Reinventing Government, The New Public Management and Civil Service Systems in International Perspective: The Danger of Throwing the Baby Out with the Bathwater

Reinventing government is a cross-national movement that has important, and potentially negative, implications for the career civil service. This article examines the global development of the reinventing government movement, arguing that it represents at least in part an attack on bureaucratic power and the career public service Each of its principal themes—including debureaucratization, decentralization, privatization, and managerialism —poses challenges to important public service values We argue that reinventing government, contrary to its most ardent proponents' rhetoric, threatens to undermine the important role played by public servants in modern democratic governments The broad implications of this argument are explored.