scholarly journals The History of and Prospects for Public Sector Reforms in Sri Lanka

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Ranjanee Kusumsiri De Alwis
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Current Situation ◽  
Administrative Reform ◽  
Public Sector Reform ◽  
Sector Reform ◽  
Administration System ◽  
History Of ◽  
Service Commission

<p>Public sector(1) reform is about improving the management of the public sector. Such reform has no universal framework. What can be done in any country is a product of its history, structure and culture. Moreover, public sector reform is not simply simple 'technical' change. It depends upon, and actually comprises reform of a nation's political system. The main focus of this thesis is administrative reform in Sri Lanka (SL). The key research question is why this has encountered so many problems in the SL public administration system despite many attempts at reform since 1950. And, why and how have key historical, structural, sociological economic and political factors since Independence contributed to this current impasse? Answers to key questions investigated were sought through qualitative and quantitative research. Using a combination of official documents and interviews with senior political elites, public officials and academics, this thesis analyses the current situation of public administration in SL. In order to better understand the current situation, the history of public administrative reform in SL is investigated. The focus of the analysis lies in understanding the complexity and specificity of the present situation in order to better assess prospects for future reforms. This provides a backdrop to effective future agendas and highlights issues in the present system that must be addressed within that agenda. In this process this thesis examines when, how and why administrative reforms took place in SL since the 1950s, which political parties were in power, and who gained and lost due to reforms. The, Administrative Reform Committee Reports (ARC) of 1986/88 are central to this analysis because they made comprehensive recommendations on all aspects of administrative reform. The experience of the ARC carries valuable lessons to administrative reformers. Because this thesis is exploring historical and political questions, the Pollitt and Bouckaert model of public management, which focuses on historical institutionalism, is used as the theoretical framework. This thesis finds that all reforms in SL from 1950-2005 were isolated, ad hoc, and reactive to crisis situations, not proactive. On many occasions such changes lacked adequate examination as to their effects on the administrative system as a whole. This further resulted in more problems and even greater complexity, with the ARC recommendations not fully implemented. This thesis analyses underlying factors responsible for thwarting efforts to create an effective and efficient public administration system in SL. The originality and significance of this thesis lies in two areas: (a) it is the first systematic historical analysis of public sector reform in SL that pulls together a wide range of evidence from divers sources; (b) this thesis confirms the importance of understanding the history and political dynamics of a country before serious and wholesale attempts at public sector reform are attempted. I hope that future SL reformers will be able to learn the lessons of history in that respect. This thesis concludes that this state of affairs remains a product of complex interactions of many different historical, social, political, and cultural conditions. Therefore, this thesis argues, any future programme of reform must take full account of those specifics.  (1) Public sector includes : Government and the Organs of State (Organs of State includes Presidential Secretariat, Legislature, Public Service Commission, Police Service Commission, Commission to Investigate Allegation of Bribery and Corruption, Attorney General Department, Auditor General Department, Finance Commission and Salaries and Cadre Commission) and Public Enterprises.</p>

scholarly journals The History of and Prospects for Public Sector Reforms in Sri Lanka

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Ranjanee Kusumsiri De Alwis
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Current Situation ◽  
Administrative Reform ◽  
Public Sector Reform ◽  
Sector Reform ◽  
Administration System ◽  
History Of ◽  
Service Commission

