Debate better public services: The moral purpose of public management research?

In this article we argue that public management scholars share a purpose that goes beyond scientific understanding of managerial and organizational behaviour and outcomes. A widespread, if seldom explicitly articulated, assumption in the field is that public management research can contribute to better public services, either by offering theoretical critiques of governmental reforms or providing empirical evidence on 'what works'. In this sense, public management aspires to the status of a 'design science' that seeks not only to explain how public services are managed, but also to draw conclusions on how their management arrangements can be improved.