Why Legality Matters: The Limits of Markets and Governance Reform in the Public Sector

Abstract

Market-based administrative reform and governance reform have aimed at increasing the efficiency of the public service and opening up new channels for exchange between the public administration and actors in its environment. The emphasis has been on the service-producing elements of the public service; much less attention has been paid to those structures that implement the law and exercise public authority. As a result, administrative reform now challenges the legality of the public service and the norms and values that sustain that administrative role. The paper looks at recent market-based administrative reform and governance reform with particular attention to the relationship between the norms and objectives that drive reform and the norms of legality in the public service.