<p>Public sector(1) reform is about improving the management of the public sector. Such reform has no universal framework. What can be done in any country is a product of its history, structure and culture. Moreover, public sector reform is not simply simple 'technical' change. It depends upon, and actually comprises reform of a nation's political system. The main focus of this thesis is administrative reform in Sri Lanka (SL). The key research question is why this has encountered so many problems in the SL public administration system despite many attempts at reform since 1950. And, why and how have key historical, structural, sociological economic and political factors since Independence contributed to this current impasse? Answers to key questions investigated were sought through qualitative and quantitative research. Using a combination of official documents and interviews with senior political elites, public officials and academics, this thesis analyses the current situation of public administration in SL. In order to better understand the current situation, the history of public administrative reform in SL is investigated. The focus of the analysis lies in understanding the complexity and specificity of the present situation in order to better assess prospects for future reforms. This provides a backdrop to effective future agendas and highlights issues in the present system that must be addressed within that agenda. In this process this thesis examines when, how and why administrative reforms took place in SL since the 1950s, which political parties were in power, and who gained and lost due to reforms. The, Administrative Reform Committee Reports (ARC) of 1986/88 are central to this analysis because they made comprehensive recommendations on all aspects of administrative reform. The experience of the ARC carries valuable lessons to administrative reformers. Because this thesis is exploring historical and political questions, the Pollitt and Bouckaert model of public management, which focuses on historical institutionalism, is used as the theoretical framework. This thesis finds that all reforms in SL from 1950-2005 were isolated, ad hoc, and reactive to crisis situations, not proactive. On many occasions such changes lacked adequate examination as to their effects on the administrative system as a whole. This further resulted in more problems and even greater complexity, with the ARC recommendations not fully implemented. This thesis analyses underlying factors responsible for thwarting efforts to create an effective and efficient public administration system in SL. The originality and significance of this thesis lies in two areas: (a) it is the first systematic historical analysis of public sector reform in SL that pulls together a wide range of evidence from divers sources; (b) this thesis confirms the importance of understanding the history and political dynamics of a country before serious and wholesale attempts at public sector reform are attempted. I hope that future SL reformers will be able to learn the lessons of history in that respect. This thesis concludes that this state of affairs remains a product of complex interactions of many different historical, social, political, and cultural conditions. Therefore, this thesis argues, any future programme of reform must take full account of those specifics.  (1) Public sector includes : Government and the Organs of State (Organs of State includes Presidential Secretariat, Legislature, Public Service Commission, Police Service Commission, Commission to Investigate Allegation of Bribery and Corruption, Attorney General Department, Auditor General Department, Finance Commission and Salaries and Cadre Commission) and Public Enterprises.</p>

scholarly journals Emerging Issues in Public Sector Reforms in Africa: An Assessment of Ghana and Nigeria

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salami Issa Afegbua ◽  
Ganiyu L. Ejalonibu
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Service ◽  
West African ◽  
Public Sector Reform ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Sector Reform ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Sector Reforms ◽  
Emerging Issues

Public sector reform (PSR) has been quite popular in Africa and in recent years, several African countries have implemented far-reaching governance and public service reform measures. The aim of this article is to consider the historical development of Public Sector Reform in Africa and the philosophy behind the ubiquitous wave of reform in the continent. The article discovers that those reform measures have so far gone through three different phases to promote and/or accelerate the revitalization of the public service. It identifies some major challenges that account for the monumental failure of PSR. Finally, the paper offers suggestions on how African countries can free themselves from the doldrums of current PSR. This article will not only broaden the frontier of knowledge in the field of public administration but also address the present and on-going reality of public sector reforms in the West African sub region. This study uses a ‘Literature Survey’ in examining the issue in question.

The Reforming Organization

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nils Brunsson
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Institutional Analysis ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Public Sector Reform ◽  
Sector Reform ◽  
Organizational Reform ◽  
Geographically Dispersed

This chapter discusses the book’s main themes. The book is intended to contribute to the literature on change in general and organizational reform in particular. It is also intended as a contribution to the discussion within the so-called institutional analysis of how and why certain organizational forms are adopted by organizations in a variety of fields and in geographically dispersed areas. This book is based on numerous empirical studies of reforms in companies and in public administration. In addition, it relies upon an extensive literature on public sector reform that has evolved since the 1980s and has produced a great deal of empirical data that speak to the more general literature on reforms. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.

scholarly journals The role of the ‘centre’ in public service reform

2020 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 27-40
Author(s):  
Muiris MacCarthaigh
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Public Sector Reform ◽  
Sector Reform ◽  
Consistent Feature ◽  
Irish Case ◽  
The 1960S

