OPA 305: COMPARATIVE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Course Instructor: Not Confirmed E-mail:
Course Description
The Comparative Public Administration course focuses on a comparative assessment of administrative systems and experiences in different countries internationally. The course attempts to help students familiarize themselves with the major features and organizations of public administration in a comparative perspective; how and why public administration systems differ; and what lessons may be learned from public administration reforms across the globe. To do so, the course first gives a highlight on what aspects and how to compare them in various administrative systems, and illuminates the meaning, scope and evolution of the field of Comparative Public Administration. It then focuses on features of administration in both more and less developed nations, as well as in Communist and Post-Communist nations. It also attempts to compare the administrative reforms in both more and less developed countries. The last section of the course focuses on the African public sector context in comparative historical trends.
Course Objectives
Apart from providing students with sound theoretical knowledge and an understanding of the key concepts, meanings, evolution, scope of comparative public administration and practices in African public administrative systems, the overarching goal of this course is to offer a thoughtful comprehension on why countries differ (in terms of administrative structures, policy styles, procedures etc.) and how countries can learn from each other. Other objectives of the course include enhancing understanding of civil systems in a comparative perspective, encouraging students’ development of analytical and critical skills and written and oral communication skills in making comparisons and learning lessons from comparative experience.
Expected Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students should be able to:
♦ Demonstrate an understanding of comparative public administration as a subject of study; ♦ Demonstrate an awareness of the major differences between the administrative systems of
developed and developing countries;
♦ Demonstrate an awareness of the benefits and problems of drawing lessons from the experience of other countries;
♦ Become more familiar with the factual and interacting routes of reform in national administrative systems.
The assessment in this course consists of timed test worth 30 points and 70 points obtained from the final University Examination at the end of Level Three. Thus the final total grade is based on a 100 point scale.
Course Contents
1. Introduction to Comparative Public Administration
1.1 The Question of Comparison
Aberbach, Joel D. and Bert A. Rockman (1999) “Comparative Administration: Methods, Muddles and Models” in Moshe Maor and Jan-Erik Lane (eds.), Comparative Public Administration, Aldershot: Ashgate.
Landman, Todd (2003), Issues and Methods in Comparative Politics: An Introduction, 2nd edition, New York: Routledge, (Chapters One and Two).
Peters, B. Guy (1994), “Theory and Methodology in the Study of Comparative Public Administration,” in Randall Baker (ed.) Comparative Public Management: Putting U.S. Public Policy and Implementation in Context, Westport, Connecticut: Praeger.
Sartori, Giovanni (1991), “Comparing and Miscomparing,” Journal of Theoretical Politics, Vol.3, No. 3, pp. 243-257.
1.2 The Meaning, Scope and Evolution of the Study of Comparative Public Administration
Brans, Marleen (2007) “Comparative Public Administration: From General Theory to General Frameworks,” in B. Guy Peters and Jon Pierre (eds.) The Handbook of Public Administration, London: Sage.
Chandler, J. A. (2000), Comparative Public Administration, London & New York: Routledge. Heady, Ferrell (2001) Public Administration: A Comparative Perspective, 6th edition, Boca
Raton: CRC Press, (Chapters One and Two).
Jamil, E. Jreisat (2005) “Comparative Public Administration Is Back In, Prudently,” Public Administration Review, Vol. 65, No. 2, pp 231 – 242.
Pierre, Jon (1995), "Comparative Public Administration: The State of the Art", in Jon Pierre (eds.), Bureaucracy in the Modern State: An Introduction to Comparative Public Administration, Aldershot: Edward Elgar.
Pollitt, Christopher & Geert Boukaert (2004) Public Management Reform: A Comparative Analysis, 2nd edition, New York: Oxford University Press.
Rathod, P. B. (2007), Comparative Public Administration, Jaipur: ABD Publishers.
Wart, Monty van and Joseph N. Cayer (2006) “Comparative Public Administration: The Search for Theories,” in Eric E. Otenyo and Nancy S. Lind (eds.) Comparative Public Administration - The Essential Readings, Amsterdam: Oxford: Elsevier JAI.
