Control and Autonomy—The SAIs in Norway, Denmark, and Germany as Watchdogs in an NPM-Era?

New public management (NPM) reforms have weakened the direct steering capacity within state bureaucracy. This article looks into how supreme audit institutions in three countries (Norway, Denmark, and Germany) assess these types of reforms. The analysis shows that all three SAIs have taken on an evaluative role when judging NPM instruments. At the same time their emphasis on legality and compliance can be at odds with some of the operating principles in NPM. All in all the German SAI seems to be the most radical critic. This may be linked to the lack of openness of the German SAIs results that makes it more internally focused within a mindset of administrative accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]