Civil service reform
Public administration reform: practice note
Public Administration Reforms and MDGs
Authors:
Publisher:
UNDP Oslo Governance Centre, 2009
This policy note focuses on Public Administration Reforms (PAR) It takes the view that democratic governance is a key component in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
The note focuses on the executive branch of government. It takes an approach that is informed by recent thinking in the realm of public management, which (i) borrows from a number of other areas of research as well as from the private sector to find new solutions, (ii) places the public sector in its cultural and political environment, and (iii) sees the role of public manager as an active and motivating agent.
Nevertheless, it also recognizes that many of the more radical reforms attempted in countries such as New Zealand and the United Kingdom are too ambitious and present real dangers for most developing countries. Simply getting the public administration to execute the will of its political masters is often a challenge in itself.
The policy note is divided into two parts. The first part provides the conceptual framework for PAR, sets out UNDP’s mandate, and summarizes the issues around PAR. The second part points to UNDP’s comparative advantages and provides practical guidance and tools for PAR programming. Lessons experienced by UNDP, based on its review of current PAR initiatives and evaluations of past projects, provide practitioners with insights on how to approach PAR.
The following are some broad lessons from UNDP’s experience:
- keep the scope of change well-focused and set realistic and well-defined targets
- recognise that Public Administration Reform takes time.
- make sure there is full understanding of the reforms, and support for them, not only at the level of leadership, but also at the level of line management and civil servants as a whole, and the public.
- make sure there is continued political will and support throughout all phases of public administration reform.
