Introduction
| Date | 01 February 1997 |
| Published date | 01 February 1997 |
| Author | EDWARD WARRINGTON |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-162X(199702)17:1<3::AID-PAD922>3.0.CO;2-E |
Introduction
EDWARD WARRINGTON
University of Malta
THREE VIEWS OF `THE NEW PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION'
This issue of Public Administration and Development constitutes the third and last of
a series of surveys of matters raised during this year's biennial conference of the
Commonwealth Association of Public Administration and Management (CAPAM).
The ®rst of these was compiled for CAPAM by the rapporteurs at the conference
(Borins and Warrington, 1996). That report examined conceptual developments in
the `new public administration paradigm' during the two years elapsing since
CAPAM's inaugural meeting; it reviewed `how the new public administration is
being implemented in practice', and examined the `degree of contestability or
divergence of opinion in evidence at the conference' (Borins and Warrington, 1996).
The report constitutes, as it were, a review of the state of the debate, identifying
trends in both the theory and the practice of public administration.
The second survey appeared in the last issue of this journal as a symposium on
current good practice in administrative reform. `Good practice', as distinct from
`best practice', suggests that decision-makers have a choice of alternative strategies
and models of administrative development. That is a considerable advance on
traditional approaches to administrative reform, which tended to force distinctive
national patterns of organization into the mould of a single ideal type. `Good
practice' also conveys the importance of standards or quality of governance, in
addition to more conventional, more limited norms about the technical design of
policies, organizations or operating systems. The Commonwealth Secretariat and
CAPAM have made notable contributions to the dissemination of good practice:1it
was therefore appropriate that the Association's journal should present a selection of
well-documented initiatives that may be regarded as models of good practice in the
design and implementation of administrative reform initiatives.
This special issue adopts another perspective. Taken together, the articles
presented here review selected currents of thought, initiatives and experiences
circulating during the meeting. They have been chosen for their intrinsic interest, as
well as for their representativeness. For this reason, the selection includes semi-
of®cial reviews, drawn up by of®cials, of work in progress, together with more
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT, VOL. 17, 3±12 (1997)
CCC 0271±2075/97/010003±10$17.50
&1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Edward Warrington is Lecturer in Comparative Administration and Public Policy at the University of
Malta.
1See, for example, Commonwealth Secretariat: Portfolio of Current Good Practices and New Developments
in Public Administration and Management, as well as the CAPAM-sponsored series of country pro®les
documenting good practice in seven areas of contemporary public administration.
To continue reading
Request your trial