The history and future of nation-building? Building capacity for public results
| DOI | 10.1177/0020852309365666 |
| Author | Jocelyne Bourgon |
| Published date | 01 June 2010 |
| Date | 01 June 2010 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
The Honourable Jocelyne Bourgon, PC, OC, is Distinguished Fellow, Centre for International
Governance Innovation, and President Emeritus, Canada School of Public Service, Canada.
© The authors, 2010. Reprints and Permissions: http://www.sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
Vol 76(2):197–218 [DOI:10.1177/0020852309365666]
International
Review of
Administrative
Sciences
The history and future of nation-building?
Building capacity for public results
Jocelyne Bourgon
Abstract
The goal of nation-building is to build the collective capacity to achieve public
results and to pursue a shared vision of the future. This article, which is based
on a theoretical vantage point and the author’s experience as a senior public
official, explores the theme of collective capacity-building from the point of view
of government. It describes how achieving collective results requires institutional
and organizational capacities but, building on these foundations, governments
must also develop greater capacity to anticipate, innovate and adapt in the face of
increasingly complex public issues and unpredictable circumstances.
Points for practitioners
Building institutional capacity has been a focus of governments for many decades
and, indeed, centuries. Building organizational capacity has been the centrepiece
of reforms since the 1980s. But public organizations are not yet aligned with the
complex problems they are expected to address. Addressing complexity and
uncertainty will likely require practitioners to work with (i) a broader definition of
public results, (ii) an expanded view of the role of government and of the range of
possible relationships between government and citizens, and (iii) a more dynamic
approach to public administration.
Keywords: capacity, complexity, emergence, governance, government, public
administration, public policy, public results, resilience
Introduction1
Public administrations vary from country to country; they reflect different circum-
stances, needs and philosophies about the role of government in society. Despite
198 International Review of Administrative Sciences 76(2)
these differences, public administrations also have much in common: they exist to
serve the public interest (Bourgon, 2007), which is the normative foundation of the
state and the public sector apparatus.
The pursuit of nation-building or state-building stems from a political and philo-
sophical choice. Either way, the goal is to build the collective capacity to achieve
public results and to pursue a shared vision of the future.
In this article, the theme of collective capacity-building is explored from the point
of view of government through the following questions:
l What capabilities, old and new, will government need to serve in the twenty-first
century?
l What capacities will be needed to address complex issues in the increasingly
unpredictable environment of globalized economies, networked societies and a
fragile biosphere?
Moreover, the collective capacity to achieve public results is not limited to govern-
ment. People build nations, nation-states and public institutions. The spirit of public
service extends well beyond government and public service organizations. People
from all walks of life and many fields of endeavour contribute to the achievement of
public results. In doing so, they are acting as citizens, whether or not they enjoy all
the privileges of citizenship and regardless of the amount of time they have spent
in a given country. People are at once citizens of their country and citizens of the
world; they are members of their local community and of their chosen communities
of interests.
Given this, the article also asks:
l What capabilities in people, communities and institutions would enhance the
collective capacity to achieve public results?
Achieving collective results requires a strong institutional capacity to provide the
necessary checks and balances to the exercise of power, to propose laws and ensure
their enforcement, to encourage social justice, and to guarantee the efficient use
of public funds and the accountability of office holders. Building institutional capac-
ity has been a focus of governments and societies for many decades and, indeed,
centuries.
Achieving public results also requires organizational capacity to allow public
sector organizations to work seamlessly across agencies within government and with
multiple partners beyond government. Building organizational capacity has been of
particular concern for governments since the 1980s and has been a centrepiece of
reforms from that time forward.
The transformations that have taken place in the public sector since the 1980s are
incomplete, but the pace of reform is not likely to abate because public organiza-
tions are not yet aligned with the global context or the complex problems they are
expected to address.
Building on their institutional and organizational strengths, governments are called
upon to play a more dynamic, more complex, and less certain role. This new role will
require the integration of government authority and the collective power of other
actors to bring about results of high public value. It will be needed in the face of com-
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