Administrative Reform Efforts Research Articles

Enhancing State Management Efficiency through Administrative Apparatus Reforms in Vietnam

This study examines the imperative administrative reforms in Vietnam, highlighting the significance of transitioning towards a more efficient and globally integrated bureaucratic system. It identifies a crucial gap in understanding the challenges and effectiveness of these reforms, aiming to analyze strategies and outcomes related to institutional restructuring, procedural streamlining, digital modernization, and human resource enhancement. Utilizing qualitative methods, including literature review and semi-structured interviews with reform stakeholders, the research provides a detailed exploration of the reform implementation and societal responses. Findings indicate progress in procedural simplification and digitalization yet underscore persistent obstacles such as resistance to change, digital divides, and the absence of supportive legal frameworks. The study emphasizes the necessity of promoting innovation culture, improving digital literacy, investing in ICT, and clarifying legal frameworks to support reforms. It also highlights the role of public-private partnerships and feedback mechanisms in refining e-government services. Implications extend to policymakers and international entities, suggesting a holistic approach to overcoming challenges crucial for enhancing administrative efficiency and transparency and for Vietnam's socio-economic development and international integration. This research contributes valuable insights for comprehensively advancing administrative reform efforts.

Paternalist Administration in the Legitimation of Administrative Reform Efforts during the II. Constitutional Monarchy Period

Bu çalışmada II. Meşrutiyet dönemi yönetici elitlerinin yönetsel ve anayasal reformları toplum nezdinde meşrulaştırmasında yönetsel paternalizmin taşıdığı işlevler irdelenmiştir. Böylelikle idari tarihin yanı sıra meşruiyet kavramı ve elitler ile kurumların kendi sosyolojik çevreleri ile iletişimi üzerine literatüre de katkı sağlanması amaçlanmıştır. Geç Osmanlı İmparatorluğu dönemi kapitalist ekonomik ilişkilerin ve bundan türeyen sosyal sınıfların görece zayıf olduğu koşullarda, yönetici elitlerin etkisiyle, sosyo-politik alanda modernleşme yönünde reformları içermektedir. II. Meşrutiyet dönemi ile üst yapıda giderek belirginleşen modern anayasal ve yönetsel kurumların, bu değişimin görece az yaşandığı sosyolojik çevreleri ile bağ kurabilmeleri sorunu karşısında bürokratik ve siyasal elitlerin tutum ile retoriği hakkında literatürde boşluklar bulunmaktadır. Bu kapsamda 1908-1918 yılları arasında idari teşkilat ve devlet-toplum ilişkilerine dair anayasal ve yönetsel reformlar Hükümet programları ve Meclis-i Mebusan’a sunulan kanun gerekçeleri üzerinden incelenmiştir. Bu resmi dokümanlar yeni kurumsalcılık ve örgütsel sosyoloji kuramları yardımıyla ele alınmıştır. Devamında yönetsel elitlerin Weberyan meşruiyet sınıflandırması çerçevesindeki meşrulaştırıcı retoriği, paternalist eğilimlerin bulunma durumu da göz önünde tutularak gözlemlenmiştir. Araştırmada yönetsel paternalist eğilimin yasal-ussal sosyo-politik yapıyla tutarlı gerçekleştirilen yönetsel reformlar ile bu reformların sosyal çevresini oluşturan topluluklar ve genel sosyolojik yapının gelenekselci ağırlıklı eğilimleri arasında bir köprü işlevi gördüğü savunulmaktadır.

Artificial Intelligence Implementation Strategy to Make It Happen Smart Government Indonesia Gold 2045

The world is currently faced with the challenges of the industrial revolution 4.0 era to realize Smart Government based on internet of things (IOT), big data, augmented reality (AR), cyber security, artificial intelligence (AI), additive manufacturing (AM), simulation, system integration and cloud computing. The application of Artificial Intelligence / AI to public services has been successfully implemented in Singapore and Finland. Meanwhile, in Indonesia there are still challenges that must be faced in implementing AI in public services to realize Smart Government, including information technology (ICT) infrastructure, policies and regulations, rigid bureaucracy, and the ability of human resources to use ICT. So, this research will explain the strategy for implementing AI in Indonesia using the Al-Besher Smart Government Framework based on the results of the SWOT analysis. This research uses qualitative research methods through literature review in the form of primary references, namely journals, articles, news and government performance reports. The research results show that the application of AI to realize Smart Government must carry out the strategy of IoT Enable System, AI Principles/Regulation/IoT Principle, and Shareholders to form a Smart Government Domain which contains 5 (five) Priority Fields for Indonesian Artificial Intelligence for 2020-2045. Apart from that, this research found that to realize Smart Government, administrative reform efforts must be made by forming autonomous organizations, increasing ASN competency by strengthening the meritocracy system, building collaborative governance and establishing a bureaucratic digital transformation law.

