The Relationship between Political Management and Performance-based Management: Levels of Engagement and Roles of Politicians and Public Servants

The changing nature of relationships between politicians and public servants has been argued to be a product of new public management (Aucoin 1990 is sometimes cited in support of this position). This position can be... [ view full abstract ]

The changing nature of relationships between politicians and public servants has been argued to be a product of new public management (Aucoin 1990 is sometimes cited in support of this position). This position can be questioned by indicating the evidence of separate (and earlier) agenda for redistributing power in executive branches, although the interconnections with management reform become significant. Similarly, there are questions to be asked about the impact of Aucoin’s ‘new political governance’ despite performance-based management (PBM). These questions have important implications for the interaction between politicians and officials operating in the ‘purple zone’.

Despite decades of performance-based management, there continues to be debates about its centrality and ownership, and how meaningful performance frameworks are to officials and politicians. The paper analyses different forms of political engagement with PBM, provides an interpretation of their salience to actors in the purple zone, and examines the impact on the respective roles of officials and politicians.
The paper will use primary and secondary sources from Anglophone countries, with particular reference to the Australia case.