Managing Public Museums Appropriately and Consequentially: The Distinctiveness and Diversity of Leading Organizations

• Published date: 01 July 2021
• Author: Scott Brenton,Geert Bouckaert
• Date: 01 July 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13323

Research Article

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Public Administration Review,

Vol. 81, Iss. 4, pp. 715–727. © 2020 The

Authors. Public Administration Review

published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of

The American Society for Public Administration.

DOI: 10.1111/puar.13323.

Abstract: While public museums in advanced economies operate in constrained funding environments after

public sector efficiency drives, there has not been a common, sector-wide response. Museums cope differently with

tensions between the two logics of consequences and of appropriateness, which are mapped in this study based

on annual reports. A “logic of appropriateness” in adapting traditional curatorial missions to include social and

political objectives, expanding access, fostering an ethical and inclusive climate, pursuing broader policy objectives,

sustainability, and innovation, and providing a forum for contradictory debate and non-nationalistic expression,

varies substantially across organizations. There has been a wider embrace of a “logic of consequences” with targets to

increase nongovernment income, ambitious renovation and expansion projects, digitalization and interactive audience

engagement, and greater consideration given to resource allocation. Many museums now favor temporary “blockbuster”

exhibitions to attract financial sponsors and ticket sales, which also appeals to more privileged constituencies and

philanthropic supporters.

Evidence for practice

• Unlike many other public sector agencies, most museums are still grappling with how to adapt to

constrained government funding and to become more efficient, with improved digitalization, a common

strategy that also increases accessibility.

• Consequences: Museums do have access to significant nongovernment sources of revenue, management

expertise, and generous supporters, which along with their governance structure and legislative basis,

provides greater autonomy than many other public organizations.

• Appropriateness: There is a tension between continuing to fulfill traditional roles and satisfying existing

constituencies (as with expensive exhibitions), while also attempting to be more inclusive with diverse and

challenging program offerings.

• Consequences and appropriateness: Only very few museums score highly in terms of both consequences and

appropriateness, and they have deepened their missions beyond the “4Is” (imaginative, innovative, inspiring,

and international) to incorporate other progressive political, cosmopolitan, and social goals along with

ambitious agendas for change.

• It is possible for museums to combine logics of consequences and appropriateness; however, it seems that

performance-related logics of consequences are more prominent and are perhaps conditional to then develop

and add logics of appropriateness.

• Most museums are not striving to be unique or the best in the world, with international collaboration more

common than rivalry.

As has been already been extensively studied,

in the aftermath of the global financial crisis

and decades of efficiency reforms within

constrained funding environments under new

public management (NPM), many public sector

organizations have started to enter a post-NPM phase

where outcomes are prioritized in addition to issues of

trust, legitimacy, and inclusiveness. Yet many public

museums appear to be more secure in maintaining

a traditional role despite criticisms of elitism and

being largely shielded from full privatization, while

other public services have embraced or substantially

increased user fees. Austerity has seemingly not

dampened the ambitious renovation and expansion

agendas of several leading public museums. Has the

museum sector actually resisted reforming, and if so,

how? Is there a sector-wide norm, or are museums

responding differently in different countries?

One theory is that because museums have long

promulgated non-economic goals and benefits while

still enjoying support from often wealthier and

Scott Brenton

University of Melbourne

Managing Public Museums Appropriately and

Consequentially: The Distinctiveness and Diversity of

Leading Organizations

Geert Bouckaert

KU Leuven

Geert Bouckaert is a Professor at

the KU Leuven Instituut voor de Overheid

(Public Governance Institute) in Belgium

and a Fellow of the National Academy

of Public Administration (United States).

Other positions include Chair of the KU

Leuven Contemporary Arts Committee

and Chair of the KU Leuven Metaforum

Platform “Science and Art.” He publishes

on performance management, public

sector reform and financial cycles, and is a

recipient of the ASPA International Public

Administration Award.

Email: geert.bouckaert@kuleuven.be

Scott Brenton is a Senior Lecturer in

Political Science in the School of Social

and Political Sciences at the University

of Melbourne in Australia. His research

interests include public budgeting,

federalism, comparative government, ethics

and accountability, and representation,

with principal regional foci on Oceania and

Northern Europe. This project commenced

while he was a visiting fellow at the KU

Leuven Instituut voor de Overheid (Public

Governance Institute) in Belgium.

Email: sbrenton@unimelb.edu.au