Politics and public service reform in small states: Malta
| Date | 01 February 1997 |
| Author | GODFREY A. PIROTTA |
| Published date | 01 February 1997 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-162X(199702)17:1<197::AID-PAD921>3.0.CO;2-U |
Politics and public service reform in small states: Malta
GODFREY A. PIROTTA
Department of Public Policy, University of Malta
SUMMARY
Administrative reform is inseparable from political reform, just as administration and politics
share overlapping boundaries. This article reviews the goals for reform established in 1989 for
the Maltese public service, against the political culture and administrative history of Malta. It
argues that a small state's size encourages certain dysfunctional characteristics of the political
culture, and aggravates the dif®culties inherent in administrative reform. (&1997 by John
Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)
INTRODUCTION
Management, rather than administration, leaner public services, agencies and/or
authorities, privatization, merit, ef®ciency, effectiveness, and accountability are some
of the terms that dominate present-day debate about public sector reform. In truth,
these terms are not as new as this debate tends to make us believe. Certainly, in the
case of Malta and that of some other small states, such as Mauritius, reference to,
even emphasis on, such terms can be found in the numerous reports that characterize
the history of these public services (Julyan, 1871; Pirotta, 1996). What is new today is
the pronounced scienti®c approach being adopted, including the widespread use of
advanced information technology, the transfer of private management techniques to
the public service and a more generally market-oriented administration, and not
least, the urgency with which public sector reform is being implemented on a near-
global scale. Of course, in some countries a great deal of lip service is paid to
`modern' notions of public service reform but the economic and social condition of
these countries is such as to make their implementation quite impossible. But there is
also the tendency, among many of those involved in this debate, to decouple the
public service from the political process, thereby giving the impression that these are
two entirely independent spheres, as if one did not presuppose the other. There is
much to the view, as expressed by a very senior Maltese public servant, that it is
almost impossible to draw a line between politics and administration for it was very
much a situation of one sector with two players.1
In this necessarily brief exposition I shall address the interaction between politics
and public administration as they relate to Malta using, as the basis for doing this, the
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT, VOL. 17, 197±207 (1997)
CCC 0271±2075/97/010197±11$17.50
&1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Dr. G. A. Pirotta is Senior Lecturer in Government and Policy Studies, Department of Public Policy,
University of Malta.
1The Times (of Malta), 16 April 1992, `Forum tackles dividing line between politics, public administration.'
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