"Modernizing Government: The Way Forward"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how the book "Modernizing Government: The Way Forward" has been able to provide a clear picture of the context of public sector modernization among OECD countries as it focuses on six key public sector reform levers--open government, enhancing public sector performance, modernizing accountability and control, reallocation and restructuring, use of market-type mechanism, and modernizing public employment. The paper looks at what capacities "modern governments" have to adopt to make them more responsive, transparent, and efficient. The paper then explains that the book essentially weaves a great deal of underlying theories on the dynamics of
public administration and governance, and integrating the same with emerging trends in practice among OECD countries. The paper also points out that although the book seems necessarily limited in scope as it arbitrarily focuses on the identified policy levers while leaving out other equally relevant dimensions of change, it is considerably successful, however, in providing a sound discussion of the underlying roles and interaction of governance and public administration within a whole-of-government perspective, and the changing modes by which governments manage the public sector in relation to new and emerging public assumptions and expectations of governments.

Outline:
Abstract
Introduction
Overview and Structure of the Book
Discussion and Review
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"The two-year review aimed to provide a contextual
understanding of important developments in public governance and the impact of reform initiatives among OECD countries with the objective of helping out equip for the future those involved in public governance policy. The book identifies levers for reform to modernize the public sector, and also presents an overview of public sector modernization over the last two decades.
"It begins its discussion by noting that over the past 20 years, significant
influx of new ideas and initiatives in the field of public management has transpired in OECD member countries. It stresses that the impetus for change came from the social economic and technological developments in the latter half of the 2oth century. It argues that while in some governments, fiscal stresses have sparked off the reforms; the underlying pressure for change came from the fact that governments have become out of step with the new and changing expectations of the societies that they serve."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), (2002) "Modernizing Government: The Way Forward".
• Bouckaert, Geert, and B. Guy Peters (2002). "Performance Measurement andManagement: The Achilles Heel in Administration Modernization", PubicPerformance and Management Review, Vol.25, Issue 4, Sage Publication,Thousand Oaks, California.
• Campbell Public Affairs Institute (2003), National Security and Open Government:Striking the Right Balance, Campbell Public Affairs Institute, Syracuse University,Syracuse, New York.
• Kaufmann, D. (2003). "Rethinking Governance: Empirical Lessons ChallengeOrthodoxy, Discussion draft, 11 March, The World Bank, Washington DC
• Kettl, Donald F. (2002), The Global Public Management Revolution: A Report onthe Transformation of Governance, Brookings Institution, Washington DC.

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