ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: CONCEPTS, ISSUES, AND THE NATIONAL EXPERIENCE

This symposium examines issues related to the links between administrative reform policy and economic development policy. The symposium introduction paper consists of two parts. First, it offers an overview of the background of theoretical and conceptual issues that are important to the connection between administrative reform and economic development. The issues reviewed include the role of government in economic development, the importance of public policy and management to economic development, the contribution of development administration, and the need of administrative reform to remove bureaucratic problems and promote efficiency. Next, the introduction paper provides a brief summary of the research arguments and findings addressed in the following six articles. They include an evaluation of administrative reform in Arab world economic growth, an examination of administrative reform and economic development in Latin America and the Caribbean, a political economy analysis of policy reform in Korea, a study of the implementation of privatization strategies in India's public sector reform, a discussion of the concerns between efficiency and ethics in China's economic development, and the study of administrative and economic development in Mongolia. The implications of the research findings and the need for further study of the linkage between administrative reform and economic development are emphasized in the conclusion.     

THEORIES OF REGULATORY IMPACT: THE ROLES OF THE REGULATOR, THE REGULATED, AND THE PUBLIC

Berry reviews the major theories for why legislative intent differs from regulatory output including: (1) theories of commission inadequacy, (2) group theories of political science, and (3) group theories of regulation offered by economists. He reviews the salient literature in each type and concludes that none alone incorporates a sufficient explanation for the wide range of regulatory outcomes. Such an explanation, he maintains, requires an analysis of all three actors, and of the variation in the incentives, resources, and goals of each.     

POLITICS AND REGULATION: THE PUBLIC CHOICE APPROACH

Abstract: Government regulation of the economy has been the subject of criticism both on the grounds of efficiency and equity. Traditional economic theories explaining regulation may be deficient insofar as they assume a benevolent welfare maximizing government, intervening only to correct "market failures". Political theories of interest group influence (for example pluralist, capture, Marxist theories) provide some more realistic insights into regulation, but fail to yield rigorous, testable propositions. The theory of public choice applies the rigour of economic analysis to political behaviour and suggests some useful approaches to the explanation of regulation, focusing on the public goods problem of organizing large groups of actors for collective action and on the role of the political entrepreneur in mobilizing large numbers of voters. The public choice approach may also be useful in suggesting strategies for deregulation in some key areas of the Australian economy currently under scrutiny (for example banking, airlines, telecommunications).     

LIBERAL DEMOCRACY AND GROUP RIGHTS: THE LEGACY OF INDIVIDUALISM AND ITS IMPACT ON AMERICAN INDIAN TRIBES

Abstract Individualism is the foundation.of democratic theory and practise in the United States. A multi-ethnic, but not really a multi-communal society in the same sense as Northern Ireland or India, the United States has not generally had to confront the nature and justification of its historical opposition to group rights and communal social and political organization. Only the American Indian tribes, with their treaty-mandated communalism, have presented exceptions to this pattern. This paper explores the assumptions underlying liberal democratic attitudes towards communalism, the ways in which group claims pose challenges to conventional notions of justice and equality, and the utility of introducing alternative assumptions about the nature and role of groups in democratic society. Discussion centers on the most recent attempt to reduce the group rights of American Indian tribes.     

THE AMERICAN STATES AND THE SHIFTING LOCUS OF POSITIVE ECONOMIC INTERVENTION

While there has been a turn away from positive government intervention in the economy at the national level, we have witnessed an embrace of this strategy in may of the American states. What impact, if any, have these efforts by state governments had on their economies? The paper focuses on variations in party control, competition, and ideology, the institutional capacities of governors and legislatures, and policy measures, while controlling for a variety of alternative influences on state economies. For the period from 1968–1979 states were dominated by the national economy and other forces over which they had little or no control, and thus had little or no effect on their economies. However, for the 1980–1985 period, party, political capacity, and policy exerted a statistically significant influence on state economic performance.     

ACCOUNTABILITY AND PERFORMANCE IN PUBLIC ENTERPRISE: THE BRITISH DEBATE*

Abstract: This paper examines recent developments in the debate in Britain about the role of public enterprises which are wholly owned by the State, that is, the nationalized industries. The changing political and economic context surrounding public enterprise is briefly outlined and the successive attempts to give operational significance to concepts of accountability and performance are noted. In the light of this review recent developments in the framework of control are discussed. It is argued that the parliamentary system has failed to develop adequate criteria of accountability and performance for the nationalized industries, in part because of inherent difficulties common to systems of representative government, which in Britain have been exacerbated by a declining rate of economic growth and attendant attempts to reduce public expenditure.