Citizenship Behavior and the Spirit of New Managerialism

Abstract

This article develops an integrative understanding of the relationship between citizenship behavior in and around organizations and new public management (NPM). The authors argue that recent theory of NPM underestimates the economic, symbolic, and educational contribution of many voluntary actions, here termed citizenship behavior, to public organizations as well as to modern society. Relying on this argument, the authors develop a multidimensional model of citizenship behavior that can be applied in the public sector. The model deals with micro-citizenship, midi-citizenship, macro-citizenship, and metacitizenship. Citizenship is thus advocated as a vital construct for the formation of the new managerial spirit and at the same time as a major coming challenge for governance. Finally, several responsibilities are elaborated for social players in fostering values of voluntarism and spontaneous involvement. These can promote a healthier public service, a more efficient bureaucracy, and richer life in prosperous modern communities.