Britain is one of the birthplaces of the "new public management" movement. 1979 After Margaret Thatcher came to power, the British Conservative government carried out the most radical government reform plan in Western Europe and began this new public management reform characterized by attaching importance to enterprise management technology, introducing competition mechanism and customer orientation. The introduction of business management technology into the British public sector began at 1979, which was marked by the establishment of the Reiner Review Committee. Reina, who was born in the private sector, presided over a project team in the cabinet to investigate and evaluate the performance of the public sector; 1983 "financial management initiative" was launched, and an automated information system was established to support financial management reform. 1987 the famous report "the next step" (the full name is "changing government management: the next action plan") advocates adopting more commercial management methods to improve administrative organs and improve the efficiency of public services. The report points out: for a long time, there is no realistic pressure to force government agencies to improve their performance and work efficiency; In the past, we paid attention to standardized procedures and neglected the provision of public services; Whitehall pays attention to the policy consulting function of senior civil servants, not the management function. In order to solve these problems, the report suggests that the whole department (commission) should be decomposed into several institutions, which will perform the duties of public service and effective management under the policy guidance of the competent department (commission); Train employees with management skills and procedures, and all activities are carried out under the leadership of senior executives. The establishment of the "Next Step" organization was piecemeal at first, but it developed rapidly.

The characteristics of customer orientation and service improvement of "new public management" are particularly evident in the white paper of 199 1 Major's government, and the introduction of market competition mechanism is particularly evident in the wave of privatization of British public companies and institutions since 1979, which also reflects. These measures make the public sector that provides public goods and services accept the market test; There is competition between public departments and between public departments and private departments to provide public goods and services, especially through public bidding, units that win the competition and provide quality services can survive and develop.

With the advent of globalization and the information age, western governments under the traditional bureaucratic system are unable to cope with the dilemma of their own institutional expansion and increased financial expenditure, and their weak supply capacity of public goods cannot meet the growing demand for public goods. Therefore, Thatcher's cabinet in Britain and Reagan's administration in the United States took the lead in reforming the public sector, and implemented a public management model that was different from government finiteness and market rescue "government failure".

The pioneers of new public management are Thatcher's cabinet in Britain and Reagan's government in the United States. From 65438 to 0979, Thatcher's cabinet launched this movement, the direct purpose of which was to reduce the budget deficit and improve government efficiency. The movement is divided into four stages: (1) introducing private sector management technology. Thatcher's cabinet put forward the famous 3E standard, namely economy, efficiency and effect, as the ultimate standard to measure administrative management and public service. (2) Privatization of public services has greatly reduced the scale and scope of government activities. (3) The agency stage of public service. The decision-making department is only responsible for policy formulation, not policy implementation. (4) Public-private cooperation stage. The Reagan administration of the United States advocates the supremacy of the market, individual freedom and the minimization of government. The basic idea is that the government should organize and manage like a big company, and both the public sector and the private sector should evaluate according to the same economic parameters and management principles.

Although there are still differences in the scale and depth of the new public management movement in different countries, as a worldwide reform trend, its main practices are the same. (1) Adjust government functions. The main measures are: reducing direct intervention in enterprises and society; Breaking monopoly, introducing competition mechanism and implementing socialization of public services; Privatize state-owned enterprises, thus reducing the burden on the government and reducing the size of the government. (2) Innovative management methods. The main methods include: fully learning from enterprise management methods, such as project bidding, quality management, user fees, contract outsourcing, human resources development, etc. To realize the innovation of government management; Using modern information technology to promote e-government and rebuild government management process; Carrying out government performance evaluation, such as the implementation of government public service commitment system in Britain and federal government performance management in the United States, has achieved positive results. (3) Implementing decentralization reform. That is, around the separation of decision-making power and executive power, some countries divide government departments into decision-making departments and executive agencies with specific service functions, and define the responsibility scope, work objectives and assessment standards of executive agencies by signing letters of responsibility. Britain, Australia, Sweden and so on have adopted relevant practices.