NEW PUBLIC MANAGEMENT AND THE 1988 CONSTITUTION: EFFICIENCY, INNOVATION AND RESPONSIBILITY AS LEGAL IMPERATIVES

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the transition from the ‘old’ to the new public management considering the 1988 Federal Constitution, with emphasis on the introduction of the principle of efficiency by art. 37, caput, and on the legal, administrative and functional implications of this paradigm shift. Since Constitutional Amendment No. 19/1998, Brazilian public administration has become legally bound to the delivery of results, rational allocation of resources and institutional innovation. The study contrasts the traditional bureaucratic model, characterized by excessive formalism and hierarchical rigidity, with the modern management model, based on efficiency, digital government, ongoing training of civil servants, electronic and efficient processes and management by results. The methodology adopted is qualitative and documentary, with research in normative, jurisprudential and doctrinal sources. The article shows that the modernization of public administration is not a mere administrative guideline, but rather a constitutional obligation imposed on public managers and servants. It is concluded that efficiency, innovation and continuous institutional development are essential pillars of the current legal-administrative regime, and their omission is subject to liability. The new public management, in this context, represents the effective fulfillment of the fundamental right to good administration.