Performance‐Based Government Models: Building A Track Record

Governments across the country have embarked on performance‐based government efforts. Typical goals of these efforts are to clarify the mission and priority objectives of government with an emphasis on the expected results, to develop mechanisms for monitoring and reporting the achievement of those objectives, and to use this information to make decisions about government activities, including making government more accountable Although many governments have reported success in establishing their performance‐based programs, we found ourselves wondering whether any of these programs are showing signs that they can be sustained over time. Are performance‐based reports or budgets being used by managers and policy makers? Are the performance programs maintained after implementation? If so, what are the factors critical to success? To answer these questions, we reviewed performance‐based government efforts in progress throughout the country with a focus on the initiatives of five states.1 This discussion begins by describing the efforts in those five states: the stated need, the approach, and the results to date. We then discuss the elements of success and the lessons learned from these performance‐based government pioneers.