Public Sector Reform: The Debates
I. Stages in the Developmental State
1. 1950s- Faith in the State
=Industrialization
=economic growth
=modernization
2. 1960s-1970s- Basic Human Needs- growth With Equity
3. Late 1970s- New International Economic Order
=redistribution
=empowerment of south
=equity
===Basic Human Needs vs. New International
Economic Order (NIEO) part of the NorthSouth dialogue
4. 1980s- Structural Adjustment and neo-orthodoxy: The
Dividing Line: 1983-1984
a. "We are the World" leads to Donor Fatigue
b. Illness and then death of Brezhnev in Soviet
Union
c. Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher at
the height of their power
5. 1990s- Decentralization: Democracy and Governance
II. Public Sector Reform: The change1. Prologue
a. End of assumption- Progress is inevitable
b. Robert MacNamara resigns from the World Bank
c. International institutions abandon basic needs approach
d. International conflict shifts from East West Rivalry and
cold war to ethnic, regional and internal conflicts
=Cambodia, Nicaragua, Angola, Mozambique are
transitional conflicts
=New "Transitional States"- CIS and Eastern Europe
2. Structural adjustment with a human face
3. Role of NGOs
4. International donors as managers
III. The Issues:
1. The state as national planner
2. How large a state: When is the state sector too big?
3. Issue of state ownership, and unfair competition (international
trade)
4. The vagueness of boundaries between government and society:
5. Hidden government: subsidies and entitlements. French Wine
and Wisconsin cheese
6. Limitations of constitutions and public sectors- Decline in faith
in government institutions in the 20th century
=failure of legislative, executive structures.
Loss of control
7. Anti-bureaucracy- the myth of the neutral bureaucrat
8. Attacks on the European Mandarins- European elitist systems
of administration
=Permanent Secretary
=Director General
=State Secretary
IV. Reforms:
1. Privatization of the bureaucracy
a. Savas- The key to efficient and effective goods and
services
b. Critique: Nelson: impact of
organizations on NGOs- Distortion?
international
c. Turner and Hulme- Are NGOs and Private sector
better than Public Enterprises?
2. Regulationsa. Deregulation- negative
b. Competition- positive (monopolies vs. utilities)
c. Regulations and Corruption: Klitgaard: Dealing
with corruption and culture?
3. Civil Service Reform: Case Studies- South Africa, Botswana,
Eritrea, Ethiopia:
a.
Distinction- Public Sector
Administrative reform
Reform
vs.
***Purists go for PSR rather than
CSRlatter
not
legitimateoxymoron
****Problem-"Bureaucrat
bashing"
i. a Public Enterprises vs.
ii. Civil Services
iii.
Broad
Development
issue
of
Human
Resource
b. Techniques: Public Sector Reform
i. Budgetary and Fiscal Reforms
===Budgets as plans- Schroeder in Baker (tax
vs. spending)
ii. Personnel- records base, motivation, promotion,
review, retrenchment, etc. Problem: Collapsed states
have no carrots
iii. Structural Reforms- Excessive centralization and
politicization
1.
Center-reorganizations- move or
abolish
2. Decentralization- Botswana example
3. Transfer to local authorities or public
corporations
a. devolution
b. deconcentration
c. delegation
d. privatization- what does it mean?
Sell, Liquidate, commercialize,
partnership or contract out
4. Cut back: percentage of civil service
===Cutback the civil servicethe infamous 19% first cut===Myth of Size- eg. Bureaucracy
in Africa small
===Turner and Holm: Bureaucracy
and Development
===Is Downsizing- "right sizing"
Cutback=management- smaller, or
more efficient, more effective
5. Redefinition- "Reinventing Government"
(Osborne and Gabler)- steering rather than
rowing
6. Strengthen systems of accountability
==-Barzelay and customer
approach
7. Simplification and deregulation
8. Technical- Management Information Systems
===Operational Strategy: Policy
Success:
====Plans, projects and programs
(Morgan in Baker)
9. Key:
Human Resource DevelopmentTraining, recruitment, rewards and punishment
(qualifications and salaries)
=personnel flexibility
performance
and
pay
for
=reform position classification (rank vs.
position)
= return to meritocracy
=The Dilemma of Merit:
Garrity)
(Picard and
=Political-civil
service
reformsrelational, responsiveness of bureaucrats
to politicians
=Common
interests:
organization
privileges
in
=Rise of NGOs and multilateral: can you
avoid the politicians?
=Miewald: Politics- the critical factor?