The Need to Build Administrative Capacity in the Age of Rapid Globalization: A “Modest” Prescription or a Major Blueprint?

Most scholars would agree that we are in an age of rapid globalization. The phenomenon of “globalization” is well documented and thoroughly discussed by many. What is missing among scholarly work is a clear statement as to what needs to be done in terms of public administration in order to meet the challenges of rapid globalization. What should the new public administration for the twenty‐first century look like?     

Thaksin's model of government reform: Prime Ministerialisation through “a country is my company” approach

This article contends that when a big businessman becomes the leader of a country, he is likely to assume that his country is his company. “A country is my company” approach toward government reform results in prime ministerial predominance as all government power is centralised into the hands of a single authority. This phenomenon of prime ministerialisation is illustrated by the reforms introduced in Thailand by the Thaksin government since 2001. The nine assumptions underlying Prime Minister Thaksin's model of government reform and how they reinforce prime ministerialisation are discussed in the article.     

Governance Reform in Thailand: Questionable Assumptions, Uncertain Outcomes

This article examines the nature of governance reform in Thailand. The argument is that Thai citizens are not especially benefiting from the public reform initiatives of Thai governments because government reformers made fourquestionable assumptions about reform which have in turn produced uncertain outcomes and provided the opportunity for government reformers to avoid responsibility for their reform choices. First, the reformers support the belief that a global reform paradigm with ready-made reform packages exists which can be easily transplanted in the Thai public sector. Second, the reformers prefer to define success largely as reform output rather than reform outcomes or long term reform consequences. Third, Thai government reformers have overemphasized the efficiency aspects of the new public management at the expense of other governance goals. Fourth, governance reform in Thailand has been portrayed as a managerial problem instead of a political one. The author supports his arguments by drawing on theoretical debates in the international literature on administrative reform, and relating these debates to the Thai case. Governance reform in Thailand is still at an early stage, but the role of unintended consequences is important to administrative reform. Furthermore, the Thai case may reflect governance reform in other countries as well.     

Thailand: The Politics of Reform of the Secretariat of the Prime Minister

This article discusses the politics of administrative reform. Though politicians and bureaucrats may agree on a reform blueprint, both tend to view administrative reform as means towards achieving different ends. To demonstrate the 'political tool' function of administrative reform, I will review the reform experience of the Thai Office of the Secretariat of the Prime Minister (OSPM) during the Chuan government (1992–95). Despite several proposals to reform the OSPM, at the end of its tenure the Chuan government had made only minor changes to the OSPM. This article argues that while failing to achieve significant reform, the process does demonstrate the politician-bureaucrat relationship.
The article is divided into two parts. The first outlines the conceptual framework which captures the politics of reform. The second presents four case studies representing efforts to introduce reform to the OSPM during the period of the Chuan government.
During the Chuan government, the author served as the Head of the Secretariat of the Administrative Reform Commission (ARC), ad hoc office in the OSPM established by the Prime Minister, charged with reviewing proposals to reform the OSPM. The author was also appointed to committees which were assigned to advise the PM about ways to reform the OSPM.