Public Administration Development and Reform in a Post-Communist Regime: The Case of Mongolia

Abstract

This article analyses public administration reforms in Mongolia following the collapse of the communist regime, and interprets the current administrative system in terms of the consequences of waves of reform. First, we examine ideas of public administration reform in Mongolia, comparing them with contemporary civil service reform models. We find that many elements of these models have been present in the transition after 1990. Second, we analyse the implementation of these reform processes in the context of Mongolia’s distinctive social-economic, cultural and political conditions. Third, we interpret the current administrative system in terms of the paradoxical results of these overlaying reform waves, identifying it as an evolving mixed administrative system.