ABSTRACT
In recent decades, reforms in public administration, and especially the New Public Management (NPM) doctrine, have raised many questions as to the role of citizens and governments in our modern societies. There are two major theoretical models for reforming public administration: administrative/bureaucracy-driven models and democratic/citizen-driven or grass-roots-driven models. Both of these models imply change in the public sector, each from a different starting point. Both models are practical and possible. Administrative-driven models represent top-down governability. They view government and public administration as those who are responsible for the initiation of change and for making it work properly. Grass-roots-driven models represent bottom-up governability. They make more demands of the people, expecting that they, instead of governments and bureaucracies, will make the first move towards change and reform. The economic growth in modern democracies has a general positive effect on our lives.
