Assessing Public Management Reforms

Patrick C. Gibert is Emeritus Professor of Management at the University of Paris-Nanterre, France. An alumnus of the Northwestern Graduate School, his publications examine the ways in which public organizations enact performance management and policy evaluation. He is the co-founder of the journal Politiques et Management Public. Jean-Claude Thoenig is a former research director at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France. A former associate dean at INSEAD, he led the French Conseil Scientifique de l’Évaluation. His academic contributions cover innovation management, policy implementation and evaluation, intergovernmental relationships, higher education, and research institutions.

“I enjoyed reading this book and am pleased to recommend it. It would be of inter­est to scholars and researchers of French administration, but also to those interested in public management and responses to reform more broadly, and why transforma­tional reforms do not always measure up to their stated intents.” (Christopher L. Atkinson, Public Organization Review, January 11, 2023)

• 1. Introduction.- 2. Bridging Efficience and Efficiency.- 3. An enigma: The French Paradox.- 4. A poor appropriation of performance-oriented capacities.- 5. Required capabilities to assess and enact modernization capacities.- 6. Conclusion.