CURRENT STATUS OF COMPARATIVE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

1.  FACULTY NAME:  KANHAIYA JHA  BATCH NAME:  PUB. AD. OPTIONAL  SUBJECT:  PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION  TOPIC NAME:  CURRENT STATUS OF COMPARATIVE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION  DATE OF PRESENTATION:  01 / 11 / 2023

2. Resurgence [1980] • In the 1980s and 1990s, Comparative Public Administration (CPA) experienced a remarkable resurgence, marking a substantial departure from its previous manifestations. • This revival was instigated by distinguished scholars such as Ferrel Heady, Charles T. Goodsell, O.P. Dwivedi, Jreisat, Farazmand, and others. • During this reawakening, CPA embraced a fresh philosophy and orientation, adopting a broader and more contemporary set of objectives than before. • This shift in focus represented a substantial evolution in the field, responding to the changing global landscape and addressing contemporary challenges in public administration.

3. Reason behind Resurgence [1980]

4. Reason behind Resurgence [1980] • Changing Global Context: • The end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union transformed the global geopolitical landscape. The spread of democracy and market-oriented economic policies in Eastern Europe and other regions prompted a reevaluation of administrative systems to accommodate the new political and economic realities. • Emergence of New Issues: • Concepts like transparency, good governance, and accountability gained prominence. Governments and international organizations recognized that effective public administration was crucial for addressing these issues, resulting in a heightened interest in studying how different countries approached these challenges. • Economic Globalization: • The rapid globalization of markets and increased economic interdependence necessitated a better understanding of how administrative systems could adapt to and thrive in the globalized world. Comparative studies were crucial for learning from the successes and failures of different countries. • Proliferation of International Organizations: • The growing number of international organizations and their influence on national administrative systems drew attention to the need for comprehensive research on how these organizations interacted with, and sometimes influenced, domestic administrations.

5. • Technological Advances: • The proliferation of information and communication technology made research findings more accessible and facilitated collaboration among scholars across borders. This technology enabled researchers to engage in cross-national studies and share insights more effectively. • Interdisciplinary Approaches: • Scholars increasingly recognized that public administration did not exist in isolation. They drew on insights from various fields to gain a more holistic understanding of how administrative systems interacted with political, economic, and social factors. • Practical Relevance: • Policymakers, practitioners, and international organizations demanded research that could provide practical solutions to administrative challenges. CPA research was seen as a valuable source of actionable insights that could improve governance and public service delivery. • Democratization and Development: • The spread of democracy and the focus on economic development in various parts of the world underscored the crucial role of administrative systems in achieving these objectives. Scholars aimed to uncover how effective public administration contributed to democratic stability and sustainable development.

6. Salient feature of New CPA • Expanded Scope: • The CPA of the 1980s and 1990s broadened its scope to encompass a wider range of administrative arrangements and practices. It moved beyond the traditional focus on bureaucratic structures and procedures to study contemporary topics such as RTI, PPP, role of civil society and NGO’s and more. • A number of issues, such as human rights, human trafficking, terrorism, narco-terrorism, cyber crimes, and economic failures are no longer confined to particular country but have become global issues. • Globalization and Changing Dynamics: • The process of globalization and changing global dynamics were instrumental in reshaping CPA. Scholars like Joseph Nye introduced concepts such as "soft power," highlighting the impact of international relations and globalization on administrative systems.

7. • Practical Orientation and Policy Analysis: • This period witnessed a shift towards a more practical orientation in CPA, emphasizing the need for actionable insights for policymakers and practitioners. Thinkers like Christopher Pollitt and B. Guy Peters emphasized the practical application of public administration research. The study of policy analysis and institutional structures became more prominent. • Cross-Cultural Perspectives and the Role of Democratization: • A growing recognition of the need for cross-cultural and cross-national perspectives in public administration marked this era. • Scholars like Geert Hofstede explored the influence of cultural factors on administrative systems. • Moreover, the increasing importance of democratization and development in public administration, influenced by political scientists like Samuel P. Huntington, underscored the changing global governance landscape.

8. • Comparative Policy Analysis: • In the 1980s and 1990s resurgence of Comparative Public Administration (CPA), Comparative Policy Analysis took center stage. This specialized field involved a thorough examination of policies and institutional structures across diverse countries. • Scholars like Daniel W. Drezner played pivotal roles, influencing how public administration and policymaking were studied globally. • Comparative Policy Analysis enriched our understanding of administrative systems and the complexities of policy formulation and implementation in various cultural, political, and economic contexts.

9.  Milton Esman remarked that the constituent organizations are important to solve the rural problems.  According to new CPA, the focus should be on ideas and techniques to address the grassroots problems and issues.  New CPA focused its studies on sub-national institutions i.e. local and small organizations - subaltern institutions. Prior to 1980, the international administration and CPA were taken up separately.  But new CPA emphasized on integrating CPA and international administration. And a number of papers were presented in this regard in SICA [Section on International and Comparative Administration].

10. CPA of 1960s Vs new CPA of 1980s  Though both CPA of 1960s and new CPA of 1980s emphasized in cross- cultural, cross-national and cross-temporal perspectives, they are significantly different from the vibrant and new CPA of 1980s has wider scope than that of 1960s.  The new CPA is referred as contemporary CPA. The efforts of contemporary CPA re-vitalized, re-asserted and revived the CPA.