A glimpse of light in darkness: Performance‐based accountability in Bangladesh public administration

AbstractIn the public administration literature, several studies have been conducted to analyze the performance of the developing countries in embracing the New Public Management (NPM) principles in general. However, limited attention has been paid to explore the experiences of these countries in implementing a performance‐based accountability system, which is an integral part of the NPM movement. This paper analyzes the experience of Bangladesh, wherein 2014, the Government introduced a key performance‐based accountability initiative known as Annual Performance Agreement (APA). In this paper, based on in‐depth qualitative interviews with 42 bureaucrats at different levels and ministries of the Government, we argue that APA has improved the professional accountability of the bureaucracy. Based on this crucial finding, we try to explain why this particular initiative has succeeded whereas previous administrative reform efforts have largely failed. We argue that whereas the past reform efforts targeted broad organizational reforms, the current performance‐based initiatives like APA aimed to bring small‐scale incremental efficiency and effectiveness of bureaucrats. This change in the reform approach has played a pivotal role in ensuring the success of a performance‐based professional accountability system. The model we have developed for categorizing administrative reform efforts in this paper may be used to better understand the success and failure of administrative reform efforts in general and in developing countries in particular.

The Impact of Foreign Direct Investment on Income Inequality in Vietnam

Foreign direct investments (FDI) is an important determinant of economic growth. FDI does not only contribute to the growth and economic development but also affects income through contributing to economic development and the impact on employment and salary structure of developing countries. The aim of this paper is to analyze the impact of FDI on income inequality in Vietnam. This study is the first attempt to examine the impact of FDI on income inequality under the constraints of the institution and education levels. To address the potential endogeneity problem, this study adopts Genernalized Method of Moment (GMM) model to conduct the estimation. A two-step GMM model with robust standard errors is used in the study. Empirical results show that FDI tends to increase income inequality in Vietnam and the existence of a non-linearity relationship between FDI and income inequality is also validated. Moreover, the study finds that the effects of FDI on income inequality are different depending on the level of education and institutions of the host provinces in Vietnam. The results of this study imply that, in order to ensure sustainable development, Vietnam’s policies should focus on improving the quality of economic governance and the administrative reform efforts of the government of the provinces and cities. Besides, policies should focus on increasing investment in public education and improving human capital, which not only can reduce income inequality but also can attract more FDI inflows.

Administrative simplification strategy with reference to the Egyptian case

Purpose This paper aims to clarify the added value to governments when adopting an Administrative Simplification Strategy (ASS) to reduce administrative burdens, and its impact on both citizens and investors satisfaction. The paper highlights the difference between the traditional and strategic concepts of simplifying administrative procedures, Moreover, the paper discusses the most important steps and tools for the implementation of ASS. The paper, also, sheds light on the efforts of the Egyptian Government to simplify administrative procedures and adopt ASS. Design/methodology/approach This paper adopts the descriptive analytical approach to describe and analyses the basic features of the subject data from different resources includes journal articles, published papers and books, to conclude a theoretical framework of ASS. (concepts, Implementation steps, Tools, Objectives, operations and content). For the Egyptian case, the researchers uses historical perspective to analyze the efforts of the Egyptian government to simplify administrative procedures in the last decades and the content of the available ministerial decisions, presidential decrees, for example The last ministerial decisions concerning the one-stop supreme committee, were chosen as evidence of the government's interest in this matter and the analysis of the tasks entrusted to the committee to do, The decision of transfer the dependency of the ERRADA was also chosen and analyzed to indicate the extent of the government's interest in it and to what extent there is an enhancement of its role .The authors also analyzed some recent conferences and seminars and compared the administrative reform efforts with the theoretical framework of the ASS to clarify the dimensions related to ASS in Egypt. Findings On the theoretical level, the ASS is an umbrella term that includes various simplification projects at all the levels of governmental units. ASS leads to the improvement of governmental services provided to both citizens and investors. It is a defensive exploratory strategy that involves multiple goals and processes and requires political support, institutional framework and the comprehensive review of all related legislations, to ensure the successful implementation. Studying the Egyptian case, it is noted that the Egyptian government has not directly adopted an ASS. Yet, it has approved some stages within the framework of the adapted administrative reform plans. Originality/value This paper represents a framework for administrative simplification as an integrated strategy at the macro level. The strategy focuses on the overall view of the government, its integrated goals, innovation and the added value, by providing high-quality services and reducing the administrative burdens, as to improve services provided to society and ease of life, as well as to increase the level of living and citizens’ satisfaction.