Chevalier, Jacques (2006) “Public administration in Statist France,” in Eric E. Otenyo and Nancy S. Lind (eds.) Comparative Public Administration - The Essential Readings, Amsterdam: Oxford: Elsevier JAI.
Dwivedi, O. P. and John Halligan (2003) “The Canadian Public Service: Balancing Values and Management,” in John Halligan (ed.) Civil Service Systems in Anglo-American Countries, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Halligan, John (2003) “Anglo-American Civil Service Systems: an Overview,” in John Halligan (ed.) Civil Service Systems in Anglo-American Countries, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. Heady, Ferrell (2001) Public Administration: A Comparative Perspective, 6th edition, Boca
Raton: CRC Press, (Chapters Five and Six).
Raadschelders, Jos C. N. and Mark R. Rutgers (1996) “The Evolution of Civil Service Systems,” in H. A. G. M. Bekke, J. L. Perry and T. A. J. Toonen (eds.) Civil Service Systems in Comparative Perspective, Indiana University Press.
3. Administration in Less Developed Nations
Farazmand, A. (1999) “Globalization and Public Administration,” Public Administration Review, Vol. 59, No. 6, pp. 509–22.
Heady, Ferrell (2001) Public Administration: A Comparative Perspective, 6th edition, Boca Raton: CRC Press, (Chapter Seven).
Jain, R. B. (2007) “Public Administration, Bureaucracy and Development in the Third World: Emerging Paradigm of Good Governance,” in R. B. Jain (ed.) Governing Development across Cultures: Challenges and Dilemmas of an Emerging Sub-Discipline in Political Science, Opladen & Farmington Hills: Barbara Budrich.
Morgan, E. Philip (1996) “Analyzing Fields of Change: Civil Service Systems in Developing Countries,” in H. A. G. M. Bekke, J. L. Perry and T. A. J. Toonen (eds) Civil Service Systems in Comparative Perspective, Indiana: Indiana University Press.
4. Administration in Communist and Post-Communist States
Cheung, Anthony B. L. (2010) “Checks and Balance in China’s Administrative Traditions: A Preliminary Assessment,” in Martin Painter and B. Guy Peters (eds.) Tradition and Public Administration, New York: Palgrave.
Meyer-Sahling, Jan-Hinrik (2004) “Civil Service Reform in Post-Communist Europe: The Bumpy Road to De-politicisation”, West European Politics, Vol.27, No.1, pp.71–103. Rice, Eric M. (1992) “Public Administration in Post-Socialist Eastern Europe,” Public
Administration Review, Vol. 52, No. 2, pp. 116-124.
Verheijen, A. J. G. (2007) “Public Administration in Post-Communist States” in B. Guy Peters and Jon Pierre (eds.), The Handbook of Public Administration, London: Sage.
5. Public Management and Administrative Reforms
Aucoin, Peter (1990) “Administrative Reform in Public Management: Paradigms, Principles, Paradoxes, and Pendulums. Governance, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp.115–137
Blum, Jurgen and Nick Manning (2009) “Public Management Reforms across OECD Countries,” in Tony Bovraid and Elke Loffler (eds.) Public Management and Governance, 2nd Edition, New York: Routledge.
Jones, L. R. and Donald F. Kettl (2003) “Assessing Public Management: An International Context,” International Public Management Review, Vol. 4, No. 1. Available at: http://www.ipmr.net
Killian, Jerri, Niklas Eklund, Jack Rabin, and Evan M. Berman (2008) Handbook of Administrative Reform: An International Perspective, New York: CRC Press, (Chapter 13).
Pollitt, Christopher & Geert Boukaert (2004) Public Management Reform: A Comparative Analysis, 2nd edition, New York: Oxford, (Chapter 1).
Pollitt, Christopher and Geert Bouckaert (2003) “Evaluating Public Management Reforms: An International Perspective,” in Hellmut Wollman (ed.) Evaluation in Public Sector Reform: Concepts and Practice in International Perspective, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, (Chapter 2).
