Can elephants fly? Drucker and governmental reform

The purpose of this article is to explore and evaluate Peter Drucker’s ideas on governmental reform, responsibilities, and management. Through an examination of his writings, as well as the work of a number of public administration scholars, Drucker’s views are analysed and assessed in the context of recent public management literature. The article situates Drucker as a de facto public choice theorist, given his advocacy of privatization and his minimalist position on government, in general. Although he is an internationally‐renowned management theorist, Drucker’s views on the public sector are found wanting on both the theoretical and practical levels. The article concludes that governmental reform is far more complex than Drucker seems to realize, and that it requires a healthy respect for democratic values and the public interest, as well as the principles and practices of modern management.