Original scientific paper
Reform of Public Administration in Austria Activities and Perspectives
Norbert Wimmer
; Head of the Institute of Public Law, Financial Law, and Political Science, University of Innsbruck, Austria
Abstract
Reform is the constituting principle of public administration.
It is only by this institutional mobility that public administration
is able to meet the changing requirements of
society. The reform of public administration must comply
with political rationality and efficiency. The importance
and significance of these goals may differ and depend on
the relevant political issues. Sometimes it may be a higher
level of democracy and participation, sometimes the improvement
of social performances, sometimes reduction
of state responsibility by means of deregulation and privatisation.
These goals contradict each other as do public
reforms themselves.
The international trend to reduce state responsibilities and
to make public administration more efficient has been
met by measures that have also been taken in Austria. In
particular, the (tentative) implementation of the action
programme provided by the New Public Management is
a signal for the will and ability of all public actors to modernize public administration. It is evident that the reform concepts could not be realized one to one. The actors were often forced to compromise and to meet the opponents halfway. It is also understandable that the recent public reform cannot be seen as a general concept characterized by logical consistency but as a project consisting of several parts with different levels of realization. Therefore, the ongoing reforms in Austria do not only have to be seen as a
success but more than this as a promise for the future.
Keywords
public administration reform – Austria; public administrative science; e-government; new public management; welfare state; lean state
Hrčak ID:
135362
URI
Publication date:
7.9.2007.
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