Measuring Government Performance

Abstract

This article provides an overview of the origins and deliberations of performance measurement efforts in the U.S. government and draws upon the American experience to identify the challenges and opportunities this management tool presents for public managers. The first section describes the political context that has shaped performance measurement efforts in the U.S. government. Then what we have learned about the challenges managers face in designing and using performance measurement is reviewed. And in the third section, current and evolving issues that affect the effectiveness of performance measurement efforts are discussed.

Keywords:

• performance measurement
• performance management
• government performance

Notes

11. GASB 1996

24. See, for example, General Accounting Office publications years 1996 to 1999

28. Newcomer, 1997

29. Bernstein 2000

32. See McLaughlin, J. A., Jordan, G. B. Logic Models: A Tool for Telling Your Program's Performance Story. Evaluation and Program Planning 1999, 22, 65–72.

36. Bernstein, 2000.

39. Newcomer and Scheirer, 2001.

40. Newcomer and Scheirer, 2001.