Public Sector Reforms: New Public Management without Marketization? The Danish Case

Pedersen, John Storm; Löfgren, Karl

doi:10.1080/01900692.2012.679579

Cited by 25 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Therefore, although ‘neoliberal tendencies’ are and were present in Denmark, Mandrup may have over-stated their extent or overall success (see a.o. Kuisma, 2007; Pedersen and Löfgren, 2012). Moreover, that the neoliberalism of Denmark cannot be compared to the neoliberalisms of the UK and USA (Jessop, 2002) is important for understanding the Danish disposition towards defence contracting.…”

Section: ‘We Don’t Do That’mentioning

confidence: 99%

‘We don’t do that’: A constructivist perspective on the use and non-use of private military contractors by Denmark

Meegdenburg¹

2018

Cooperation and Conflict

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In this article I put forward a social constructivist perspective on state use of Private Military and Security Contractors (PMSCs). I will argue that state outsourcing decisions are, to a large extent, shaped by nationally shared values, understandings and dispositions. Concretely, I first provide a detailed overview of the extent of domestic and deployed contracting by the Danish Defence and, thereafter, based on a number of semi-structured interviews, I expose the dominant understandings that shaped how PMSCs have come to be understood in Denmark. By so doing I can show that the employment of PMSCs by the Danish Defence remains comparatively limited because it is largely perceived as inappropriate and as incompatible with what it means to be ‘Danish’. Although Denmark too has to balance its international engagements with the limited resources allocated to defence (the typical functional pressures) Danish particular ‘soft’ neoliberalism and ‘hard’ commitments to IHL speak against using private actors to make that possible. This means I take in the more abstract, macro-level discussions on the end of the Cold War and the advent of neoliberalism but go beyond by asking whether, and if so how, these and other collective experiences and understandings actually (co-)shape(d) outsourcing decisions.

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Section: ‘We Don’t Do That’mentioning

confidence: 99%

‘We don’t do that’: A constructivist perspective on the use and non-use of private military contractors by Denmark

Meegdenburg¹

2018

Cooperation and Conflict

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“…One such feature is how reform has been shaped by central-local relations, where local authorities enjoy significant autonomy vis à vis central government. The other feature is a rather critical view of marketisation which meant that NPM reform as a whole was only partial and more concerned with steering local authorities an autonomous agencies and less centred around introducing market mechanisms (Pedersen and Löfgren 2012).…”

Section: The Npm Phasementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Norway has been a more "reluctant reformer"; introducing reform incrementally (Olsen 1996;Christensen and Laegreid 1998). Denmark, according to most observers, falls somewhere between the cases of Norway and Sweden in terms of their interest in NPM reform (see Greve 2006;Pedersen and Löfgren 2012).…”

Section: The Npm Phasementioning

confidence: 99%

Public Administration and Public Management Research in Europe: Traditions and Trends

Ongaro

Thiel²,

Massey

et al. 2017

The Palgrave Handbook of Public Administration and Management in Europe

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It may be argued that in the aftermath of the Second World War, national research discourses and agendas were dominant in public administration research in Europe. The French national discourse and research priorities differed from the German national discourse and research priorities, while West and Eastern German discourses differed sharply in turn, and so forth. Internationally, the discourse was influenced if not outright dominated by

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“…NPM is thus the common denominator for a multitude of ideas and practices: a political strategy to change and reduce the public sector's role in society; a special way to present considerations of usefulness and neoliberal values; an administrative policy based on a transfer of the private sector's management and control methods; and finally, a sort of toolbox for public sector officials which enables them to become 'managers', capable of tackling both external and internal problems -the latter including also the influence and co-determination of the professional staff (Madsen, 2012;Pedersen and Löfgren, 2012). In the public sector, dismissals in the municipal, regional and government organizations have created very difficult conditions for empowerment and participation.…”

Section: Analytical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…New employer strategies and the weakening of the IR system do, however, create less synchronization within the system and less coordinated influence on the side of the employees. The established system of cooperation no longer seems to be compatible with the new administration and management strategies developed in both the private and public sectors (Dalsgaard and Jørgensen, 2010;Melander, 2012;Pedersen and Löfgren, 2012). For one thing, the system is affected by new issues as a result of the considerable changes seen in the financial and political environment -most recently the financial crisis in 2008; for another, management strategies have taken a turn towards more management and less co-determination, and towards more central control, which tries to bypass the elected employee representatives.…”

Section: The Perspective Of Co-determinationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Representation without co-determination? Participation and co-determination for semi-professional shop stewards in the collective participation system in Denmark

Caraker

Jørgensen

Madsen

et al. 2014

Economic and Industrial Democracy

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This article examines co-determination in the collective participation system in Denmark among semi-professional shop stewards and health and safety representatives in the private and the public sector. Union strategies for democratization of working life and economic democracy are no longer progressing as in the 1970s, and co-determination seems to be on the defensive, challenged by new forms of employer strategies, New Public Management principles and the neoliberal strategy for individualization. These developments call for a reappraisal of the capability of the system to secure influence and participation in decision-making. The main findings, based on comprehensive empirical investigations, are three-fold. First, a connection between new employer strategies and the level of influence and co-determination is recorded. Generally, the representatives find it harder to maintain co-determination in a change-intensive workplace context especially with regard to tactical and strategic decisions. Second, visions for democratization exist among the majority of the representatives, who wish to strengthen co-determination institutionally and at the strategic level. The obstacles call for new institutional rights of co-determination in the central cooperation agreement. Third, a broader upgrade of analytical skills is required to develop abilities to analyse and anticipate developments, to decode management strategies and see opportunities of change in the institution -a sort of politico-sociological imagination to make it possible to grasp the surrounding world's signals as well as the opportunities to approach agenda-setting more proactively.

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Public Sector Reforms: New Public Management without Marketization? The Danish Case

Cited by 25 publications

References 15 publications

‘We don’t do that’: A constructivist perspective on the use and non-use of private military contractors by Denmark

‘We don’t do that’: A constructivist perspective on the use and non-use of private military contractors by Denmark

Public Administration and Public Management Research in Europe: Traditions and Trends

Representation without co-determination? Participation and co-determination for semi-professional shop stewards in the collective participation system in Denmark

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