Mark MooreEdit
Mark H. Moore is an American political scientist and professor at the Harvard Kennedy School who is best known for developing the theory of public value and for advancing a strategic, managerial approach to government service. His work centers on how public institutions can be organized to deliver tangible, citizen-valued outcomes within budgetary constraints, and he has helped shape a line of thought in public administration that emphasizes accountability, legitimacy, and results over mere procedure. His most influential contribution is the framework laid out in the book Creating Public Value and its related scholarship, which argues that successful public programs must articulate a clear value proposition, secure political support, and possess the organizational capacity to deliver.
Introductory overview: Moore’s approach sits at the intersection of governance, public administration, and political feasibility. By insisting that public managers think like strategists—crafting options that can pass political scrutiny, mobilize resources, and deliver real changes—his work has become a touchstone for municipalities, agencies, and non-profit organizations seeking to improve performance without abandoning democratic accountability. His ideas have traveled beyond academia into the practice of public leadership and reform, influencing discussions on program design, interagency collaboration, and the governance of shared services. For readers, this framework provides a lens to examine how public programs gain legitimacy and how they convert aspirational goals into measurable results within the realities of public finance and political contestation.
Career and ideas
Public value framework
At the core of Moore’s contribution is the concept of public value, a standard by which public programs should be judged not just by compliance with rules but by the value they create for citizens. The framework stresses three mutually reinforcing elements: - Public value proposition: a clear statement of the benefits the program seeks to deliver to society. - Legitimacy and support: political, bureaucratic, and citizen buy-in essential to sustaining a program through cycles of budgetary and political change. - Operational viability: the capability to implement and sustain the program, including organizational capacity and resource allocation.
These ideas are most closely associated with Creating Public Value, a work that has become a standard reference in discussions about how government can be purposeful, principled, and effective in pursuit of concrete outcomes. The framework is designed to be practical: it asks managers to specify the value they seek, to secure broad backing, and to build the internal processes needed to deliver results. The approach often involves careful design of programs so that they align with available resources, measurable objectives, and the political environment in which they operate. See also Public value as a broader concept that informs policy design and evaluation.
Public management and governance
Moore’s work emphasizes strategic management in government, arguing that public institutions should be run with the same disciplined attention to performance and accountability found in the private sector, but with an explicit obligation to serve the public interest. This emphasis on results-oriented governance intersects with broader currents in public administration, including efforts to increase transparency, strengthen performance measurement, and improve service delivery through interagency collaboration and improved accountability mechanisms. The ideas have resonated with practitioners seeking to move beyond rigid rule-following toward outcomes-focused management within Public administration and Governance.
Influence and reception
Moore’s framework has influenced reform efforts at the local, state, and national levels, where agencies experiment with strategic planning, citizen engagement, and performance-based budgeting. His work is frequently cited in discussions about how governments can remain responsive to citizens while staying fiscally responsible. The approach has also intersected with debates about New Public Management and privatization, particularly the question of how public agencies can leverage competition, outsourcing, and private-sector practices to improve efficiency without sacrificing public accountability. See discussions of private sector approaches and public-private partnerships in governance debates.
Controversies and debates
As with any influential theory in public administration, Moore’s ideas have sparked debate. Critics from various sides have argued that public value frameworks can be too broad or difficult to operationalize, risking drift without clear, enforceable standards. In particular, some observers worry that focusing on legitimacy and stakeholder buy-in could obscure hard budgetary choices or obscure trade-offs among competing public goals. Proponents counter that the framework is not an invitation to expand government uncritically, but a method to incorporate accountability, citizen interest, and feasible delivery into policy design.
From a perspective favoring fiscal discipline and market-based approaches to public service delivery, Moore’s framework is strongest when paired with explicit performance metrics, transparent evaluation, and, where appropriate, competitive mechanisms that incentivize efficiency. Advocates argue that public value can coexist with public accountability and cost containment, especially when programs are designed to be replaceable or reconfigurable in response to results. Critics who push for broader social equity considerations sometimes argue that value-centric governance risks privileging efficiency over distributive justice; defenders respond that legitimacy, stakeholder engagement, and well-defined value propositions are the means to ensure that equity concerns are addressed within a program’s design and evaluation. In discussions about equity, some observers contend that public value is inherently neutral on distributional outcomes, while others insist that legitimacy and value must explicitly reflect justice and access considerations. The debate continues in policy forums, courtrooms, and boardrooms where public programs are designed and judged.
Selected works and legacy
Moore’s most cited work remains Creating Public Value, which is frequently paired with subsequent writings and commentary on how public programs should be conceived, governed, and evaluated. His scholarship has had a lasting impact on how public managers think about strategic design, citizen legitimacy, and the practicalities of delivering benefits to communities. The ideas continue to be taught in courses on public administration, governance, and public policy, and they appear in discussions about public value as a touchstone for evaluating the effectiveness of public programs.