Investigating the Implementation of New Public Management in Lebanon Ideas and Realities

This paper is an exploratory study that investigates the status of new public management （NPM） and the obstacles to its implementation within the Republic of Lebanon. The study employs a qualitative approach that examines two complementary data sources. The first data source is obtained from an extensive review of documents related to NPM that are available in the public domain such as policy initiatives and governmental projects. The second data source is obtained from in-depth semi-structured interviews with 40 stakeholders. Data is analyzed, using an iterative thematic content analysis. The findings suggest that the main obstacles that have inhibited the implementation of NPM in most public agencies in Lebanon include： the politicization of administration in the public sector, the lack of stability in the country, the non-targeted inconsistent and insufficient training, several institutional dysfunctions and organizational challenges, the absence of a country-specific applicable model of public management and the unsystematic and non-institutionalized link between concerned international organizations and the Lebanese public agencies. This research is significant as it provides a foundation for institutional practices to improve the design and implementation of NPM in the country. It also contributes to the relevant academic literature and fills a gap in the research on NPM in Lebanon. The paper provides policy recommendations needed to respond to the recurrent calls for administrative reforms in the Arab world especially in the aftermath of the popular uprisings in many of its countries.     

The 2011 Egyptian revolution chants: a romantic-Muʿtazilī moral order

While most literature on the 2011 Egyptian Revolution chants highlights the revolutionary role of poetry, little attention has been paid to the role that theology plays within this domain. This article argues that reading Abu al-Qassim al-Shabbi’s poem, ‘Life’s Will’ (1933), which inspired the chant for the fall of the regime, through the lens of Charles Taylor’s A Secular Age (2007) sheds light on the political relevance of the theological theme within this poem. The essay re-reads al-Shabbi’s investment in the Islamic mu?tāzilī doctrine of free will in terms of the creative role that Taylor gives to romantic poetry in creating a community’s ‘moral order’. Such an analysis brings to light the contribution that a comparative theological-literary framework can have to the political deliberation on the Arab Spring revolutions, especially the 2011 Egyptian Revolution.