The new paradigm: from development administration to sustainable development administration

In light of changing national and international conditions, the field of public administration is going through an exercise of refounding and reinventing. Globalization, technological advancements, and ecological concerns have diluted the importance of development administration. This study traces the demise of development administration and presents a new paradigm in the form of sustainable development administration. The author argues that the paradigm of sustainable development administration (SDA) is markedly different from the traditional paradigm of development administration (DA) in its emphasis, scope, treatment of politics, view of indigenous cultures, goals, operating mode, decision-making system, use of foreign aid, and performance accountability. The study concludes by declaring that SDA has the potential to emerge as a new field of study in public administration.

The discipline of public administration is at a crossroads: the advent of the “global village” philosophy is challenging its parochial tendencies⁽¹⁾;the “refounding of public administration” is nullifying its separation from politics⁽²⁾; and the “reinvention of government” is questioning the very basic reasons for its existence.⁽³⁾ Faced with new and continuing intellectual challenges, the discipline is in search of a new paradigm.⁽⁴⁾ What will this new paradigm be? What will its emphases and priorities be? The answers are less than clear at this point, however, the questions themselves are receiving attention from scholars. This article attempts to examine one of many alleged elements of the emerging paradigm, and that is the shift from development to sustainable development. The arguments presented here trace the demise of “development” focus in public administration and explore the possibility of sustainable development becoming the new thrust.     

Exploring agency as a basis for ethical theory in American public administration

This articale argues that agency, the normative theory associated with the “acting for” relationship in society, has had a profound, but often unrecognized affect on ethics in public administration. Accordingly, it seeks to provide a brief review of agency theory as it applies to contemporary American public adminis- tration. The review provides an overview of agency theory, gives an example of how deeply it influences American public administration, shows how it facilitates ethical action in administration and reviews some of the major obstacles to employing agency theory in the modern American administrative state.     

Public administration theory a futurist vision

As the world becomes increasingly interdependent, Americans interested in public administration will begin to realize that it is a universal phenomenon and field of inquiry that attracts the attention of researchers and teachers in all countries of the world. This will lead them to stop equating American governance with Public Administration. They will come to see that, in a comparative frame of reference, American bureaucracy, its administrative practices and political functions are quite unique. Comparative Public Administration as a special focus of study will disappear because all administrative studies must be comparative, and “American Public Administration” will gain recognition as one of many parochial foci for research as a country-specific emphasis.

Before this shift in perspective can gain widespread acceptance in America, however, the relevant work of non-American scholars will have to become more generally read in America, and the distinctively American conditions that led to the origin of this field and its subsequent dissemination on a global basis must be recognized.

Among the specific points that this paradigmatic shift will highlight are the following: the reasons why bureauphilia and bureauphobia persist in a context marked by pressure to make administrative studies and performance non-political and to divorce “politics” from “public administration;” the vain effort to gain recognition for Public Administration as either a profession or a discipline; the institutional implications of this false dilemma; the effects of focusing on career civil servants while paying scant attention to other bureaucrats, namely military officers, partisan appointees, retainers and consultants; and the causes and consequences of the American bureaucracy's semi-powered status.     

Reorienting development administration

Development By People: Citizen Construction of a Just World. By Guy Gran. New York: Praeger, UK distributor Holt‐Saunders, 1983. Pp.xxiv + 480. £34.50 and £9.95.ISBN 0 03 063294 3 and 063296 X.

No Shortcuts to Progress: African Development Management in Perspective. By Goran Hyden. London: Heinemann, 1983. Pp.xv + 223. £12.50 and £4.95. ISBN 0 435 96303 1 and 96302 3.

Development Projects as Policy Experiments: An Adaptive Approach to Development Administration. By Dennis A. Rondinelli, London: Methuen, 1983. £10.95 and £4.95. Pp.ix + 167. ISBN 0 416 73630 0 and 73640 8.

The Challenge of Integrated Rural Development in India: A Policy and Management Perspective. By Gerald E. Sussman. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, UK distributor Bowker, 1983. Pp.xvi + 178. £22. ISBN 0 86531 922 7.     

