Translating good governance into a reality requires political commitment
Wednesday, 1 July 2009
Ferdous Arfina Osman
Since 1970s public administration has undergone many paradigm shifts and in course of changes, it has gained its rebirth through the emergence of the concepts of 'New Public Management' (NPM) and 'governance'. This book is a pioneering effort in drawing a synergy between the doctrines of 'public administration' and 'governance' by expanding the horizon of the former to the latter. It shows clearly how the concepts of 'governance' and 'new public management' are analogous and hence, it notes, "what was public administration in the past has now become 'governance' with added zeal".
Thus, the book has primarily focused on the extension of public administration to a new sphere, which would add a new dimension to the discipline itself. It is a proper blending of theory and practice as it provides a sound theoretical basis for discussions on governance and public administration and presents invaluable experiences of many countries of South East Asia that have redefined the role of administration in the changed context offering lessons for Bangladesh. More importantly, the book has highlighted the need for 'better public service' as a critical aspect of good governance and prescribed some measures to achieve it through learning from others.
The author has aptly organized the discussion into three broad sections with fifteen chapters. Section one provides the conceptual framework for the study dealing with the key concepts of public administration and governance. It discusses about the present global context of public administration, lessons and challenges. In this regard, the impact of globalization on public administration and its response to the recent trends have been discussed in detail. Amongst many, three major global pressures namely information technology, global institutions and efficiency and productivity need to be considered with great prominence. Public sector organizations are now under global pressure to enhance their productivity by increasing efficiency. In response to these pressures, principles of NPM, quality service delivery, enhancing ICT use, public private partnership (PPP), performance management etc., have been adopted by various countries in the world.
It also deals with the new ways of conceptualizing governance through minimizing the role of state and developing a partnership relationship amongst other social entities. It examines the public management reforms undertaken in a number of countries in the Asia-Pacific region during the last decade, which include public private interaction and exchange, quality service delivery, decentralization and participation etc. Based on these, it advocates that governance systems in the Asia- Pacific region need to be reorganized on a different philosophical plane premised on two basic assumptions: i) limiting the role of the state to provide basic services and ii) a congenial environment to facilitate the enlarged role of private sector, NGOs and others in the governance process.
Section two presents a number of recent successful administrative reform experiences in some South East Asian countries including Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore in line with NPM movement and other thrusts of globalization. It details many practical measures undertaken by these countries towards improving public sector efficiency, quality, accountability and performance. To mention a few in Hong Kong, Performance Pledges (PP) has been introduced to ensure minimum standard of public services. Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) was set up in 1974 bestowing a wide array of authority including arresting people on suspicion, freezing asset and searching and seizing without warrant, requiring information, preventing people from going abroad etc.
In Malaysian civil service, a number of changes have been introduced during the last two decades. Quality, productivity, accountability etc., were the principal concerns of administrative reform in Malaysia. For the sake of quality improvement it introduced Public Service Network (PSN), Total Quality Management ('I'QM), Civil Service Link (CSL), and Clients' Charter. The book has not only described the nature of reforms undertaken in these countries rather it has also identified the reasons for the success of these efforts, the principal of which arc: sustained political commitment and support of senior civil servants. In addition to this they had clear goals, involved suitable people, adopted relevant process, measured performance, used technology and emphasized results that offer invaluable lessons for Bangladesh.
A significant portion of the book devotes to the description and analysis of the state of governance in Bangladesh. Section 3, i.e. the final section of the book focuses on Bangladesh experiences in various in-important governance issues along with those of other countries in the world including South Asia. In doing so, it presents a brief but a comprehensive analysis of the genesis of Bangladesh civil service, various dimensions of corruption, its causes and consequences, urban governance and the functioning of NGOs in ensuring good governance. It argues that Bangladesh civil service is unable to cope with the impact of globalization and the governance crisis. Volatile and turbulent political context of the country could he a significant contributing factor for this stubbornness of Bangladesh civil service. Several (seventeen) efforts were undertaken so far to reform the administrative system with limited results. Although administrative reform in the light of NPM was recommended by PARC in 1997, only a few have been implemented so far.
The book presets good governance as a framework to overcome the ills of civil service and provides some prescription for improvement in the area of good governance and also highlights some challenges of, good governance in general and also in Bangladesh.
