Reform of Public Administration in Austria

Reform is the constituting principle of public administration. It is only by this institutional mobility that public administration is able to meet the changing requirements of society. The reform of public administration must comply with political rationality and efficiency. The importance and significance of these goals may differ and depend on the relevant political issues. Sometimes it may be a higher level of democracy and participation, sometimes the improvement of social performances, sometimes reduction of state responsibility by means of deregulation and privatisation. These goals contradict each other as do public reforms themselves. The international trend to reduce state responsibilities and to make public administration more efficient has been met by measures that have also been taken in Austria. In particular, the (tentative) implementation of the action programme provided by the New Public Management is a signal for the will and ability of all public actors to modernize public administration. It is evident that the reform concepts could not be realized one to one. The actors were often forced to compromise and to meet the opponents halfway. It is also understandable that the recent public reform cannot be seen as a general concept characterized by logical consistency but as a project consisting of several parts with different levels of realization. Therefore, the ongoing reforms in Austria do not only have to be seen as a success but more than this as a promise for the future.