The state and rural development in Tanzania: The village administration as a political field

The Village Administrations (VAs) created by the Tanzanian state in the 1970s have been regarded as new state apparatuses intended to facilitate control over a recalcitrant peasantry. Field research in Dodoma revealed two kinds of factions competing for their control: Christians, who co‐operated with higher level state apparatuses in establishing working institutional structures, and Traditionalists, who sought to reconstruct the VA as an entity performing predominantly ritual functions and, by tactful non‐compliance, to insulate households from the demands of the state. If the VA is to be regarded as a state apparatus then it must be recognised that it has substantial autonomy, conditioned by its internal constitution as a political field.     

Comparative administration: theory and experience

In order to determine the extent to which regional training in management would serve their own diverse national needs, nine African countries with different colonial, economic. political, and economic traditions sponsored a large-scale restarch project .to identify. common behavioral characteristics in the vublic, private. and amstatal sectors. The theory was that if there was a sufficient body of ;cbuind.thtoighout the region, it would be possible to adopt standard training and selection procedures and use similar approaches in improving organizational designs. The theory posited further that comparative studies conducted in sufficient depth could separate the unique from the common elements of managerial behavior and contribute to the desirn of national as well as reeional training systems. Studies conducted with these ends in mind were also expected distinguish between behavioral differences that were associated with the political and cultural context or organizational setting, and those reflecting individual characteristics. The study proceded by gathering reports of “management events” that reflected both “effective” and “ineffective” behavior on the part of administrators in the public, private, and “semi-public” sectors, including government agencies, large industrial corporations, and parastatals or public enterprises. When nearly 2,000 such events wen coded, it became possible to identify Ntecn clearly distinguishable skills that ranked at the top in frequency of use in all threz sectors. In the African context, it was hund certain skills such as the motivation of employees, the interpretation and avvlication of conventional rules and remhtions involving honnel-administration; -and interpasonal skills were more inportant than technical knowledge or the general administrative techniques commonlv taught in academic curricula. The intensity with which these skills an used, however, was found to be different across countries. Motivational issues an involved much mare frequently in Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, and Zambia, for example, than in Tanzania ar Angola Writing skills headed the list in Tanzania but no other country. In the private sector, tcchnical skills were more in demand than motivational skills. Knowledge of procedures was far more important in the public than the parastatal or private sectors. When the results were coded by level of management, however, the dominance of motivational issues was universal. On the other hand, senior managers wae more concerned with negotiations and financial management than were their junior colleagues. Among the general skills least frequently encounted were impact analysis and evaluation, program analysis, computational skills, economic analysis, and Community relations. Among all skills coded in the sample, the worst perfonname was in the field of bureaucratic politics, in which 97% of the incidents were presented as examples of “ineffective performance.” These mults con- the possibility of identifying a common core of skills required by private and public managers, but they also suggest the need for careful adaptation of curricula to emphasize known organizational and national contexts, and they suggest as well a wcedure that can be followed m designing such adaptations. They do not confirm the expectation that private managers are better motivated than public administrators in the African context or that their personal qualities are vay different The major differences appear to be in the technical requirements of their positions, including accounting and writine skills. An isnuortarit caution needs to be observed in the application of the techniiue used in this study: the data do not disclose what skills might have improved performance if they had been present, and they do not predict future needs.     

County impact fee adoptions as policy innovations: a search for theory

This study documents the importance of employing an integrated model to explain innovative policy making among county governments in Florida. Specifically, it suggests that both internal determinants and regional diffusion factors influence the adoption of county impact fees. While rapid growth and impending county commission elections appear to be factors motivating adoption, the tendency to adopt can be offset by a substantial low-income population. Nevertheless, obstacles to adoption can be overcome where cities within the county have previously adopted an impact fee.     