As a clear manifestation of poor governance, urban governance has been discussed with a specific focus on politics and urban service delivery. It is argued that negative politics and various kinds of managerial flaws cause the provision of substandard public services to the urbanites. Two chapters in this section deal with another prominent feature of poor governance --- corruption. One of them presents definition, typology and consequences of corruption in general and in South Asia ill particular. Then in the light of global scenario, corruption in Bangladesh has been analyzed along with its nature, causes and probable remedies. Overall, the chapter presents a vivid picture of the "vicious cycle" of corruption in Bangladesh and has rightly identified the keys to corruption which include: lack of political will, weak anticorruption institutional arrangements, ineffective civil society organization, peoples' fatalistic attitude towards corruption and corrupt people.
Another chapter dealing with corruption presents some experiences of a number of countries including the Philippines, Uganda, Ghana and India pertaining to corruption. The experiences highlighted the nature and causes of corruption and the means adopted to combat it in order to throw some light oil the Bangladesh experience.
Discussion on non-government organisations (NGOs) as a critical component of civil society and thereby a key actor of governance has also gained prominence in the book through occupying its last two chapters.
Chapter 14 presents a brief overview of NGOs in Bangladesh and deals with the major issues that often revolve around the debate on the functioning of NGOs in the country, which include: NGO role in empowering the poor, GO-NGO relationship and the sources of fund of NGOs. Chapter 15, the last chapter of the book, reviews and examines the tri-dimensional accountability of NGOs to patrons, clients and themselves with particular reference to seven large NGOs by employing a suitable framework.
Thus the book has touched upon a range of significant governance issues, offered detailed descriptions, analyses and suggestions for improvement. Its theoretical constructs along with the practical focus on different countries across the globe and on Bangladesh in particular, would enable it to be a useful reference for the students, academics and practitioners of public administration. A careful reading of this book would invariably help the policy makers to decide the future directions. Moreover, the wealth of information about the administrative reform in other parts of the world towards good governance offers Bangladesh a lesson that it is possible to translate the idcals of good governance into reality if there is a political commitment.
Dr. Ferdous Arfina Osman is an Associate Professor, Department of Public Administration, University of Dhaka, Dhaka
Since 1970s public administration has undergone many paradigm shifts and in course of changes, it has gained its rebirth through the emergence of the concepts of 'New Public Management' (NPM) and 'governance'. This book is a pioneering effort in drawing a synergy between the doctrines of 'public administration' and 'governance' by expanding the horizon of the former to the latter. It shows clearly how the concepts of 'governance' and 'new public management' are analogous and hence, it notes, "what was public administration in the past has now become 'governance' with added zeal".
Thus, the book has primarily focused on the extension of public administration to a new sphere, which would add a new dimension to the discipline itself. It is a proper blending of theory and practice as it provides a sound theoretical basis for discussions on governance and public administration and presents invaluable experiences of many countries of South East Asia that have redefined the role of administration in the changed context offering lessons for Bangladesh. More importantly, the book has highlighted the need for 'better public service' as a critical aspect of good governance and prescribed some measures to achieve it through learning from others.
The author has aptly organized the discussion into three broad sections with fifteen chapters. Section one provides the conceptual framework for the study dealing with the key concepts of public administration and governance. It discusses about the present global context of public administration, lessons and challenges. In this regard, the impact of globalization on public administration and its response to the recent trends have been discussed in detail. Amongst many, three major global pressures namely information technology, global institutions and efficiency and productivity need to be considered with great prominence. Public sector organizations are now under global pressure to enhance their productivity by increasing efficiency. In response to these pressures, principles of NPM, quality service delivery, enhancing ICT use, public private partnership (PPP), performance management etc., have been adopted by various countries in the world.
It also deals with the new ways of conceptualizing governance through minimizing the role of state and developing a partnership relationship amongst other social entities. It examines the public management reforms undertaken in a number of countries in the Asia-Pacific region during the last decade, which include public private interaction and exchange, quality service delivery, decentralization and participation etc. Based on these, it advocates that governance systems in the Asia- Pacific region need to be reorganized on a different philosophical plane premised on two basic assumptions: i) limiting the role of the state to provide basic services and ii) a congenial environment to facilitate the enlarged role of private sector, NGOs and others in the governance process.
