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The UK public sector modernization agenda Reconciliation and renewal?

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  • Yusuf Ahmad
  • Mike Broussine

Abstract

The New Labour government came into power in May 1997 with an agenda to reform public services. The key strategy to achieve reform was the concept of modernization. Central to this is the rhetoric of renewal through collaboration, partnership and inclusion. Based upon the authors' research and consultancy activities, this article will explore the emergent modernization programme in policy terms, and also in terms of the organizational consequences for health, welfare and other public agencies. Our argument is that though it was brought in as an antidote to the ‘excesses’ of Thatcherism, the momentum of modernization is being maintained by recourse to centralist and managerialist strategies and prescriptions. We recognize that New Labour's approach is paradoxical because modernization at its heart espouses the principles of fairness, effectiveness and decentralization; yet it seeks to deliver these in ways which are sometimes experienced by public sector workers and users as disempowering and controlling.

Suggested Citation

  • Yusuf Ahmad & Mike Broussine, 2003. "The UK public sector modernization agenda Reconciliation and renewal?," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 45-62, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:pubmgr:v:5:y:2003:i:1:p:45-62
    DOI: 10.1080/1461667022000028852
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    Cited by:

    1. Les Worrall & Kim Mather & Roger Seifert, 2010. "Solving the Labour Problem Among Professional Workers in the UK Public Sector: Organisation Change and Performance Management," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 10(2), pages 117-137, June.
    2. Graeme Currie & Charlotte Croft, 2015. "Examining hybrid nurse managers as a case of identity transition in healthcare: developing a balanced research agenda," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 29(5), pages 855-865, October.

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