Valeurs et motivations dans le service public. Perspective comparative

Public service motivation (PSM) is an important variable within contemporary public administration, as it has been linked to various human resources processes in a public environment (eg. recruitment, performance, preference for incentives). It refers to motivational factors that are specific for government. It has been originally conceived as an American concept and therefore there are some difficulties in applying it to other (national) contexts. This article compares the original model of PSM by Perry to two other cases : France and the Netherlands. Next to the original dimensions of PSM (attraction to politics and policy-making, public interest, compassion and self-sacrifice), the authors distinguish five other dimensions (religion, equality, tradition in service delivery, technical competences and bureaucracy). These dimensions are presented in an extensive and comparative way. Although PSM proves to be a universal concept, both the French and the Dutch case display different elements. These observations provide support for a new institutionalist approach to public service motivation and to motivation in general. As such, they refute the narrow self-interested motivational bases of rational and public choice theories applied within new public management.