Conclusion

Abstract

The previous chapters of this book have analyzed the application of a series of new public management reforms outside their countries of origin, in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The core issue is whether reforms based on a diagnosis of the weaknesses of the ‘over-interventionist’ state in advanced countries such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia, are appropriate responses in states where the levels of public management capacity, market development, resources, political inclusiveness, legal effectiveness, political and economic stability are quite different. Our core argument, as outlined in Chapter 1 has been that governments may be illequipped to adopt unfamiliar approaches to public service provision, where the institutional conditions on which the new management practices are premised may not be present.