Final answer:
The Cook Islands reforms reflect principles of New Public Management by implementing decentralization decisions, increasing accountability and transparency, and shifting to performance-based management and budgeting. These changes improve administrative empowerment, government efficiency and outcomes.
Step-by-step explanation:
The case study on the Cook Islands refers to a series of reforms conducted in alignment with the principles of New Public Management (NPM). Three major reforms from this case study include decentralization of government functions, greater accountability and transparency in the public sector, and performance-based budgeting and management.
The concept of decentralization entails the decision-making process shifting from the central government to local or regional administrative bodies. This change is aligned with NPM as it empowers lower-level officials, improves efficiency, and allows for more responsive local governance.
Implementing greater accountability and transparency in government operations reflects an important principle of NPM. It often takes the form of clearer and more detailed financial reports, the implementation of performance measurement systems and making political processes more transparent to the public.
Lastly, the shift to performance-based management and budgeting links to the NPM focus on outcome-based results. By developing a system that rewards results and performance, public sector organizations are encouraged to become more efficient and effective.
Learn more about Cook Islands Reforms