THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND PUBLIC POLICY: IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING

Increasingly, the nations of the world are becoming more interdependent among themselves. This is true not only in an economic sense, but in a political sense as well. The field of public administration has become internationalized, presenting a new challenge to both teachers and students of the discipline. The article argues that special attention should be given to teaching students how to manage policy interdependency. Furthermore, the interdisciplinary approach is advocated as a method of broadening students' perspectives in public administration. In concluding the article, the author offers several recommendations for improving public administration programs.     

A NEW DEFENSE POLICY FOR COSTA RICA: CONSTRUCTING REALITY AND THE POLICY AGENDA

This paper examine5 the policymaking progress in Costa Rica, specifically the creation of a new item for the governmental agenda. This new agenda challenges the traditional Itno army" policy of Costa Kica. Following a brief historical overview of the traditional policy, the paper considers the role of specific factors that promote structural conduciveness for the new "defense" policy and the attendant transformation of political symbols and definitions. The impact of the definitional and organizational changes on the implementation stage of policy is explored. This article suggests the importance of studying the role of hegemony in the construction and transformation of political and cultural definitions, an explication of deci- sionmaking as well as nondecisionmaking processes, and the influence of external and internal threats on nation-state dependency.     

THE COMPARATIVE POLITICS OF AGENDA SETTING: THE EMERGENCE OF CONSUMER PROTECTION AS A PUBLIC POLICY ISSUE IN BRITAIN AND THE UNITED STATES

This article compares the emergence of consumer protection as an issue on the public policy agendas of Britain and the United States in the 1960s. Similar forces caused the emergence of consumer protection in both cases. Governmental responses to consumer protection issues also have been similar, but distinctive features of each country's political system are evident as well. The analysis draws upon existing consumer protection literature for each country as well as the author's interviews with a number of Britons involved in this policy area. The principal conclusion is that consumer protection gained each country's policy agenda as a discretionary item. Events of the past few years demonstrate that it is not yet a durable agenda item in either case.     

AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC POLICY AND THE PROBLEM OF FRAGMENTATION

Abstract: Politics matters in policy. In particular, the way in which a society organises its structures for bargaining affects the extent to which it is able to solve the general problem of "externalities" resulting from private choice. Two "ideal type" societies, the corporatist and the pluralist, are contrasted. It is suggested that the apparently superior economic performance of corporatist societies may be due to the fact that they have more efficient means of making collective choices than do pluralist societies. It is argued that, as a society which is best described as fragmented rather than pluralist or corporatist, Australia may be missing out on the advantages offered by well-structured bargaining. In particular, it may be possible significantly to improve decision-making practices by means of an Accord between business and government which promotes policy-related trade-offs within an agreed general framework.     

THE TASMANIAN PUBLIC SERVICE AND THE FUTURE

Abstract: State governments in Australia have been regarded essentially as service deliverers, with the result that the specialist heads of public organizations, although technically competent, have rarely questioned the need for their activities. Nor does the argument that such questioning is the responsibility of the politician take account of the inertia of the existing system; an analysis of the activities which the Tasmanian government has undertaken over the past six years—including those of statutory authorities—shows a fair degree of stability. Thus we should consider building into the State's existing organizational arrangements some means of evaluating existing programs and new proposals. Such policy analysis should widen the narrow focus of the advice currently offered by public servants. Although there have been some moves in this direction in Tasmania (particularly in the Premier's Department), it has not been reflected in the structures of the public service generally. A survey of 22 government departments showed that only eight had officers concerned with evaluatory planning, and only three departments were engaged in innovative and initiatory planning. Other directions in which Tasmania's public organizations could move with benefit include an increase in lateral recruitment; breaking down the rigidity of the promotion appeals and classification systems; introducing flexible management and budgeting procedures throughout the service as a whole; and continually reviewing the structure and functions of public organizations. The questions that have been raised by recent inquiries into State and Federal government administration, namely coordination, efficiency, economy, effectiveness, decentralization and participation, have not stressed sufficiently the key issue for the public services of the 1980s, which is the nature of the relationship between the politician, the public service and the community.     

PUBLIC PROTEST AND PUBLIC POLICY: THE ANTI-APARTHEID MOVEMENT AND POLITICAL INNOVATION*

With the Comprehensive Anti-apartheid Act of 1986, Congress instituted economic sanctions against South Africa, thereby reversing the historic course of U. S. foreign policy. This political innovation constituted a great victory for minority interests. This article utilizes the agenda-setting literature to examine the relationship between Anti-apartheid movement activity in the United States and adoption of economic sanctions against South Africa. The analysis is based upon an events data set consisting of 1353 events appearing in the New York Times between 1960 and 1986, interviews with activists and legislators, and archived materials. The ar- ticle concludes that although the Anti-apartheid movement was only in- directly involved in moving sanctions legislation to the policy agenda, the movement exerted direct influence in the policy process once the legislation had agenda status.     

JAPANESE BUREAUCRATS AND POLICY IMPLEMENTATION: LESSONS FOR AMERICA?

In recent years, American business has attempted to learn the secrets of Japanese business success. This paper asks whether it would be equally useful to examine Japanese public administration to determine why the Japanese government seems to be so much more successful than American government in implementing public policies. It is widely agreed that policy implementation in the United States involves considerable "slippage" between policy intent and achievement. By contrast, scholars agree that Japanese public policy is usually implemented effectively and efficiently. This paper argues that the Japanese case has three important implications for the United States: effective policy implementation is possible, better implementation would result from allowing civil servants to participate more fully in policy formulation, and the development of an elite corps of top civil servants could make a major contribution to better policymaking and implementation.