The experience of OECD countries with public management reform and its relevance to Central and Eastern Europe

In this paper, the experience of OECD countries with public management reform, as has been attempted since the nineteen seventies until now, is discussed. In particular we focus on the lessons which can be drawn from public management reform attempts in English speaking countries on the one hand (the ''Anglo-saxon tradition'' in public management reform), represented by the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, and in countries on the European continent (the ''continental tradition'' in public management reform), represented by the Netherlands and France. The relevance of the experience of these Western countries with public management reform to countries in Central and Eastern Europe, such as Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia, will be pointed out. For this purpose, the results and conclusions of the various country chapters in the report will be employed. A critical examination of this relevance is necessary to formulate an answer to the central question of this ACE Phare research project: can public management innovations as applied in Western Europe and in other OECD countries be applied successfully in Central and Eastern Europe?