New Political Governance in Westminster Systems: Impartial Public Administration and Management Performance at Risk

This article examines the phenomenon of increased political pressures on governments in four Westminster systems (Australia, Britain, Canada, and New Zealand) derived from changes in mass media and communications, increased transparency, expanded audit, increased competition in the political marketp...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Governance (Oxford) 2012-04, Vol.25 (2), p.177-199
Main Author: AUCOIN, PETER
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Australia
Canada
Communications
competition
Governance
Government and politics
Great Britain
Management
Mass media
New Zealand
Parliamentary government
Partisanship
Polarization
Political behavior
Political power
Politics
Public Administration
Public management
Public sector
Public servants
Public Services
Risk
Studies
transparency
United Kingdom
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Summary:This article examines the phenomenon of increased political pressures on governments in four Westminster systems (Australia, Britain, Canada, and New Zealand) derived from changes in mass media and communications, increased transparency, expanded audit, increased competition in the political marketplace, and political polarization in the electorate. These pressures raise the risk to impartial public administration and management performance to the extent that governments integrate governance and campaigning, allow political staff to be a separate force in governance, politicize top public service posts, and expect public servants to be promiscuously partisan. The article concludes that New Zealand is best positioned to cope with these risks, in part because of its process for independently staffing its top public service posts. The article recommends this approach as well as the establishment of independently appointed management boards for public service departments and agencies to perform the governance of management function.
ISSN:0952-1895
1468-0491
DOI:10.1111/j.1468-0491.2012.01569.x