New public management: end of an era?

For the past 20 years, the New Public Management (NPM) has been the dominant paradigm in public administration theory and practice. Given its affinity with markets and private sector management, NPM is arguably as much a casualty of the global economic crisis as are the markets and market mechanisms which underpin it. In this context, this article explores the impact of the crisis on the current and future development of public administration practice. Starting from some stocktaking analyses written immediately prior to the downturn, four possible scenarios are suggested for public management practice in the UK and elsewhere.