Steering and Auditing : Public Management Reform and the New Role of the Parliamentary Actors

The purpose of this book is to evaluate the functioning of the management by results (MbR) reform in the Finnish public administration, especially from the point of view of parliamentary steering and auditing: how the relations between the parliamentary actors and public administration have developed since the reform. The question is analysed using documents and expert interviews. The book indicates that the shift to the MbR system has meant in many cases a shift to a new, more flexible way to steer the administration. However, the reform is not yet complete from the point of view of parliamentary steering and auditing. The information on the realization of the civil service agencies'' and state institutions'' result targets could be forwarded more effectively to the ministries. Thus far the management reform insufficiently enables the realization of parliamentary steering and auditing.