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Cuts and reforms — Public services as we move into a new era

Author

Listed:
  • Christopher Pollitt

    (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Public Management Institute, Leuven, Belgium)

Abstract

Most countries now share the prospect of an extended period of public fiscal austerity. Yet at the same time the demands for improved public services continues. This paper reviews the relationship between expenditure restraint and reform. It describes three broad strategies for achieving savings, noting that each has a different mixture of advantages and disadvantages. It then identifies four significant considerations that public service leaders will need to bear in mind as they decide their programs: timing, ethics, communications and legitimacy. The paper concludes with the observation that simultaneously tackling the needs for austerity and reform will call for extraordinary levels of public service leadership.

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher Pollitt, 2010. "Cuts and reforms — Public services as we move into a new era," Society and Economy, Akadémiai Kiadó, Hungary, vol. 32(1), pages 17-31, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:aka:soceco:v:32:y:2010:i:1:p:17-31
    Note: The preparation of an earlier version of this paper benefited from the wise thoughts of several colleagues, including Carolyn Ban (Pittsburgh), Geert Bouckaert (Leuven), Gavin Drewry (Royal Holloway), Steve Harrison (Manchester), Christopher Hood (Oxford), Walter Kickert (Rotterdam), Frans van Nispen (Rotterdam), Isabella Proeller (Potsdam) and Colin Talbot (Manchester). None of them are responsible for what I made of their generous advice. Thanks also go to Statskontoret, the Swedish agency for public management, who originally invited me to prepare a version of this paper for the Swedish EU Presidency meeting of the EU Public Administration Network (EUPAN) in Stockholm, December 2009.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Ongaro, Edoardo & Ferré, Francesca & Fattore, Giovanni, 2015. "The fiscal crisis in the health sector: Patterns of cutback management across Europe," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(7), pages 954-963.
    2. Fredriksson, Mio & Gustafsson, Inga-Britt & Winblad, Ulrika, 2019. "Cuts without conflict: The use of political strategy in local health system retrenchment in Sweden," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 237(C), pages 1-1.
    3. Vania Palmieri & Mario Turco, 2020. "Crisi e cambiamento delle istituzioni di contabilit? pubblica. Il caso delle amministrazioni centrali dello Stato," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2020(3), pages 87-112.
    4. Fabrizio Di Mascio & Alessandro Natalini, 2015. "Fiscal Retrenchment in Southern Europe: Changing patterns of public management in Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(1), pages 129-148, January.
    5. Céline Du Boys & Emanuele Padovani & Alice Monti, 2017. "Municipal budgetary decisions in times of austerity in Italy and France: between national, local and internal influences," Post-Print hal-02057626, HAL.
    6. MacCarthaigh Muiris, 2017. "Reforming the Irish public service: A multiple streams perspective," Administration, Sciendo, vol. 65(2), pages 145-164, May.
    7. Antoine Genest-Grégoire & Étienne Charbonneau & Daniel E. Bromberg, 2018. "The Sustainability Assumption in Performance Management Reforms: Revisiting the Patterns of Implementation," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 525-542, December.
    8. Laurence Ferry & Peter Eckersley, 2015. "Budgeting and governing for deficit reduction in the UK public sector: act three 'accountability and audit arrangements'," Public Money & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(3), pages 203-210, May.
    9. Céline Du Boys & Emanuele Padovani & Alice Monti, 2017. "Vulnerability factors shaping municipal resilience throughout the global financial crisis: comparing Italy and France," Post-Print hal-02057637, HAL.
    10. Demircioglu, Mehmet Akif & Audretsch, David B., 2017. "Conditions for innovation in public sector organizations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(9), pages 1681-1691.
    11. Eva Moll Ghin, 2018. "New Uses of Outcomes Measures Under Austerity: the Case of Danish Municipalities," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 543-560, December.
    12. Mark Davidson & Kevin Ward, 2022. "Post-great recession municipal budgeting and governance: A mixed methods analysis of budget stress and reform," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 54(4), pages 634-652, June.
    13. Céline Du Boys & Emanuele Padovani, 2016. "Local Reactions To The Financial Crisis: What Influence Of National Context Vs Individual Strategies?," Post-Print hal-01470232, HAL.
    14. Konstantinos Siassiakos & Georgios A. Papadopoulos & Evripidis P. Kechagias & Marina Kafasi, 2020. "The role and the perceived impact of fiscal audits, conducted by the Hellenic Court of Audit (HCA), towards the effectiveness and efficiency of Greek Public Organizations," Advances in Management and Applied Economics, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 10(3), pages 1-7.
    15. Sébastien Dony, 2017. "Ce que nous apprennent les démarches d'amélioration de l'efficience dans les collectivités territoriales," Post-Print hal-01907400, HAL.
    16. Laurence Ferry & Peter Eckersley, 2017. "Debate: Freedom, power and capacity—analysing the fallout from the UK’s ‘Brexit’ referendum," Public Money & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(1), pages 2-3, January.
    17. Emil Turc & Marcel Guenoun, 2019. "Dimensions et modalités des programmes de réduction des coûts mis en œuvre par les collectivités territoriales françaises," Post-Print hal-03511291, HAL.
    18. Noto, Guido & Belardi, Paolo & Vainieri, Milena, 2020. "Unintended consequences of expenditure targets on resource allocation in health systems," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(4), pages 462-469.
    19. Lorenzo Bordogna & Stefano Neri, 2014. "Austerity policies, social dialogue and public services in Italian local government," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 20(3), pages 357-371, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    cutbacks; expenditure; strategy; legitimacy; leadership;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H50 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - General

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