 2010. Traditions and Public Administration. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Peters, B.G. 2011. Institutional Theory in Political Science. 3rd rev. edn. London: Continuum.
Peters, T.J., and R. Waterman. 1982. In Search of Excellence—Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies. London: HarperCollins Publishers.
Pollitt, C 2001. Convergence, the Useful Myth? Public Administration 79(4): 933–947.
——— 2003a. Joined-up Government: A Survey. Political Studies Review 1: 34–49.
——— 2003b. The Essential Public Manger. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
———, ed. 2013a. Context in Public Policy and Management. The Missing Link? Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
——— 2013b. What Do We Know about Public Management Reform? Concepts, Models and Some Approximate Guidelines. Paper Supporting a Presentation to the Conference and Workshop. Towards a Comprehensive Reform of Public Governance, Lisbon, January 28–30, 2013.
Pollitt, C., and G. Bouckaert. 2011. Public Management Reform. A Comparative Analysis: New Public Management, Governance, and the Neo-Weberian State, 3rd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Pollitt, C., and S. Dan. 2013. Searching for Impacts in Performance Oriented Management Reforms. Public Performance & Management Review 37(1): 7–32.
Pollitt, C. 2016. ‘Managerialism Redux’, Financial Accountability & Management, 32 (3): 1–19.
Premfors, R. 1991. The “Swedish Model” and Public Sector Reform. West European Politics 14(3): 83–95.
Przeworski, A., and H. Teune. 1970. The Logic of Comparative Social Inquiry. New York: Wiley.
Radin, B. 2012. Federal Management Reform in a World of Contradictions. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
Rhodes, R.A.W. 1997. Understanding Governance: Policy Networks, Governance, Reflexivity, and Accountability. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Rothstein, B., and D. Stolle. 2003. Introduction. Social Capital in Scandinavia. Scandinavian Political Science 26(1): 1–26.
The Economist. 2013. The Nordic Countries: The Next Supermodel? February 2.
Verhoest, K., S. Van Thiel, G. Bouckaert, and P. Lægreid, eds. 2012. Government Agencies: Practices and Lessons from 30 Countries. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Wegrich, K., and V. Stimac. 2014. Coordination Capacity. In The Problem-Solving Capacity of the Modern State, eds. M. Lodge, and K. Wegrich. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2016 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Greve, C., Lægreid, P., Rykkja, L.H. (2016). Introduction: The Nordic Model in Transition. In: Greve, C., Lægreid, P., Rykkja, L. (eds) Nordic Administrative Reforms. Public Sector Organizations. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56363-7_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56363-7_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-56362-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-56363-7
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)