CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTING NEW PUBLIC MANAGEMENT

Public Administration was born, evolved and modified in conjunction with the current democratic systems, economic pressures and the wishes and needs of its citizens. The management model emerged in 1970-1975, associated with the Neoliberal or Contractualist State. What New Public Management is about, there is not, nor is it possible to imagine, a sufficiently comprehensive conception accepted by all researchers. Still, it could be said that it was a terminology used to describe a movement, a field of study and commentary for academics, a set of ideas and practices adopted in the most recent administrative reforms, an adjustment in the relations between the public and the private, professionals and managers, central and local government and defense of business management techniques and tools. Several decades after its appearance, it is possible to assess some inconsistencies, contradictions, limitations or trade-offs associated with the management paradigm. The strict aim of concepts such as efficiency, productivity, effectiveness and cost reduction replaced the traditional values and purpose of public services. Equally, attempts to improve organizational structures and processes, through atomization and fragmentation, often lead to increases in bureaucratization, formalization and centralization and, in this way, higher costs. The performance measurement and management systems also present methodological and strategic problems and, in many cases, constitute only an increase in the workload and psychological pressures of employees. This text takes a look at these and other issues associated with the implementation of New Public Management.