11. • CPA of 1960s • New CPA of 1980s • It focused towards the studies of national systems. Say a specific country was studied. • It focused it’s studies on supra-national and sub-national levels of analysis. UN, ASEAN, IMF, WHO, etc. • It focused on public bureaucracy and public enterprise i.e. Weberian bureaucracy. • It focused on non-bureaucratic and post- Weberian organizations - markets, NGOs, VOS, etc. • The tools and techniques were based on particular country. • A variety tools and techniques were employed across various nations. • Lack of emphasis on public policies • Emphasis on the study of public policies • Lack emphasis on subaltern/lowermost studies • Emphasis on subaltern studies

12. Contemporary Status of CPA  The contemporary developments in CPA could be explained through three major developments – Events, Activities and Contributions and Minnowbrook Perspective, Issues.

13. First Minnowbrook Conference (September 1968)  It was an academic get-together of 33 young scholars and practitioners of Public Administration at Minnowbrook in the month of September in 1968, under the chairmanship of Dwight Waldo. Frank Marini, George Frederickson, Joseph, Charles Lindblom and Vincent Ostrom were some of the scholars who participated the Minnowbrook I conference. The conference was more of revolutionary in approach.  The two major publications after the conference were – “Towards a New Public Administration: The Minnowbrook Perspective” by Frank Marini, 1971 and “Public Administration in the time of Turbulence” by Dwight Waldo, 1971.

14. MINNOWBROOK II - SEPTEMBER 1988 • Exactly twenty years later i.e., in 1988, the second Minnowbrook conference was held at Syracuse university under the chairmanship of Dwight Waldo. • Those who had attended first conference of 1968, were also invited along with some others who had entered public administration in the intervening period.

15. Minnowbrook III - September 2008 Minnowbrook III is an academic get-together of scholars of Public Administration across the world under the chairmanship of Rosemary O'Leary at Syracuse University.

16. Minnowbrook Perspective  In Minnowbrook Conference I - 1968, there was only one presentation regarding CPA by K. Henderson. He predicted that the study of CPA will be subordinated to the study of politics. Then in Minnowbrook Conference II - 1988, there was no contribution, presentation or articles relating to the study of CPA. Both in Minnowbrook I and II, there were no foreign participants.  But in Minnowbrook Conference III - 2008, there was a number of representatives from Canada, Japan, Germany, New Zealand, UK and China, etc. Therefore, Minnowbrook III is considered to be the conference which broke the American isolationism - Minnowbrook III was no longer limited to America. A number of articles and papers were presented which carried international perspective.

17. Events, Activities and Contributions  From early 1990s, a number of new groups and forums were formed - European Group of Public Administration, Asian Forum (later re-named as Asian Group of Public Administration).  These groups and forums conducted regular academic get together. There was also increase in interactions between the public administrators across the world - Trans-Atlantic Forum comprising of European and American scholars, Sino-US International Conference on Public Administration, International Conference of Public Administration's scholars in China.  Besides, there was also increase in number of exchange programmes around the world for teachers and students in the discipline of Public Administration.

18.  Some important publications of this period were Ferrel Heady's Public Administration: A Comparative Perspective, A Handbook on Comparartive and Development Administration by Farazmand, Comparative Public Management edited by Randall Baker and Public Administration in Developing Democracies by Donald Rawat.  Apart from these publications, there were some important journals, such as Public Administration: An International Quarterly, Asia-Pacific journal of Public Administration, Public Management Review, International Review of Administrative Sciences, Chinese Public Administration Review and Korea's International Review on Public Administration. Besides, a number of e-journals like International Public Management Review were published.

19.  The contributions in terms of concepts, ideas, theories etc. were exclusively American till 1980s. But from early 1990s onwards there were many contributions which were non-American. Some of the pertinent examples are Sorenson from Denmark came out with Network Administration, Boston's Administrative Reforms in New Zealand, Rhode's contribution to governance in UK, Christopher Hood's ideas of New Public Management.  There are many new concepts like governance, which are very important in the study of Public Administration that emerged in European and developing countries and later, reached America.  In America, a part of governance was discussed under Reinventing Government (which is part of NPM). The governance paradigm was introduced in American context as Collaborative Public Management and network-based Public Management.

20. Issues  Comparative Public Administration of 1960s was largely concentrated on national perspective and Weberian approach, whereas the new (or contemporary) CPA is largely trans-national and subnational.  With the advent of liberalization and globalization, the study of Comparative Public Administration has become much more sophisticated.  A number of issues, such as human rights, human trafficking, terrorism, narco terrorism, cyber crimes, and economic failures are no longer confined to particular country but have become global issues.  The world has become small and closely networked. The countries have become boundary-less. Individuals are no longer citizens of country rather they have become global citizens. People have become single humankind irrespective of race. The ideas of communal conflicts and discriminations are now global issues.

21.  All these developments and issues of new CPA came in the background of globalization, rapid development of electronic technology and liberalization. This led to shrinking of the world.  Friedman remarked that the World is flat. Similarly, Alvin Toffler in his Third Wave observed that today in this world time and distance cease to have meaning. Any practice, values and aspirations of any part of the world becomes a global practice, values and aspirations.  There is an increasing emphasis on merging international administration within comparative administration. Thenceforth, the contemporary CPA has become more comparative rather truly comparative.

22. • In the present era of globalisation and liberalisation, the interaction between the nations of the world has increased. • In this context, the new thrust areas for an analysis of comparative public administration can include the following: • 1) Human rights enforcement. • 2) Disinvestment of public sector enterprises. • 3) International interdependency of bureaucracies. • 4) Study on citizen charter. • 5) Role of people in promoting or resisting administrative reforms. • 6) Debureaucratisation. • 7) Role of private sector. • 8) Role of voluntary agencies/non-governmental organisations. • 9) Role of self-help groups. • 10) Role of community-based organisation.