Land consolidation as a factor for rural development in Moldova

This article draws on data from several recent surveys in Moldova to examine the question of land consolidation within the process of agrarian reform. It suggests that larger individually owned farms produce higher family incomes than smaller ones and thus farm augmentation makes a positive contribution to the well being of the rural population. Also, for farms of a given size, productivity increases as the number of parcels decreases. The article then proceeds to discuss the actual use of various market mechanisms for land consolidation, including leasing as well as buying and selling of land. According to various surveys, farms with leased land are in fact larger than farms that rely on owned land only. The article argues that land consolidation leads to better economic performance, while land leasing is actually used as a market mechanism for consolidation, which benefits both lessees, through increased farm incomes, and lessors, through income from lease payments for their land.     

More than an analogy,less than a paradigm: The case of biopolitics and organization theory

The biopolitics and sociobiology literature has g r m substantially in the pst few years. Same of that literature has fairly direct implications for organization theory. This paper examines that bcdy of research, discusses some of the conceptual issues and concludes that at the present time it is the methods, rather than the specific findings of bioplitical research, that have the most prise for application in organization theory.     

The impending crisis in development administration

Two questions are posed about development administration theory and practice. Does it offer apparent, plausible solutions to the recent and current crises of developing countries? Is it based upon a knowledge of the organizational terms and conditions which are necessary to advance human welfare? Current theory and practice are found to be wanting in both respects. An emphasis on comparative institutional analysis is suggested as one potential remedy for these weaknesses.     

Strengthening administration of the development process

An analysis was made of 33 cases and 34 articles from current literature to examine means for strengthening the development process. Among the problems mentioned in cases and literature were: (1) improving the implementation of development programs, (2) structural and organizational changes, (3) administrative planning, (4) improved leadership and managerial skills, (5) methods improvement, and (6) administrative and political reform. Of these, the strengthening of field implementation of development projects was mentioned by far the most frequently. The implementation gap can be improved by: (1) donors changing from a “compliance approach” to a flexible, decentralized approach to international development projects, and by (2) host governments creating promotion ladders for field personnel and providing them with training in (a) participative management, (b) budgetary management, and (c) project management methods.     

论犯罪发展研究

犯罪学研究在促进社会主义和谐社会的构建中有着重要的作用,要发挥好这一作用,当前必须在内容上重视研究犯罪发展,尤其是对社会转型时期犯罪发展的特殊性研究,在方法上要大力推重理论联系实际的方法及实证的方法。本文从犯罪学研究的实际出发,就犯罪发展研究及推重理论联系实际的方法及实证的方法谈些认识。     

Urban development in czecho-slovakia: some background conditions for local level public administration

Concepts and skills from the Public Administration field are in strong demand by local governments in Slovakia and in the Czech Republic. After forty years in which local level initiatives in government and in business were squelched, there now exist extensive opportunities. After discussing the extent of past centralization, population trends and local public spending by city sizes are defined for the Czech Republic. A comparative analysis of a single Czech city with a German city of similar size points out some special limitations in land use employment and tax base facing local public policy makes. In conclusion, the need for attention to institution-building and for local area information as part of technical assistance efforts is discussed.     

The development of public administration from a global perspective: the case of italy

What is the impact of globalization on the Italian state and the development of the Italian public administration? Italy is one of those countries where the forces of globalization are challenging the strong state tradition and the predominance of the legal model of public administration. Globalization and the European regional integration push toward a diminished role of the state and a managerial public administration with an increased emphasis on efficiency and better quality of government activities.     

