In Search of Prudence

The Hidden Problem of Managerial Reform

Bibliographic Data

ID10401474
AuthorsJohn Kane (0000-0002-5095-5556), John V Kane (0000-0002-6720-8071, Griffith University), Haig Patapan (0000-0002-1076-4245, Griffith University)
Year2006
Volume66
Issue5
Pages711-724
Publication date2006-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePublic Administration Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0033-3352 • E-ISSN: 1540-6210
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1540-6210.2006.00636.x
OpenAlexW2132776474
LanguageEN
Citations received29
References cited35

This article argues that the concept of prudence can provide valuable insights into the problems of the New Public Management. Prudence, or practical wisdom, is the ability to make sound decisions under complex, ever‐changeable conditions. Old‐style bureaucracy severely limited the discretion of most administrators but preserved a site of true prudential judgment at the peak where discreet “mandarins” policed the boundary between politics and administration. The reforms that inaugurated New Public Management dismantled this site of prudence while simultaneously attempting, in effect, to disperse prudential judgment and action throughout the service. Though raising the problem of prudence, these reforms misconceived it as the problem of how to balance new freedoms with new controls to prevent abuse or folly. This essay argues that the introduction of market mechanisms, risk‐management and cost‐benefit techniques, ethics training, performance accountability, and calls to leadership were destined to fail because they misapprehended the problem of prudence

Accountability · Bureaucracy · Business · Discretion · Economics · Law and economics · Political science · Politics · Prudence · Law · Public Administration · Public Policy and Administration Research

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Open DOISci-HubOpen Access