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The Public/Private Cleavage in a Welfare State: Attitudes Toward Public Management Reform
Author(s) -
WISE LOIS RECASCINO,
SZÜCS STEFAN
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
governance
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.46
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1468-0491
pISSN - 0952-1895
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-0491.1996.tb00233.x
Subject(s) - public sector , new public management , bureaucracy , public administration , government (linguistics) , welfare state , welfare reform , private sector , public interest , context (archaeology) , public service motivation , welfare , business , political science , public relations , economics , economic growth , politics , market economy , paleontology , linguistics , philosophy , law , biology
This study contributes to the growing literature on differences in attitudes between public and private sector employees, particularly with respect to their receptivity or resistance to public management reforms. We begin by asking the question: to what degree does perceived self‐interest play a role in accounting for attitudes toward public management reforms such as downsizing, privatization, and public spending? Using attitudinal data from Sweden, a social welfare state with a large public bureaucracy, a tension is observed both among public employees in different levels of government and between public and private sector employees. In the context of public management reforms, national government employees emerge as more right‐leaning politically and more supportive of public management reforms than those working in local government. The analysis finds, particularly among national government employees, that while interest as measured here is strongly related to attitudes toward reform, status as a public employee and status as a public bureaucrat are not as significant as other components of interest in accounting for attitudes toward public management reform.