Under New Public Management

"Under New Public Management is a sustained critique of the transformations in public sector management over the last twenty years. It is a major contribution to research over a plethora of fields and topics, and the utility of Dorothy Smith's methods and approach shines through the volume." -- Miriam David, Emeritus Professor, Department of Quantitative Social Science, Institute of Education, University of London "This is an exciting, well-organized, and well-written collection of essays, rich with details about the process of restructuring the public sector in a variety of contexts." -- Nancy A. Naples, Department of Sociology, University of Connecticut "Institutional ethnography provides a powerful set of tools for examining the impact of public sector restructuring on the everyday practices of program delivery across a range of health, education, and social services. Under New Public Management explores the deep implications of new policy frames and shifting front-line practices." -- Alan D. Sears, Department of Sociology, Ryerson University

Under New Public Management explores how new managerial governance practices coordinate the work of people doing front-line work in public sectors.

The institutional ethnographies collected in Under New Public Management explore how new managerial governance practices coordinate the work of people doing front-line work in public sectors such as health, education, social services, and international development, and people management in the private sector.

In these fields, organizations have increasingly adopted private-sector management techniques, such as standardized and quantitative measures of performance and an obsession with cost reductions and efficiency. These practices of “new public management” are changing the ways in which front-line workers engage with their clients, students, or patients.

Using research drawn from Canada, the United States, Australia, and Denmark, the contributors expose how standardized managerial requirements are created and applied, and how they affect the practicalities of working with people whose lives and experiences are complex and unique.