Blue Team

“There is no shortcut to human resource development”

- Picard (2005, 231)

Story of a wealthy banker (Cowperwood) engaged in various troublesome financial dealings◦ Seeks to give to high-profile causes (university

telescope) to raise his public profile. He plans to give several hundred thousand dollars to university.

Is in line to benefit from a city ordinance that would leave him directly profiting◦ Ordinance puts mayor, engaged in reelection campaign

soon, in a bind◦ Should he push this through? Ultimately, is forced to not

contest the ordinance due to Cowperwood’s pressure Take-away: corruption can work in subtle,

behind-the scenes ways; brings theoretical concepts to life through literature

Focuses on character in understanding political corruption◦ Character: psychological and moral

characteristics; independence, greed, insecurity, confidence, virtue, aggressiveness, passivity, malice, untruthfulness (603)

Many people in positions that enable them to profit at public’s expense, but vast majority do not

Example of Spiro Agnew, governor of Maryland, who had a system of kickbacks through state contracts set-up while governor

Agnew’s character “fueled by resentment” (605); insensitive to conflicts of interest, ethical issues; lacked conscience; action preferred to introspection (also characteristic of political process)

Concludes with standard corruption-fighting recommendations (transparency, civil service, etc.)

Ultimately if we want to combat corruption we need to look at it through lenses of honesty and integrity, as well as vice

Studies of bureaucratic structure/behavior (373)

Structure: the centralization of power and authority; the establishment of a hierarchy of offices with special requirements and prerogatives; the existence of rules governing the exercise of functions and authority

Behavior: institutional or behavioral concomitants of structures (ex. caution in interpreting rules, self-interest among officials, and their conduct toward public)

Western concepts and findings revealing limitations for non-Western setting (373-5)Ex. bureaucracy in Egypt got influenced by various

culture and political controlThe degree to which personal initiative is related to

bureaucratic behavior (which behavior is more highly bureaucratic?)

Robert Merton’s summary on structural and behavioral patterns of bureaucracyDees it match with Egyptian officials highly exposed to

Western culture? Reexamination

Rationality and universalism; hierarchy; discretion (378)Bureaucratic tendencies and professionalism

Colonial territories/ transition/ colonial public servantsThe speed of political evolution tends to outstrip that

speed at which the educational system can meet the new demand

The evolution of the administrative services should be adjusted to suit the pace of political advance (2).

Special list scheme: intended to retain experienced staff Especially designed for Nigeria (7-10)

Serving on salaries, conditions, pensions, compensation payments

Finding continuous employment for all officers on the special line up to at least the age of 55

Failure of the special listSpecial report B: superseding the previous place; UK

encourage the Nigerian government to make use of the “freezing”; few younger officers

Administrative reform as a means to better policy implementation◦ Osborne and Gaebler: “We do not need more government or

less government, we need better government. . . we need better governance . . . The process by which we collectively solve our problems and meet our society’s needs” (24)

◦ Picard: Change via…◦ Institutions◦ Functions◦ Techniques◦ Implementation: improved policy process

Development and Human resource management Corruption

Osborne & Gaebler/ Barzelay:

NPM

Berger/Armstrong/

Baker/Picard

Administrative Reform

Corruption

Dreiser/ Riordon/

Heidenhimer

Human Resource

Management

Development Managemet

Policy Implementation

Jreisat/Dunn

Johnson/ Picard/ Wallis/

Younger

Reinventing government (Osborne & Gaebler)◦ “Crisis of confidence in government” (xxi)◦ Decouple policy decisions (“steering”) from

service delivery (“rowing”) (35)◦ Governments that are centralized, hierarchal,

strong on rules; regulations no longer work; are wasteful and ineffective (12)

Reinventing government (Osborne & Gaebler)◦ Comparison made to corporate sector that has

made “revolutionary changes: decentralizing authority, flattening hierarchies, focusing on quality, getting close to their customers…” (13)

◦ Focus on “results” (14)◦ Solution: “entrepreneurial government”

Competition, empowerment, outcomes, missions, customers, prevent problems, earning money, decentralization of authority, market over bureaucratic mechanisms, catalyzing all sectors (20-21)

Barzelay’s Breaking Through Bureaucracy◦ Critique of “bureaucratic paradigm” focused on

rules, centralization, economy, efficiency◦ Improved service delivery key

Separate service and control Changing the culture “Entrepreneurial spirit” (77)

New public management◦ Customers, service quality and efficiency (Hood

1991; Pollitt 1990; Kickert 1997) Synthesis

Berger: Studies of bureaucratic structure and behavior (373)Western concepts and findings revealing limitations for

non-Western setting (373-5)The degree to which personal initiative is related to

bureaucratic behavior (375)Three dimensions of bureaucratic behavior: rationality and

universalism, hierarchy, and discretionExposure to Western influences, age, and place of higher

education do not uniformly influence three components of bureaucratic behavior (381)

Irreducible concepts of professionalism: skill, self-protection, and service (382).

