New Public Service, Democracy and Citizenship in Public Administration

Jul 15, 2026

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New Public Service (NPS) reframes public administration around democracy and citizenship. It replaces market-like models that treat people as customers with a citizen-centric approach rooted in rights, duties, and shared responsibility. NPS defines the public interest through democratic dialogue rather than aggregation, emphasizing serving citizens, inclusive deliberation, shared accountability, and respect for people over productivity.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages2

Reading Time5 min

AccessFree to download

ADMINISTRATIVE THEORY PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION (PAPER 1) 1. INTRODUCTION 9. NEW PUBLIC SERVICE Q. New Public Service emphasizes democracy and citizenship as the basis for public administration theory and practice. Elucidate. (2020/I/3b/15) New Public Service (NPS), a paradigm championed by Robert and Janet Denhardt, reorients public administration from the market-centric mechanisms of New Public Management (NPM) to a value-based, citizencentric model. By asserting that the primary role of the public servant is to'serve' rather than 'steer,' NPS posits that the legitimacy of public administration is rooted not in business-like efficiency, but in the deepening of democratic processes and the active engagement of citizenship. 1. Citizenship over "Customer Satisfaction" The most critical distinction in NPS is the shift from viewing the public as"clients" (Old Public Administration) or "customers" (New Public Management) to viewing them as Citizens. • The Flaw of the "Customer": In NPM, the administrator attempts to satisfy the "customer." However, customers focus on their short-term, individual self-interest (e.g., "I want lower taxes" or "I want my specific road fixed") . • The Role of the Citizen: Citizens, conversely, hold rights and duties. They are expected to look beyond immediate self-interest to the broader long-term good of the community. • Administrative Implication: The public servant’s role is not merely to deliver a product to a passive consumer but to build the capacity of citizens to participate in governance. It emphasises shared responsibility. 2. Democracy: The Public Interest as "Dialogue" NPS redefines how we find the "Public Interest." • NPM View (Aggregation): In market-based models, the public interest is simply the mathematical sum of individual self-interests (what the majority of "customers" want) . • NPS View (Deliberation): NPS argues that the public interest is the result of a dialogue about shared values. It is not found by counting votes or dollars but by engaging in democratic deliberation to find common ground. • The "Process" is Key: In a democracy, how a decision is reached (inclusivity, transparency, debate) is as important as the decision itself. Efficiency is not the only value; equity and justice matter equally. 3. "Serving, Not Steering" This is the central motto of NPS. • Steering (NPM): The government sets the direction and uses incentives to make society move that way (like a catalyst) . • Rowing (Old PA): The government does the physical work itself through bureaucracy. • Serving (NPS): The administrator's role is to help citizens articulate their own shared interests and meet them. The bureaucrat is afacilitator, mediator, and bridge-builder, not a controller. 4. The 7 Principles of New Public Service Denhardt and Denhardt summarized this democratic approach through seven principles. These principles serve as the practical application of the theory: 1. Serve Citizen

Jul 15, 2026

Upload by Logic