Rethink, reframe and reinvent: serving in the twenty-first century
| DOI | 10.1177/0020852317709081 |
| Date | 01 December 2017 |
| Author | Jocelyne Bourgon |
| Published date | 01 December 2017 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Review of
Administrative
Article
Sciences
International Review of
Administrative Sciences
Rethink, reframe and reinvent:
2017, Vol. 83(4) 624–635
! The Author(s) 2017
serving in the twenty-first century
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DOI: 10.1177/0020852317709081
Jocelyne Bourgon
journals.sagepub.com/home/ras
Public Governance International, Canada
Abstract
In 2006 I had the honour of giving the Fifth Braibant Lecture for the International
Institute of Administrative Sciences. That discussion identified a need to rethink
public administration. In reality, this is only a small part of the rethinking needed to
prepare government and society for the challenges of the twenty-first century. There is
a need to rethink the architecture and functioning of the social, economic and political
state; for instance, to critically examine the assumption that innovation, productivity,
employment and income growth work synergistically together. A clear-eyed diagnostic
of the benefits of global trade and the costs of local dislocation is long overdue if
government is to mitigate its impact for the most vulnerable in society and alleviate
public fears about the future. There is also a need to articulate in contemporary terms
what conditions contribute to the governance of open, pluralistic and democratic
societies. Responding to challenging emerging trends will require reconciling in new
ways individual interests with ambitious collective aspirations, rediscovering the irre-
placeable contribution of the state and articulating a concept of that state adapted to
serving in the twenty-first century. This is neither an overbearing nor a minimalist state
but one with sufficient confidence in its role to serve the collective interest. This article
is an invitation to rethink the modern state, reframe our expectations for a well-
performing society and economy, and reinvent in contemporary terms what it means
to be part of a modern, liberal, pluralistic and democratic society.
Keywords
administration and democracy, citizen participation, public administration, public
enterprise
Introduction
Serving in the twenty-first century may not be more difficult in absolute terms than
before; it is different. As a result, new ways of thinking and governing are needed to
Corresponding author:
Jocelyne Bourgon, Public Governance International, Canada, 60 George St, Suite 203, Ottawa, Ontario
K1N 1J4, Canada.
Email: jbourgon@pgionline.com
Bourgon
625
face the challenges that stem from living in an increasingly global, interdependent,
hyperconnected and disorderly world where the life support for a soon to be nine
billion people (United Nations, 2017) depends on a fragile biosphere. We are wit-
nessing the breakdown of several beliefs about what has worked in the past and the
end of assumptions supporting key public policies. This is a time for a profound
rethinking about what it may mean to govern a modern democratic society in the
future.
In 2006 I had the honour of giving the Fifth Braibant Lecture for the
International Institute of Administrative Sciences (Bourgon, 2007). That discussion
identified a need for a new ‘unifying theory for public administration’ and sketched
its initial building blocks. Subsequent work developed in an international collab-
oration with practitioners and academics focused on fulfilling this mandate and
developing a conceptual framework to expand the range of options open to gov-
ernment and bring coherence to public sector problem solving and decision-making
(Bourgon, 2011). While the Braibant lecture called for a rethinking of public
administration, in reality this is only a small part of the rethinking needed to
prepare government and society for the challenges of the twenty-first century.
There is a need to rethink the architecture and functioning of the social,
economic and political state (Follett, 1998); for instance, to critically examine the
functioning of a market economy and the underlying assumption that innovation,
productivity, growth, employment and income growth work synergistically
together. The evidence of the last 20 years points in the opposite direction.
There is a need and an opportunity to reconceptualize the mix of policy instru-
ments to encourage distributed growth and shared prosperity. A clear-eyed diag-
nostic of the overall benefits of global trade and of the local dislocation that the
process entails is long overdue. This is needed to conceptualize measures to
improve the absorptive capacity of communities and mitigate the impact for the
most vulnerable in society. It is also needed to alleviate public fears about the
future and the capacity of government to guide society.
There is a need to articulate in contemporary terms what conditions contribute
to building modern societies and the governance of open, pluralistic and demo-
cratic societies. Challenging trends are emerging that will affect future models of
governance. The role of politics in building democratic societies is changing.
Responding to these challenges will require reconciling in new ways the promotion
of individual interests with the pursuit of ambitious collective aspirations, to redis-
cover the irreplaceable contribution of the state to a well-performing society and
economy and articulate a concept of that state adapted to serving in the twenty-first
century. This is neither an overbearing nor a minimalist state but one with sufficient
confidence in its role to use the levers of the state to serve the collective interest.
In the public realm, there are increasing signs of concern about the current state
of affairs. Public dissatisfaction and declining respect for public institutions is
changing the political landscape and the political discourse. It is generating
circumstances that can be used to roll back hard-earned rights and liberties.
Public dissatisfaction can sometimes lead to progress; it can be channelled to
626
International Review of Administrative Sciences 83(4)
bring about needed change given existing institutional capacity, a reservoir of civic
will for collective action and skilful political stewardship. However, fear and anx-
iety are rarely a source of progress. The same circumstances may unleash a disas-
trous sequence of events when enabling conditions are lacking. Rising tensions
were most notable during the Brexit referendum in the UK and in the 2016 US
presidential campaign. Similar phenomena are present in several other countries.
Some ideas are too narrow to embrace the current reality, too inward looking to
extract meaning from emerging trends and too tentative to steer society through an
unprecedented process of change. The need for a different way of thinking is great,
but it remains an open question whether modern democratic societies will have the
wherewithal to reinvent in a timely way their approach to governing.
Ideas and principles matter. The way one thinks has a direct impact on the
solutions that will be found and the results that will be achieved. This article
does not propose an answer; it simply adds a voice to others who argue there is
a growing need for important conversations. This article is an invitation to rethink
the modern state, reframe our expectations for a well-performing society and
economy, and reinvent in contemporary terms what it means to be part of a
modern, liberal, pluralistic and...
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