Abstract
The relationship between politicians and bureaucrats is central to the administration of modern democratic societies, yet it often is neglected in studies of the performance of public organizations. In this article, the authors examine the performance effects of alignment between politicians' and senior managers' perceptions of one of the more pervasive public management reforms over recent decades: performance management. Evidence from a panel of English local governments supports the hypothesis that alignment of views between politicians and senior managers on performance management is associated with better organizational performance. Furthermore, this relationship is strengthened in organizations that display higher levels of role flexibility by managers and greater trust between politicians and managers. © 2013 by The American Society for Public Administration.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 833-844 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Public Administration Review |
| Volume | 73 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| Early online date | 25 Oct 2013 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Nov 2013 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
We are grateful to Rhys Andrews, Kenneth J. Meier, and Laurence J. O'Toole, Jr., for their insights and assistance in the development of the evidence presented in this article. Interpretations, of course, are those of the authors.Funding
The research reported in this article was supported by an Economic and Social Research Council grant (RES-062-23-00389) and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, as well as a National Research Foundation of Korea grant funded by the Korean government (NRF-2011-330-B00194).