Mechanisms of Change in Public Management Projects

This article draws conclusions from four separate case evaluationsfrom different development programs in Finland and aims to discuss the role of welfarestate values in new public management. The study develops a comprehensive picture of thechange in public management since 2000. The synthesis of the four case studies followsthe critical realism tradition. This article shows that cooperation forms the keymechanism in all public administration projects and in any changes to their structure.The new structure is the postmodern service production sector that still faces manychallenges with regard to the traditional welfare state values. One of these is theconflict between the deep-seated moral imperatives of the old welfare state and thegoal-attainment priorities of the new public management. While evaluation research hasbecome one of the operations in public administration that fulfills the controlfunction, the value bases of society, management, and evaluations should be balancedtogether. Also the objectives of public management and evaluations should be moreclearly defined in relation to values other than efficiency. An applied science, likeevaluation, needs basic social research to formulate, recognize, and conceptualize thenew public management structure. Furthermore, there is an urgent requirement to addressthose values that underpin society as a whole