6. Administrative Reforms in Developed Countries
Bresser-Pereira, Luiz Carlos (2004) Democracy and Public Management Reform: Building the Republican State, New York: Oxford University Press, (Chapter 13).
Glor, Eleanor D. (2001) “Has Canada adopted the New Public Management,” Public Management Review, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 121 – 130.
Ingraham, Patricia W. and Doanld P. Moynihan (2003) “Civil Service and Administrative Reforms in the United States,” in John Halligan (ed.) Civil Service Systems in Anglo-American Countries, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Limited.
Killian, Jerri, Niklas Eklund, Jack Rabin, and Evan M. Berman (2008) Handbook of Administrative Reform: An International Perspective, (Chapters 10 & 11).
Pollitt, Christopher and Geert Boukaert (2004) Public Management Reform: A Comparative Analysis, 2nd edition, New York: Oxford, (Chapters on Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and the United States).
7. Administrative Reforms in Less Developed Countries
Balogun, M. Jide and Gelase Mutahaba (1999), “Redynamising the African Civil Service for the Twenty-First Century: Prospects for a Non-bureaucratic Structure,” in Keith M. Henderson and O. P. Dwivedi (eds.), Bureaucracy and the Alternatives in World Perspectives, London: Macmillan.
Burns, John P. (2010), “Western Models and Administrative Reform in China: Pragmatism and the Search for Modernity,” in Jon Pierre and Patricia W. Ingraham (eds.) Comparative Change and Reform: Lesson Learned, Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press.
Hughes, Owen E. (2003), Public Management and Administration: An Introduction, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, (Chapter 12).
Mendez, Jose Luis (2010), “Implementing Developed Countries’ Administrative Reforms in Developing Countries: The Case of Mexico,” in Jon Pierre and Patricia W. Ingraham (eds.), Comparative Change and Reform: Lesson Learned, Montreal & Kingston:
Nef, Jorge (2007), “Public Administration and Public Sector Reform in Latin America,” in B. Guy Peters and Jon Pierre (eds.), The Handbook of Public Administration, London: Sage. Polidano, Charles and David Hulme (1999), “Public Management in Developing Countries:
Issues and Outcomes,” Public Management Review, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp 121-132.
8. The Context of African Public Administrative Systems
8.1 Indigenous Foundations of African Administrative Systems 8.2 Colonial Legacy and African Administrative Systems 8.3 Post-colonial Administrative Adaptations
Barkan, J. D. and J. J. Okumu (1979), Politics and Public Policy in Kenya and Tanzania, New York: Praeger.
Costello, M. J. (1996), “Administration Triumphs over Politics: The Transformation of the Tanzanian State”, African Reviews, Vol. 39, No. 1, pp. 123-148.
Doro, M. E. and N. M. Stultz (1970), Governing in Black Africa: Perspectives on New States, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc.
Duggan, W. R. and J. R. Civille (1976), Tanzania and Nyerere: A Study of Ujamaa and Nationhood, New York: Orbis Books.
Gifford, Prosser and Roger W. M. Louis (1988), Decolonization and African Independence: The Transfer of Power 1960-1980, New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
Hailey, Lord (1942), Native Administration and Political Development in British Tropical Africa, London: Colonial Office.
Hailey, Lord (1950), Native Administration in the British African Territories, Part I, II & III, London: Colonial Office.
Heilman Bruce, Ng’wanza Kamata and Laurian Ndumbaro (2000), “Corruption, Politics and Societal Values in Tanzania, Journal of Social Philosophy, Vol. 31, No. 4, pp. 497-506. Hyden, Goran (1980), Beyond Ujamaa in Tanzania: Underdevelopment and an Uncaptured
Peasantry, London: Heinemann.
Jackson, Robert H. & Carl G. Rosberg (1982), “Why Africa's Weak States Persist: The Empirical and the Juridical in Statehood”, World Politics, Vol. 35, No. 1, pp. 1-24. Mamdani, Mahmoud (1996), Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of
Colonialism, London: James Currey.
Tordoff, William (1984), Government and Politics in Africa, London: Macmillan Press Ltd. Young, Crawford (1994), The African Colonial State in Comparative Perspective; New Haven:
