New Public Management

The rise of new public management (NPM) has to be understood as part of the broader movement which is generally called neoliberalism. At the forefront of this movement has been the turn from Keynesian anti-cyclical and demand-led economic policy toward a supply-led one, which intends to strengthen market forces as an instrument of enhancing economic efficiency and furthermore of solving any societal problem. NPM is widely applied in higher education, particularly in the governance of the university. This entry first explains the principles of NPM, then looks at how the university is governed under its regime, and finally presents critical views on NPM.