Addressing Capability Challenges and Restoring Trust in New Zealand’s Public Management

Abstract

New Zealand’s public sector confronts mounting capability challenges, while public trust in government institutions is declining. In this introduction to the special issue, we propose that, to restore trust deficits in Aotearoa’s public management system, we should focus on structures of capability, accountability and legitimacy, as informed by the articles in this collection. We argue that New Zealand’s traditional public management model, although effective for many service deliveries, demands different approaches to adequately diagnose and tackle wicked problems that call for cross agency collaboration and community engagement.