Imitation and inspiration in public sector reform: lessons from Commonwealth experiences
| Author | Richard Norman,Rob Laking |
| Published date | 01 December 2007 |
| Date | 01 December 2007 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020852307083455 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Imitation and inspiration in public sector reform:
lessons from Commonwealth experiences
Rob Laking and Richard Norman
Abstract
This article is based on a paper originally presented at the 2006 Conference of the
Commonwealth Association of Public Administration and Management. It dis-
cusses case studies of reform in developing countries presented at the Common-
wealth Advanced Seminar, held annually in Wellington, New Zealand. The cases
are analysed in terms of major reform issues such as civil service reform, strategic
planning, management decentralization and accountability for results to draw out
similarities in challenges and responses across jurisdictions and also some lessons
about the uptake and implementation of policy ideas from other governments.
The cases illustrate the influence on developing country governments of public
management ideas, ranging from specific imitation of new management ‘tech-
nologies’ to more generalized inspiration of the possibilities of reform.
Points for practitioners
There are significant similarities of reform issues across the diverse countries of the
Commonwealth, indicating the value of cross-jurisdictional dialogue about reform
agendas, particularly when participants share a common official language. Some
ideas about New Public Management continue to exert a strong influence on
Rob Laking is a former New Zealand government chief executive, now a senior lecturer in the
School of Government, Victoria University of Wellington, teaching comparative public management
and development policy and management. His research interests include the political economy of
public sector reform, the role of international organizations in international policy transfer and public
management in developing countries. Richard Norman, of the Victoria Management School,
Victoria University of Wellington, has specialized in researching lessons from New Zealand’s reinven-
tion of its public sector systems. Richard Norman is co-director for the Commonwealth Advanced
Seminar, and a seminar for trainers involved in supporting reform initiatives, both held annually in
Wellington. He is co-director for the case programme of the Australia and New Zealand School of
Government (www.anzsog.edu.au).
Copyright © 2007 IIAS, SAGE Publications (Los Angeles, London, New Delhi and Singapore)
Vol 73(4):517–530 [DOI:10.1177/0020852307083455]
International
Review of
Administrative
Sciences
To continue reading
Request your trial