AbstractAmongst his many interests in public administration, the practical and challenging task of implementing and evaluating public service reform has been a consistent feature of the oeuvre of research over Richard Boyle’s career (cf. Boyle, 2004, 2016; Boyle & Joyce, 1988; Boyle & Lemaire, 1999; Boyle & MacCarthaigh, 2011). In this article, the focus is on the role played by the ‘centre’ in public service reform both conceptually and in practice. The article first considers what is meant by the centre in Irish political– administrative life, before reflecting on how we might understand different forms of public sector reform governance and then applying them to the Irish case. The centre-led reforms that occurred between the 1960s up to the late 2000s are reviewed, before more recent efforts from 2011 up to the present are presented. A final section summarises the contribution.

scholarly journals Searching for the renaissance bureaucrat

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-44
Author(s):  
Peter M. Kruyen ◽  
Shelena Keulemans ◽  
Rick T. Borst ◽  
Jan-Kees Helderman
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Big Five ◽  
Software Tools ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Public Sector Reform ◽  
Sector Reform ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Over Time

Purpose Since the early 1980s, western governments are assumed to have been either moving toward post-bureaucratic models or transforming into so-called neo-Weberian bureaucracies. As different public-sector (reform) models imply different ideal typical personality traits for civil servants, the purpose of this paper is to ask the question to what extent personality requirements that governments demand from their employees have evolved over time in line with these models. Design/methodology/approach The authors analyzed the use of big-five traits in a sample of 21,003 job advertisements for local government jobs published between 1980 and 2017, applying tools for computer-assisted text analysis. Findings Using multilevel regression analyses, the authors conclude that, over time, there is a significant increase in the use of personality descriptors related to all big-five factors. Research limitations/implications The authors postulate that governments nowadays are actively looking for the “renaissance bureaucrat” in line with the neo-Weberian bureaucracy paradigm. The authors end with a discussion of both positive and negative consequences of this development. Originality/value First, the authors explicitly link personality, public administration, and public management using the Abridged Big-Five-Dimensional Circumflex model of personality. Second, by linking observed trends in civil servant personality requirements to larger theories of public-sector reform models, the authors narrow the gap between public administration theories and practice. Third, the software tools that the authors use to digitalize and analyze a large number of documents (the job ads) are new to the discipline of public administration. The research can therefore serve as a guideline for scholars who want to use software tools to study large amounts of unstructured, qualitative data.

On Reform

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. W. Rhodes
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Applied Anthropology ◽  
Observational Methods ◽  
Public Sector Reform ◽  
Sector Reform ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
Efficiency And Effectiveness ◽  
Variable Success

This chapter, an exercise in applied anthropology, asks two questions. What lessons about reforming the British civil service can be learnt from using observational methods to study British government departments? What are the strengths and weaknesses of such an approach in the reform of public services? The chapter summarizes the main characteristics of public sector reform over the past decade; namely, evidence-based policy-making, managerialism, and choice. It compares the reform proposals with the fieldwork reported in Rhodes (2011a), identifying plausible conjectures for would-be reformers. It then outlines an approach to reform, focusing on dilemmas and finally discusses the prospects and limits of this approach, both in the study of public administration and for public sector reform. It concludes that attempts to impose private sector management beliefs and techniques on the public sector to increase its economy, efficiency, and effectiveness have had at best variable success.

E-Government and Multi-Level Governance

2011 ◽  
pp. 2842-2857
Author(s):  
Mila Gascó ◽  
Jeffrey Roy
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Comparative Assessment ◽  
Administrative Reform ◽  
Public Sector Reform ◽  
Sector Reform ◽  
Democratic Reform ◽  
Governance Environment ◽  
Multi Level

E-government is entering its second decade as a widely-embraced agenda for public sector reform. There are often distinctions made between e-government as administrative reform and e-governance as democratic reform, although there is invariable overlap between both spheres. In this context, the purpose of this paper is to undertake an examination of the impacts of e-government on both administration and democracy in a multi-level governance environment. In doing so, we will provide a comparative assessment of two sub-national jurisdictions known for investing aggressively in e-government in recent years: Catalonia, Spain, and Ontario, Canada. This investigation will thus seek to identify the manner by which the pursuit of e-government by a state and a province is intertwined with – or separate from federalist structures.

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