IS THERE EMPIRICAL-EVIDENCE OF A TREND TOWARDS MANAGERIALISM - A LONGITUDINAL-STUDY OF 6 COUNTRIES

In the past decade, there has been a considerable amount written about the development of ''managerialism'' and the ''new public management' ' (NPM) in the Western, primarily Westminster-type, democracies. There has even been some concern expressed that the trend towards manageria lism, with its lack of emphasis on the acquisition of technical compet ence, may be undermining policy capacity and the career public service itself. This paper addresses the question of whether there has been a trend towards managerialism over time. Specifically, this paper looks at whether changes in three objective measures of ''managerialism'' - mobility, education, and management type - indicate a shift towards m anagerialism in the senior levels of selected departments in Australia , Britain, Canada, New Zealand, the United States and Mauritius, durin g the period between 1971 and 1991. There is little evidence of such a trend. There has been, however, a slight shift in the ''management ty pe'' of senior bureaucrats towards administrative rather than towards technical expertise and an increase in the number of administratively managed departments. If there is a large scale shift towards manageria lism, it must be manifested in improved management skills on the part of technical managers or in improved technical knowledge and skills on the part of administrative managers.