The Fall 2001 issue of the Review focuses on the theme of Public Administration and
Globalization: International and Supranational Organizations. The six papers contained in the
Review's symposium on this theme were initially presented at the first regional international
conference of the International Institute of Administrative Sciences held in Bologna, Italy in June
2000. These papers were edited by Professor Carol Harlow of the London School of Economics,
who also served as general rapporteur for the conference.
In her introduction to the symposium, Professor Harlow notes that the conference set out to
explore the relationship between public administration and the institutions and processes of
globalisation, exposing in the process some of the myths which surround the latter concept. The
first paper of the symposium, by Michiel de Vries, is entitled "The Attack on the State: A
Comparison of the Arguments." The paper covers a range of common usages and definitions of
globalization, together with a consideration of its impact on the nation state. Harlow notes the
considerable resistance at the conference to use of the commonly understood definition of
globalization as an international process of integration or growing together. This holistic definition
was seen as an effort to legitimate an unacceptable degree of intrusive western neo-colonialism
in poorer, developing societies. Conference delegates defined the term more narrowly to refer to
the interlock of economies on a global basis and to the evolution of global information networks,
together with the structures which support these. It was felt that both processes were more
advanced than political and administrative integration.
At the time of the conference, the European Union, recently rocked by a grave administrative
crisis, was struggling to set its house in order and its role in administrative reform was thus
contestable. The second paper in the symposium, written by Les Metcalfe and entitled
"Reforming the European Governance: Old Problems or New Principles," contributes to improving
the administration of the EU. He sets out a model of multilevel governance and management
based on the design of inter-organisational partnerships and the development of co-ordination
capacities strong enough to cope with the rapidly increasing interdependence that deepening and
widening integration are generating, so as to ensure the effectiveness of an enlarged EU.
The third paper, by Laurance Geri, deals with "New Public Management and the Reform of
International Organizations." He notes that analyses of international organizations normally focus
on their political uses and activities. Studies of the UN have described structural flaws but not,
apparently, in the context of NPM. Geri’s paper first establishes a model of NPM and then
measures the operations of international organisations against it. This contribution is enhanced
by the description of a research initiative designed to explore further the management methods of
international organisations.
Gavin Drewry and Che-po Chan examine "Civil Service Reform in the People's Republic of
China." This paper documents the process of change in a vast state which is independent,
autonomous and powerful, both developing and developed, socialist yet experimenting with
capitalism, detached while at the same time interested in and permeable by international
influences. The process of administrative reform in China coincided chronologically with the
extensive NPM reforms experienced over the last two decades in western countries. As in the
latter, China experienced a wave of downsizing and streamlining. This might suggest that a
process of globalisation was underway or, to put this differently, a global paradigm shift in public
administration. However, even though the reforms showed traces of NPM thought, Drewry and
Chan conclude that the reforms were primarily dictated by national thinking and needs and
necessitated by the move from a centralised, command economy to a modified market economy.
B.B. Tandon, Vivek K. Agnihotri and H. Ramachandran, in their paper on "Globalisation and
Decentralization: Emerging Issues from the Indian Experience, paint a similar picture of the very
different reforms in India, another giant political and economic system. Here restructuring took
place in two different arenas, federal and local. Economic reform was largely the preserve of the
federal government, which established macro-economic policy; administrative reforms took place
within an overall framework of decentralization, accompanying the delegation of decision-making
power to local representative bodies.
The final paper in the symposium is Richard Rawlings' examination of "Law, Territory and
Integration: A View from the Atlantic Shore." In his discussion of the development of a semiautonomous Wales, he proposes a tripartite model of activity or networking (transnational,
national, subnational) in which the “partnering region” supplements the national and establishes
“paradiplomatic” relations with the outside world. This paper mirrors the broader conclusions of
the conference with its warning against easy assumptions about the imminent demise of the
nation state.
Harlow explains that the conference participants did not accept the dominant view of globalization
as an inescapable and irreversible fact with which we, the citizens, and nation states have to
come to terms. Globalization is not something which is out of our hands. It is not the end of
history. It is neither irresistible nor irreversible. The process of globalisation can be subjected to
control. We can choose which elements we desire for our respective societies and the power of
the state and the power of international institutions can both be harnessed to these ends.
In addition to the symposium, this issue of the Review contains two papers on other issues.
Eleanor Glor's paper is entitled "Do Generations Matter? The Effectiveness of Codes of Conduct
With Different Generations of Public Servants." She suggests that the generational beliefs of
public servants are a factor in the efficacy of codes of conduct. She provides data to support the
argument that public servants hold the same values as their counterpart generations and she
contends that differences in the belief systems of generations of public servants (matures,
boomers and genXers) are likely to affect how they react to codes of conduct – boomers and
genXers may not react well. She then proposes four approaches tailored to promoting ethical
behaviour by public servants in each of the three generations.
Frédéric Varone and David Giauque contribute a paper on "Public Policy Management and
Performance-Related Pay: Comparative Analysis of Service Contracts in Switzerland." They
provide a careful exploratory analysis of pilot-projects in progress in various Swiss cantons.
Among the authors' empirical findings are that there is a shortsighted view of outputs and
production efficiency, services have little room for manoeuvre in terms of incentive measures, and
a cultural change is a long time coming. They conclude that the performance indicators
formulated to date appear to have concentrated on an administration’s internal productivity
without the associated tangible and intangible incentives having led to any real changes in
previous bureaucratic practices.
Finally, in the section of the Review on New Developments in Public Administration, Peter Salway
explains an innovative approach to promoting and monitoring the employment and conduct
principles contained in the Public Sector Management and Employment Act of Australia's State of
Victoria. Process indicators, output indicators, periodic studies and ad hoc cases are used to
report performance against the principles. Salway reports on the progress that has been made
and the improvements that are needed.