Section two presents a number of recent successful administrative reform experiences in some South East Asian countries including Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore in line with NPM movement and other thrusts of globalization. It details many practical measures undertaken by these countries towards improving public sector efficiency, quality, accountability and performance. To mention a few in Hong Kong, Performance Pledges (PP) has been introduced to ensure minimum standard of public services. Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) was set up in 1974 bestowing a wide array of authority including arresting people on suspicion, freezing asset and searching and seizing without warrant, requiring information, preventing people from going abroad etc.
In Malaysian civil service, a number of changes have been introduced during the last two decades. Quality, productivity, accountability etc., were the principal concerns of administrative reform in Malaysia. For the sake of quality improvement it introduced Public Service Network (PSN), Total Quality Management ('I'QM), Civil Service Link (CSL), and Clients' Charter. The book has not only described the nature of reforms undertaken in these countries rather it has also identified the reasons for the success of these efforts, the principal of which arc: sustained political commitment and support of senior civil servants. In addition to this they had clear goals, involved suitable people, adopted relevant process, measured performance, used technology and emphasized results that offer invaluable lessons for Bangladesh.
A significant portion of the book devotes to the description and analysis of the state of governance in Bangladesh. Section 3, i.e. the final section of the book focuses on Bangladesh experiences in various in-important governance issues along with those of other countries in the world including South Asia. In doing so, it presents a brief but a comprehensive analysis of the genesis of Bangladesh civil service, various dimensions of corruption, its causes and consequences, urban governance and the functioning of NGOs in ensuring good governance. It argues that Bangladesh civil service is unable to cope with the impact of globalization and the governance crisis. Volatile and turbulent political context of the country could he a significant contributing factor for this stubbornness of Bangladesh civil service. Several (seventeen) efforts were undertaken so far to reform the administrative system with limited results. Although administrative reform in the light of NPM was recommended by PARC in 1997, only a few have been implemented so far.
The book presets good governance as a framework to overcome the ills of civil service and provides some prescription for improvement in the area of good governance and also highlights some challenges of, good governance in general and also in Bangladesh.
As a clear manifestation of poor governance, urban governance has been discussed with a specific focus on politics and urban service delivery. It is argued that negative politics and various kinds of managerial flaws cause the provision of substandard public services to the urbanites. Two chapters in this section deal with another prominent feature of poor governance --- corruption. One of them presents definition, typology and consequences of corruption in general and in South Asia ill particular. Then in the light of global scenario, corruption in Bangladesh has been analyzed along with its nature, causes and probable remedies. Overall, the chapter presents a vivid picture of the "vicious cycle" of corruption in Bangladesh and has rightly identified the keys to corruption which include: lack of political will, weak anticorruption institutional arrangements, ineffective civil society organization, peoples' fatalistic attitude towards corruption and corrupt people.
Another chapter dealing with corruption presents some experiences of a number of countries including the Philippines, Uganda, Ghana and India pertaining to corruption. The experiences highlighted the nature and causes of corruption and the means adopted to combat it in order to throw some light oil the Bangladesh experience.
Discussion on non-government organisations (NGOs) as a critical component of civil society and thereby a key actor of governance has also gained prominence in the book through occupying its last two chapters.
Chapter 14 presents a brief overview of NGOs in Bangladesh and deals with the major issues that often revolve around the debate on the functioning of NGOs in the country, which include: NGO role in empowering the poor, GO-NGO relationship and the sources of fund of NGOs. Chapter 15, the last chapter of the book, reviews and examines the tri-dimensional accountability of NGOs to patrons, clients and themselves with particular reference to seven large NGOs by employing a suitable framework.
Thus the book has touched upon a range of significant governance issues, offered detailed descriptions, analyses and suggestions for improvement. Its theoretical constructs along with the practical focus on different countries across the globe and on Bangladesh in particular, would enable it to be a useful reference for the students, academics and practitioners of public administration. A careful reading of this book would invariably help the policy makers to decide the future directions. Moreover, the wealth of information about the administrative reform in other parts of the world towards good governance offers Bangladesh a lesson that it is possible to translate the idcals of good governance into reality if there is a political commitment.
Dr. Ferdous Arfina Osman is an Associate Professor, Department of Public Administration, University of Dhaka, Dhaka