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Human Resource Management and Public Sector Reforms: Trends and Origins of a New Approach

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  • Roberto Passos Nogueira
  • José Paranaguá de Santana

Abstract

This paper aims to show that public sector reforms, in the 1980s and 1990s, underemphasized the importance of human resource management, because, a) the reformers made strong emphasis on the need to reduce the size of the government apparatus; and, b) because they made war on state bureaucracy. The analysis shows that after two decades of reformist experiments, measures of correction are being taken in several countries to restore the importance of human resource management as public policy. But, in many places governments have lost their ability to regulate and govern owing to the combined effect of downsizing and underestimation of the human resource planning function. Governments are now endeavoring to rectify that strategic error, and a trend is emerging toward the upgrading of human resource management processes, which requires that some balance be sought between old and new ideas. Based on the classical study by Weber on bureaucracy, the authors understand that such balance could be found through human resource management if it is applied as a political function mediating between bureaucratic prerogatives and citizens’ rights. Este trabalho procura mostrar que as reformas do setor público, nos anos 1980 e 1990, subestimaram a importância da gestão de recursos humanos, na medida em que os reformistas enfatizavam a necessidade de reduzir o tamanho do aparato de Estado; e travavam uma luta contra a burocracia estatal. A análise mostra que após duas décadas de experimentos reformistas medidas de correção estão sendo tomadas em vários países para restaurar a relevância da gestão de recursos humanos como uma política pública. Os governos perderam uma grande parte de sua habilidade de regular e de governar em razão dos efeitos combinados do downsizing e da negligência com a função de recursos humanos. Esforçam-se, agora, para corrigir esse erro de condução, e emerge uma nova tendência a colocar as questões de recursos numa posição mais estratégica, e, para isso faz-se necessário buscar um equilíbrio entre velhas e novas idéias. Com base no estudo clássico de Weber, sobre o papel da burocracia, os autores entendem que tal equilíbrio pode ser encontrado por meio da gestão de recursos humanos, desde que essa seja aplicada como uma função política capaz de mediar as prerrogativas da burocracia e os direitos dos cidadãos.

Suggested Citation

  • Roberto Passos Nogueira & José Paranaguá de Santana, 2015. "Human Resource Management and Public Sector Reforms: Trends and Origins of a New Approach," Discussion Papers 0115, Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada - IPEA.
  • Handle: RePEc:ipe:ipetds:0115
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Joseph E. Stiglitz, 1999. "More instruments and broader goals: moving toward the post-washington consensus," Brazilian Journal of Political Economy, Center of Political Economy, vol. 19(1).
    2. Joseph E. Stiglitz, 1999. "More instruments and broader goals: moving toward the post-washington consensus," Brazilian Journal of Political Economy, Center of Political Economy, vol. 19(1), pages 94-120.
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