Modernist discourse and the crisis of development theory

The field of Third World studies is thought once again to be in a state of crisis, thanks largely to disillusionment with the once-dominant dependency “paradigm.” Amidst renewed interest in developmentalism and the clamor for an alternative to dependency, this article argues, first, that the major achievements of dependency theory remain largely unrecognized because the approach has been so frequently misrepresented or misunderstood. Whatever the ultimate status of dependency’s theoretical claims, it contains elements of a countermodernist attitude which ought to be retained in any new approach to the study of Third World development. Second, the article argues that, despite these accomplishments, dependency remains trapped, along with developmentalism, within a modernist discourse which relies on the principles of nineteenth century liberal philosophy; that it treats the individual nation-state in the Third World as the sovereign subject of development; and that it accepts the Western model of national autonomy with growth as the appropriate one to emulate. The final section of the article discusses the efforts of a number of scholars to ground knowledge in local histories and experiences rather than building theory through the use of general conceptual categories and Western assumptions. Although these ideas currently remain on the margins of Third World studies, it is to be hoped that dependency’s loss of intellectual hegemony has at least opened up a space for them to be taken seriously, in the same way that dependency was itself taken seriously in the late 1960s. Kate Manzo is assistant professor of political science at Williams College in Williamstown, MA 01267. Her research and writing interests focus on theories of development and on the nature of South African change. She is currently at work on a book entitledAfrikanerdom and Race: The Nature of Ideology in a Changing Society.     

The relative importance of family planning and development for fertility reduction: Critique of research and development of theory

3 recent studies about the relative effects of family planning and development are reviewed in an effort to point out their limitations and to augment them. A tentative theoretical framework is presented from which the problem of fertility reduction may be viewed. Also presented is an analysis of the "outliers" in 1 of the 3 studies. This analysis involves consideration of macrosocial and contextual aspects of different nations as a supplement to other analyses. Mauldin and Berelson (1978) and Tsui and Bogue (1978) used indicators of social setting and family planning effort to explain declines in, respectively, crude birthrate between 1965 and 1975, and total fertility rates between 1968 and 1975. The 2 studies used nearly identical sets of explanatory variables. With both studies using the same indicators, except for "labor force," it is not surprising that the results were the same. The results were previously obtained by Freedman and Berelson (1976), who also used the Lapham Mauldin index of planning effort along with similar indicators of social setting. Freedman and Berelson found that birthrate declines could be explained better by program effort (which independently explained 17% of the variance in crude birthrate (CBR) declines) than by social setting (which independently accounted for 7% of that variance), and that the 1972 birthrate itself was similarly explained (15% of the variance attributed to program effort alone, 5% to social setting alone). Mauldin and Berelson obtained nearly identical results. In the Tsui and Bogue study, the contribution of the 1968 level of fertility was the dominant influence on the 1975 total fertility rate. The standardized regression coefficient indicated that previous fertility explained 50-60% of subsequent fertility by direct relationship, a figure comparable to the social setting family planning interaction effects (44-58%) in the 2 other studies. Much of this discussion is devoted to an analysis of the "outliers" in the exploratory data analysis done by Sykes for Mauldin and Berelson (1978). The outliers in Sykes' exploratory data analysis were divided along 2 dimensions. The first involves the relationship between predicted and actual reductions in fertility. The 2nd dimension refers to the independent variables used to predict the fertility declines. This analysis involves analysis of contextual variables and an analysis of distributional variables. It is limited by missing data, but the analysis of Freedman and Berelson (1976), Mauldin and Berelson (1978), and Tsui and Bogue (1978) is plagued by missing variables: contextual variables; distributional variables; and unique national, regional, or local circumstances. These can only be adequately revealed by case studies and may be important influences on fertility behavior. Effects of family planning and social setting may be conditioned by contextual variables (e.g., island status as in Taiwan), or unique circumstances (e.g., coercion as in India), and distribution appears to have an effect of its own.     

Telephone crisis intervention skills: a simulated caller paradigm

Counseling skills were evaluated in a telephone counseling service for Vietnam veterans. Thirty simulated crisis calls were made to telephone counselors by experienced clinical psychologists. The counselors' responses were rated on dimensions that indexed general counseling skills, knowledge of veteran needs, and provision of appropriate advice. Whereas the majority of callers demonstrated adequate counseling skills, many lacked knowledge of veterans' posttraumatic stress, common veteran terminology, and the nature of veterans' experiences. The findings suggest that telephone counseling services that target specific populations should employ comprehensive training to ensure that counselors possess adequate and relevant knowledge about callers and their presenting problems. The simulated caller paradigm appears to be an effective paradigm for training and evaluation of telephone counselors.