The Politics of Public Sector Performance: Pockets of Effectiveness in Developing Countries. By Michael Roll, Ed., Routledge, 2014, Hardback: USD 147.00; Paperback: USD49.95. E‐book is also available.
| Author | Rogerio F. Pinto |
| Date | 01 August 2016 |
| Published date | 01 August 2016 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/pad.1759 |
BOOK REVIEW
The Politics of Public Sector Performance:Pockets of Effectiveness in Developing Countries. By Michael Roll, Ed., Routledge,
2014, Hardback: USD 147.00; Paperback: USD49.95. E-book is also available.
Michael Roll takes on quite a challenge by editing “The Politics of Public Sector Performance”. On the basis of six case studies,
he attempts to provide an empirical record of the emergence, persistence of “Pockets of Effectiveness in Developing Countries,”
and their effect on the wider public sector. He is motivated by the alleged insufficient treatment of the topic in the literature of
the 90s, when authors focused primarily on “how the world should look like rather than how it is.”To this reviewer, the book
provides a current rendition of a set of topics that have been around practical and academic circles for quite some time. It
emerged in the 70s under the heading of Institution Building (IB) and later as State-owned Enterprises (SOEs)—all adjuncts
to the broader theme of public sector reform in the context of economic development. The narrative of the book is packed with
multiple references to best institutional and organizational practices, which are hardly unique to SOE (State Owned Enteprizes).
As in the case of this book, the literature then did not suggest that achieving a few high-performing public agencies was equiv-
alent to state/public sector reform. It did, in fact, celebrate that these agencies were instrumental to getting certain key develop-
mental tasks done, although—at the time—with less emphasis on service delivery and participation of beneficiary segments of
society. Several cases contained in the book refer to state-controlled industrial, resource extraction, or development-related
areas. These by and large have ad hoc personnel and compensation policies and are relatively independent of the quality of
the wider public administration systems. By not having to rely on these systems, these POEs are immune to the usual dysfunc-
tions of public administration. At the outset, the reader might ask what one does with an empirically substantiated POE middle-
range theory. Does one use it to pursue public sector reform or simply as a guide to create and develop key developmental in-
stitutions? Is the multiplication of POEs a superior option to investing in systemic public sector reform?
The book provides a somewhat burdensome conceptual framework that reads like a dissertation proposal, hence unappealing
to those without a strong academic penchant. While the framework provides the foundation for the aspired POE theory and the
empirical research carried out, only some of the compiled case studies actually follow it. The difficulties of getting case writers
to comply with conceptual frameworks laid out for such empirical projects are quite familiar and understandable. By and large
cases in the book are informative of the many institutional virtues of the public agencies set in adverse institutional and political
environments, showing that political economy matters a lot for their success. In effect the countries of the reviewed case studies
have low ratings as assessed by the World Bank Governance Effectiveness Indicators. Cases of SOEs demonstrate that effec-
tiveness varies according to the amount of profit-oriented autonomy bestowed on them by their harboring “rentier”regimes,
as in the Middle East. In these regimes, the respective case study purports to show that building pockets of effectiveness in
dysfunctional state systems can be a politically viable alternative to a full-blown administrative and public sector reform.
Understandably, the small sample of six case studies does not cover the geographic or topical breadth to ensure generaliza-
tion of findings. On the other hand, the countries of case studies share a challenging politico-administrative environment, yet
conducive to the emergence and sustainability of most POEs. The first case on POE lessons from the long 20th century in China
and Taiwan is lengthy and tedious. It contains an abundance of extraneous information that does not add to the research inquiry
but wears down the reader. The case of the 70-year-old Brazilian BNDES covers its emergence and its role as a tool for devel-
opment in the hands of multiple governments, but makes only passing reference to its more recent dysfunctional political spoils
role as a picker of winners for financial benefits, at enormous cost to the national treasury.
The book closes with an analysis of the case findings compared with other related studies, assessing their general validity.
This analysis also seeks to determine the extent that these pockets of effectiveness can rub off on the wider politico-administra-
tive environment. In this regard, it concludes that there is no evidence that POEs bring about wider reforms. However, they do
have a positive effect to the extent that they stand out as models to be emulated. The comparative analysis focuses on processes
and mechanisms for the emergence and sustainability of POEs, which are seen as necessary but not sufficient conditions for their
fruition in terms of drivers, motivations, and international influence. The reader is left wondering what constitutes the conditions
of sufficiency!! To its credit, the compared studies corroborate many of the book’sfindings.
The key driver highlighted in this concluding chapter is the sponsoring leadership of heads of state and high-level civil and
military authorities, as most of these POEs deal in matters of national interest and economic security. The reader is left with the
public administration and development
Public Admin. Dev. 36, 234–235 (2016)
Published online in Wiley Online Library
(wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/pad.1759
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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