A Closer Look at What Goes Wrong: Public Employee Cynicism and Resistance to Administrative Reform

ABSTRACT Despite numerous administrative reform efforts, few truly new and innovative changes are initiated, and repeated reform efforts can jeopardize the success of any new ones. Public employees become cynical and frustrated when faced with the constant parade of initiatives that come with the usual promise of imminent improvement but fail to materialize. Employees’ cynicism about administrative reform can inhibit their willingness to initiate future innovative action and plans. This study aims to contribute to a better understanding of organizational change cynicism by exploring how individual, relational, and organizational factors influence employees’ cynicism and how cynicism forms a resistance to participating in reform efforts, using data from a survey of 1,161 local government employees in South Korea. Negative affectivity, organizational identification, colleague cynicism, trust in management, perceived resource availability, and participative working environment served as antecedents of cynicism that can lead to resistance to administrative reform.

Conditions for open innovation in public organizations: evidence from Challenge.gov

Public organisations have long sought new ways to enhance organisational performance and employee morale, bring about organisational change, and foster innovations. While governments across the world have continually embarked upon administrative reform efforts, the efficacy and adoption of such reforms remains understudied. This study explores whether organisational and individual factors predict the adoption and use of open innovation in government. In particular, we use the case of Challenge.gov, a novel open innovation platform in the U.S. federal government that aimed to engage the creative potential of the public in solving problems, enhance citizen engagement and public participation. Data on federal agency use of the Challenge.gov platform was paired with existing data on employee attitudes and organisational attributes over a five-year period. Our results show that a range of managerial practices, including employee empowerment, and organisational characteristics predict the extent to which federal agencies use open innovation. We conclude with discussion of the implications for theory and practice.

Public Administration Reforms in Bangladesh: Experience and Challenges

In the era of development modern and service oriented administration is mandatory that can be able to fulfill the diversified needs of the citizens. To this end many reform initiatives have been taken in Bangladesh for reforming the administration since independence. Many reform commissions and committees were constituted by different regimes. They identified many issues and made many important recommendations for establishing an efficient and service oriented civil service system in Bangladesh. Some international donor agencies also prepared several reports containing many recommendations focusing on good governance and new public management (NPM). However, different regimes faced many challenges to implement those reform programs which still exist in the country. This study reveals that lack of political will, lack of clear vision, unfavorable political culture, bureaucratic resistance, lack of institutional capacity always create a gloomy environment that hinder administrative reform efforts in Bangladesh. It is evident that these factors always existed in Bangladesh for which most of the reform initiatives went into vain. Consequently, a modern and service oriented administrative system has yet to be established in Bangladesh.

Does vertical administrative integration of environmental monitoring at the provincial level effectively motivate firms to improve environmental behaviour in China?

A few cities and provinces in China have implemented vertical administrative integration of environmental monitoring to the provincial level as a response to severe environmental pollution. This study used an adaptive agent-based simulation model to explore whether the reform might effectively motivate polluting industrial firms to improve their environmental behaviour. Simulation results found that the reform might not effectively motivate the desired improvements in environmental behaviour unless policy-makers improve individual enterprises’ financial capacities, enhance their subsidies, and encourage managers to improve their environmental awareness. These findings could be used in the vertical administrative reform efforts to help achieve the reform’s success. Points for practitioners The vertical reform needs to be sufficiently systematic across its governmental structure because it cannot operate in isolation. It is a part of the country’s complex economic, social, and environmental societal system. Combining administrative restructuring with regulation of micro-agents’ behaviour might increase the reform’s likelihood of success, and financial policies might improve preventive/enthusiastic environmental behaviour. A sophisticated policy approach, such as encouraging preventive/enthusiastic environmental behaviour through business opportunities, might ease behavioural change.

Public Administration Reform in Jordan: Concepts and Practices

ABSTRACTThis study reviews the transition of Jordan from a British colony to a modern independent state. It covers contextual attributes influencing the development of the administrative system such as centralization, demographic explosion, low economic growth, excessive reliance on patronage in recruitment for public positions, and corruption. These and other factors hinder administrative reform efforts. As case analysis illustrates, administrative decision making is non-institutional, regularly undermines the merit system, indifferent to accountability, and manifests a low commitment to professional ethics. The study emphasizes that administrative reform in Jordan needs to reconcile these obstacles and to advance skilled and ethical organizational leaders.

