Citizens, technology and the NPM movement

Abstract

In the modernisation of the state, NPM ideas are presumed to offer Governments certainty in the face of major unknowns. The reliance of NPM on information technologies is presented by Governments as underlining this potential for certainty. However, this presumption of certainty is elusive in practice. Government pursuit of NPM transformational policies aims to make efficiency savings and cost reductions, but this may create new uncertainties for citizens, particularly because of the unintended consequences of the implementation of new technology.

Whatever happened to New Public Management?

“…IT modernization without consideration of its wider ramifications may harm citizens. Specifically, the untrammeled pursuit of IT modernization may lead to a surveillance society in which all citizens become suspects (Lapsley & Selgato, 2019).…”

Methods Used in Digital Citizenship: A Systematic Literature Review

“…The media and information literacy also required digital citizenship, which included "technical competence at lower media and information literacy levels (Manzuoli et al, 2019)." This was a helpful perspective on developing literacy and skills, using laptops, smartphones, and Tablet PCs as examples of new digital technology (Heath, 2020;Lapsley & Segato, 2019;Tapingkae et al, 2020).…”

“…Since the dawn of the 21st century, technology and the Internet have become nearly vital to people's life. AI systems may engage in random, harmful behavior while attempting to complete a task (Lapsley & Segato, 2019;Ramachandran et al, 2020). People can share information online, express opinions and emotions, utilize public services effectively, and gain knowledge of world events.…”

Centralization of health policy decisions, conversion to austerity, and public defiance in contemporary France

“…Despite NPM reforms, the French health system remains highly centralized. The “hybridization” or layering of EU‐endorsed market reforms by the top elite and historical social regimes with overlapping accountability arrangements (Benish & Mattei, 2019) signal the rise of Anglo‐governmentality in public health care (Ferlie & McGivern, 2014), but created a digital divide (Laferté, 2020) and “ new uncertainties for citizens, particularly because of the unintended consequences of the implementation of new forms of technology ” (Lapsley & Segato, 2019) that are out of reach of citizens. They and their representatives felt increasingly sidelined, despite France having one of the highest number of citizen's representatives per inhabitants: 1158 between the National Assembly, the Senate, and the Economic Social and Environmental Council, and 511,000 in regional, communal, and district (“ Departement ”)‐level assemblies.…”