The search for managerial discretion: How responsiveness is competing with neutrality in public management

This paper concerns how managerial discretion is rationalised on an actor level within organisations that are characterised by reforms commonly discussed as New Public Management (NPM). The paper argues that positions of... [ view full abstract ]

This paper concerns how managerial discretion is rationalised on an actor level within organisations that are characterised by reforms commonly discussed as New Public Management (NPM). The paper argues that positions of public management in the 21st century places civil servants in a position of increasing levels of demands and expectations from politicians as well as citizens. It is argued that within these contexts, public management needs to find ways of increasing authority in order to cope with such demands. The empirical data presented in this paper consist of a longitudinal study, wherein focus is kept on reforms towards increasing managerial activities within the organisation. The major contributions presented in the paper concerns how an emerging change of (managerial) logics has come to progress ideas of responsive administration in favour over neutrality in the form of (public) administration.