Publication
Title
New Public Management Reform ideas and the remaking of the Italian and Danish health systems
Author
Abstract
This article explores the role of New Public Management (NPM) ideas in the reform of the Italian and Danish health systems. In particular, it investigates the arguments that have supported changes in their institutional and territorial dimensions. Whereas the institutional dimension is concerned with the allocation of authority between layers of government, the territorial dimension is related to the definition of the size of subnational governments. By adopting an argumentative approach to policy analysis and focusing on the role of ideas in policy formulation, the article shows how Italian and Danish policymakers have shaped the institutional and territorial changes that have taken place in their national health systems. Through document analysis and in-depth interviews with experts and decision-makers, we show that the relationship between changes in size and authority in relation to NPM ideas is not clear-cut. Whereas in Italy arguments about the need to change the allocation of authority were not tied to a discourse about the size of subnational governments and health agencies, in Denmark discourses about size and authority have run in parallel. The present study confirms previous findings and provides additional evidence suggesting that NPM ideas have spread widely through governments following a path of implementation that varies from one national context to another.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Territory, politics, governance / Regional Studies Association. - Abingdon, 2013, currens
Publication
Abingdon : Routledge journals, taylor & francis ltd , 2023
ISSN
2162-2671 [print]
2162-268X [online]
DOI
10.1080/21622671.2021.1930129
Volume/pages
11 :8 (2023) , p. 1649-1668
ISI
000667983500001
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Publication type
Subject
Law 
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 30.07.2021
Last edited 02.10.2024
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