A Challenging State of Affairs: Public Administration in the Republic of Lebanon

ABSTRACTThis article highlights Lebanon’s administrative challenges and reform efforts, since the end of its Civil War (1975–1990). In recent years, Lebanon and international donors have worked to improve transparency, promote modern management techniques, and encourage the use of information technology throughout the public sector. Despite these efforts, Lebanon’s public institutions remain constrained by the centralization of power, corruption, outdated bureaucratic structures, and deficiencies in administrative knowledge. The success of future reform efforts will depend on whether the Lebanese bureaucracy can overcome the challenges created by regional political tensions, its Syrian refugee crisis, and an increasingly indifferent Lebanese public.

An Evaluation of the Administrative Reform Efforts in Turkey

The administrative reform that is identified as the series of the measurements relating to the renewal and the development of the administration in a constant and systematic way went back to the 18th century in Turkey. By the establishment of the Turkish Republic, the solution of the problems of public administration and its development came to the political agenda. In that framework, one of the main objectives at the article is the analysis of the administrative reform efforts of the Republican period with categorizing it into four periods; such as administrative reform efforts before planned period, administrative reform efforts at planned period, administrative reform efforts at 1980s, and administrative reform efforts at the last period. Within the context of the study, the administrative reform concept is tried to be elaborated and a critical evaluation of the prepared Reports, Projects, and five-year development plans on the administrative reform is attempted to be made with demonstrating the strengths and weaknesses of those reform initiatives. Finally, as a concluding remark, it can be stated that a systematic and integrated approach could not be achieved at the administrative reform process in Turkey. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n6p11

Corporate Raiding in Ukraine: Prevention, Defense, and Policy Reform

Corporate raiding (‘reiderstvo’) is widely recognized as a major obstacle to post-Communist economic and political modernization and—in recent years—has been more prevalent in Ukraine than in any other similarly large and advanced economy. Yet the problem is poorly understood by the business community, policymakers, and the public at large. Based on the author’s field research in Ukraine, this article examines Ukrainian and international businesses’ vulnerabilities to raider attacks, offers an overview of strategies that may prevent or preempt raids, and describes active defensive strategies that may be deployed when an attack is already under way. Finally, the article provides an assessment of relevant legal and administrative reform efforts and, also, suggests priorities for development of future policies.

BOTTOM-UP VERSUS TOP-DOWN LOCAL GOVERNANCE: LOCAL GOVERNMENT ANTI-CORRUPTION APPROACHES IN THE SLOVAK TOWNS OF SALA AND MARTIN COMPARED (CASE STUDY)

The paper provides a comparative case study of successful local governance approaches to fighting and preventing corruption at a local government level in Slovakia. The towns’ administrations of Martin and Sala implemented large-scale anti-corruption reforms during the past 6 years which have led to domestic and international accolades. The author shows how different approaches to administrative reform based on the same basic governance principles can deliver similar outputs and outcomes in the field of local governance. The article also takes into consideration the local administrative reform efforts prior to the successful town administrations’ reforms, which had started in the early 1990s and which have also made it possible for the respective town administrations to reform themselves.

Administrative and Financial Reform Efforts in Niiza City

Administrative and Financial Reform Efforts in Niiza City

Does reliance on tax revenue build state capacity in sub-Saharan Africa?

Academics and donors have increasingly argued that African states can enhance their general administrative capacity by improving tax revenue collection. Proponents argue that administratively demanding improvements in tax administration may spillover to other areas of public administration by introducing improved practices, necessitating improvements elsewhere and providing data for other government activities. We make the first effort to test this hypothesis empirically, using an improved cross-country data set for sub-Saharan Africa. We find some evidence that from 1973 until the late 1990s improvements in tax administration tended to precede broader administrative improvements, consistent with the research hypothesis. By contrast, we find no evidence of such a pattern over the past decade. We conclude that these results provide tentative support for the hypothesis that improvements in tax collection can be a catalyst for broader gains in state capacity, but that such linkages are not guaranteed and depend on the particular character of reform. Points for practitioners Those involved with public administrative reform efforts have long been confronted with the question of whether reform is, or should be, an essentially system-wide process, or focused on developing ‘pockets of effectiveness’. This debate is particularly relevant to tax reform: a growing academic literature has argued that tax reform can be a catalyst for system-wide change, but the dominant reform model has focused on the creation of autonomous revenue agencies to achieve rapid but focused capacity gains. This research examines the case for believing that tax reform can be a catalyst for broader reform, and thus the case for adopting a reform model that focuses more explicitly on system-wide change.

Japan's Agricultural Policy Regime (review)

Reviewed by: Japan's Agricultural Policy Regime Tomohito Shinoda (bio) Japan's Agricultural Policy Regime. By Aurelia George Mulgan. