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Performance measurement has been expected to produce information that can be used to make better and more rational decisions. In the United States, this belief is directly related to performance measurement's lineage-scientific management and its perceived contribution to better government (see also Van Dooren in Chapter 1). In the early 1900s, organizations focused on developing procedures and measurement techniques to improve efficiency and increase the productivity of workers. For public organizations, the interest in efficiency, which is built into the traditional approaches to accountability (Brunsson, 1989: 5; Radin, 2002) was areaction to the pervasiveness of patronage and corruption in the way government conducted its business. Thus began aseries of efforts to replace rather subjective assessments of government performance with systematic and more precise measurement. There was an optimistic …