Markets, Bureaucracy and Public Management: Professional Perceptions of Bureaucratic Change in the Public Sector: GPs, Headteachers and Social Workers

Abstract

Public sector organizations have undergone immense changes over the last two decades. Bureaucratic structures of governance have been reformed with the aim of promoting a more market-oriented approach, intended to improve efficiency and encourage greater responsiveness to the client. On the basis of interviews with senior managers and professionals, this article argues that the public sector is not in a state of ‘post-bureaucracy’ as claimed in some recent academic writing. Far from reducing bureaucratic tendencies, the reforms have created additional workloads, heightened the tensions surrounding the meeting of client needs and the management of resources and led to more, and not fewer, tiers of management.