Oltre il tagliaspese: ripensare . ! Beyond Cutback-Management: Think again . !

1. Oltre il tagliaspese: ripensare . !Beyond Cutback-Management: Think again . ! Allievi SSPA Roma, 10 Maggio 2005 Harald Plamper harald.plamper@t-online.de

2. Farfalla?No! (solo nel contesto tedesco) Jet?No! Satellite?Si!

3. Agenda • Starting Point: Cutback-Management in 70s and 80s • New Public Management and Governance in 80s and 90s (and later) • Reforms in Budgeting and Accounting • Cutback-Management again: old or new? • Accountability in Germany • Food for Thought Harald Plamper 2005

4. Starting Point: Cutback-Management in 70s and 80s • Two Books in my private library: • Dunsire & Hood. Cutback Management in Public Bureaucracies, Cambridge 1989 • Poul Erik Mouritzen (ed.). Managing Cities in Austerity – Urban Fiscal Stress in Ten Western Countries, London 1992 • NL in 1982: 20 % Reduction in Municipal Income • My Job as City Manager in Nürnberg: Cutback, Cutback, Cutback! Harald Plamper 2005

5. Starting Point: Cutback-Management in 70s and 80s Results: • Limited Success • Politicians Unhappy: "Pacifier- (Ciuccio-) Theory" • Citizens want no Additional Taxes or Fees, but all the Services (user fees one small instrument for more income) • Some Detrimental Side-Effects • More Bureaucratic Centralisation (top-down) because of fight against "professional-bureaucratic complex"* Harald Plamper 2005 *Samuel H. Beer, Harvard

6. Starting Point: Cutback-Management in 70s and 80s Cutback Management Behaviour Changes, but "a Cutback is a Cutback" (Dunsire, Hood p186) Better Ways to Achieve the Desired Result (Balance the Budget)? Harald Plamper 2005

7. New Public Management and Governance in 80s and 90s • NPM one (not the only) Answer to Fiscal Stress • Goal: Keep Services Intact, while Cutting the Budget • Focus: one's own Organisation • Budgeting Procedures and Accounting Principles Important • Controlling new Instrument • Consequent Implementation? • Sustainable Change (Managerial Thinking)? • Enough?  NO! Harald Plamper 2005

8. New Public Management and Governance in 80s and 90s Governance • Many Diverse Private Actors  Companies, Clubs, Unions, NPOs, NGOs, Individuals • Many Public Actors  Decentralisation, Federalisation • Consequence: Networks and Networking Harald Plamper 2005

9. New Public Management and Governance in 80s and 90s From NPM to Governance? (NPM dead-end street (vicolo cieco)? No! Governance and Management! Harald Plamper 2005

10. Cutback Management Again: Old or New? • Again? Yes! • Old Homework not Completed (still "Cuckoos - cuculi" in Budget-Nests) • Sluggish Economy • Maastricht! • Blind Eye on Challenges: Demography, Environment, International Security Harald Plamper 2005

11. Cutback Management Again: Old or New? • Old or New? • Central Governments tend to return to Old Ways: • Hide Deficits • Change Maastricht-Criteria • Sell Assets • Take the Dynamics out of Programmes (eg. Ceilings – tetti) • Use "Lawn-Mower" (Responsibility of Ministers of Finance)  Conflicts with Opposition (acceptable)  Conflicts between different Levels of Government  Conflicts between different Policy Sectors ("Professional- Bureaucratic Complex) Harald Plamper 2005

12. Cutback Management Again: Old or New? • Old or New? • Municipalities tend to tryNew Ways(Consequence of Management plus Governance Reforms) • Further Rationalisation, more Flexibilty • Consultation (Citizens as Co-Planners) • Participatory Budgets (eg. City of Vlotho, D) • Social Capital (Citizens as Co-Producers) • Cooperation, Collaboration, Merger • Many experiments with often Positive Results • Role of Politicians is Changing ("Pacifier"-Theory Obsolete?) Harald Plamper 2005

13. Cutback Management Again: Old or New? Overwhelming Problem not Solved: Take Dynamism out of all Government Programs!!!! Harald Plamper 2005

14. Reforms in Budgeting and Accounting • Consequence of Management and Governance Reforms • Output Budgets (also Outcome Budgets?) • "True" (Realistic) Budgets • Accrual Accounting instead of Cash Accounting (Future Obligations/Risks in today's Euros) Harald Plamper 2005

15. Accountability in Germany (Personal Responsibility or) Institutional Accountability • Old: Conformance (adherence to law + parsimony) • New:Conformance plus Performance • Goals from Political Programmes (Outcomes)  Strategy • Accountability in Networks? • Accountability with Citizens as Co-Planners and Co-Producers? • Input- and Output-Budgets (Municipalities) • Benchmarking with Performance-Indicators and Measurement (Municipalities) • Evaluation of Programmes (all Levels of Government) • Accounting and Consulting (Example: new Gemeindeprüfungsanstalt Nordrhein-Westfalen) Harald Plamper 2005

16. Accountability in Germany Necessary Changes: • Take Accountability seriously • Conformane plus performance • No Symbolic Accountability Harald Plamper 2005

17. Food for Thought • What can replace "Pacifier"-Theory?  New Win-Win Relationships between Citizens, Politicians and Public Managers? How? • Accountability in Network-Environment How? • Governance - Management - Finance  more Options (Look at Links!) • Conformance or Performance?  Better: Conformance andPerformance! How? Harald Plamper 2005

18. Food for Thought To "cheer you up": Lassen wir uns von unserer Berufspflicht überwältigen. Let us be overwhelmed by our professional duty. German Writer Anna Seghers 1935 in exile Harald Plamper 2005