Applicability of the new public management model to the Colombian government contracting system in light of the strategies used by political powers during the 2001 – 2004 period

The tendency towards public management modernization appears related to modification of the concept of the State generated through the influence of the phenomena of globalization. The new public management model seeks to change some characteristics of the traditional model and looks towards the enhancement of principles such as transparency, efficiency and publicity. One of the most important fields of public management that has received the influx of this trend is the system of public contracting which is the object of many societal pressures. It is necessary to verify the different mechanisms of this modernization trend, so we can know if these changes correspond to a uniform attempt at change, or arise instead from competing contradictory efforts which may cause a collapse in their application.