Bureaucratic and professional predispositions may not be unitary tendencies (384)

Younger: ◦ Colonial territories/ transition/ colonial public servants

The evolution of the administrative services should be adjusted to suit the pace of political advance (2)

Special list scheme: intended to retain experienced staff Especially designed for Nigeria (7-10)

Wallis: ◦ The importance of human resource management◦ The scope of human resource management◦ Recruitment, training, planning, staff appraisal and MBO,

morale and motivation, participation and communication

Johnson◦ Discrepancy between the formal authority (constitutional)

and the actual location of power (actual locus of sovereignty) in Japan

◦ Japan’s feudal past and the emergence of the developmental state during the Meiji era

◦ The evolution of a genuine Japanese institutional invention: industrial policy of the developmental state E.g., creation of MITI (Ministry of International Trade and Industry) and

the renewal of the development policy

Armstrong◦ Ways in which modern administrative elites may

relate to economic development◦ Two salient counter-roles: both the traditional

particularistic elite role and the new entrepreneurial role (50)

◦ Recruitment and class role model: tension between the aristocratic and the official roles (74)

Baker◦ Understanding the evolving roles of PA◦ Interdependence as mutual vulnerability◦ Alternatives facing American PA education

Picard◦ Institution building during the transition period in

South Africa (176)◦ Bureaucratic dysfunction (176)◦ Good human resource performance requires a

combination of education, training, technical knowledge, networks and values (183)

◦ No shortcut to human resource development◦ A lethal combination of patronage, corruption,

and privileges, and gravy train Threat to the long-term institutional effectiveness of

the South Africa (230)

Synthesis◦ Development and institution-building◦ HRM as development management skills◦ Public policy implementation and administrative

discretion Policy is a process as well as an authoritative one

Riordon ◦ Honest Graft and Dishonest Graft◦ the example of the most thoroughly practical politician,

Senator Plunkitt Dreiser

Story of a wealthy banker (Cowperwood) engaged in various troublesome financial dealings

Is in line to benefit from a city ordinance that would leave him directly profiting

Take-away: corruption can work in subtle, behind-the scenes ways; brings theoretical concepts to life through literature

“Spiro Agnew and Maryland Customs” by Bruce L. Payne◦ Focuses on character in understanding political corruption

Character: psychological and moral characteristics: independence, greed, insecurity, confidence, virtue, aggressiveness, passivity, malice, untruthfulness (603)

◦ Many people in positions that enable them to profit at public’s expense, but vast majority do not

Concludes with standard corruption-fighting recommendations (transparency, civil service, etc.)

Ultimately if we want to combat corruption we need to look at it through lenses of honesty and integrity, as well as vice

Synthesis: corruption as a way to improve policy implementation and administrative effectiveness for citizens

Baker, Randall. 1994. Comparative public management: putting U.S. public policy and implementation in context. Westport, Conn.: Praeger.

Barzelay, Michael. 1992. Breaking Through Bureaucracy. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Berger, Morroe. 1957. “Bureaucracy East and West” in Raphaeli, Nimrod, 1967. eds. Readings in Comparative Public Administration. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Dreiser, Theodore. 1969. “Corruption” in Green, Philip and Michael Walzer, eds. The Political Imagination in Literature. New York: The Free Press.

Heady, Ferrel. 2001. Public administration: a comparative perspective. 6th ed. New York: Marcel Dekker.

Heidenheimer, Arnold, Michael Johnston and Victor T. LeVine, 1990. eds. Political Corruption: A Handbook. New Brunswick, NJ.: Transaction Publishers.

Johnson, Chalmers. 1982. MITI and the Japanese Miracle. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Jreisat, Jamil E. 2002. Comparative public administration and policy. Boulder, Colo. Oxford: Westview.

Osborne, David and Ted Gaebler. 1993. Reinventing Government. New York: Plume.

Peters B. Guy. 1989. The Politics of Bureaucracy. New York: London. Picard, Louis A. 2005. The state of the state: institutional transformation,

capacity and political change in South Africa. Johannesburg: Wits University Press.

Riordon, William L. 1963. Plunkitt of Tammany Hall. New York: E.P. Dutton.

Younger, Kenneth, 1960. The Public Service I New States. London: Oxford University Press.

Wallis, Malcolm. 1989. Bureacracy: Its Role in Third World Development. London: Macmillan.