Social Partnership: New public Management Practice in Barbados.

Social partnership is a relatively new concept that has been embraced by public management practice in developing countries. This paper explores the evolution and practice of social partnership as a major policy instrument of national development in Barbados and Ireland, two countries with diverse political economies. More importantly, it examines the application of the social partnership concept as innovative expressions of new public management (NPM) that provides lessons for other countries depending on their willingness to place national interests above all else.