The Nature of Dscretion also Changes

In traditional public admin istration, public managers have limited discretion; New Public Management encourages wide discretion in meeting entrepreneurial and performance targets. In the emerging approach, discretion is needed, but is constrained by law, democratic and constitutional values, and a broad approach to accountability. Accountability becomes multi-faceted, and not just hierarchical (as in traditional public administration) or more market-driven (as in New Public Management), since public servants must attend to law, community values, political norms, professional standards, and citizen interests (Mulgan 2000; Dubnick and Frederickson 2010; Romzek, LeRoux and Blackmar 2012). In the emerging multi-sector collaborative environment, no one sector has a monopoly on public service ethos, although government plays a special role; in addition, there is less skepticism about government and a less strong preference for mar kets and customer service.

Finally, in this emerging approach public administration’s contribu tion to the democratic process is also different. In both traditional public administration and New Public Management managers are not very directly involved in the democratic process, viewed mainly as elections and legislative deliberation. In contrast, in the emerging approach government delivers dialogue and catalyzes and responds to active citizenship in pursuit of what the public values and what is good for the public. The extent to which it is possible for dialogue and deliberation to do so in practice remains unclear, however, in systems that favor elites and are stacked against ordinary citizens.

The emerging approach is partly descriptive of current and emerging practices, partly normative in its prescriptions regarding the role of government and public managers, and partly hopeful as a response to the challenges posed by a “changing material and ideologi cal background.” In contrast to traditional public administration and New Public Management, however, the emerging approach often looks ambiguous, unevenly grounded theoretically, relatively untested, and lacking in clear guidance for practice. Yet, what else can one expect in a shared-power, multi-sector, no-one-wholly in-charge world? Old approaches have their own problems and the new approach is still emerging. One thing is clear, however, and that is the fundamental importance in the emerging approach of understanding what is meant by public value, public values, and the public sphere. Progress must be made on clarifying, measuring, and assessing these concepts if the new approach is gain added traction.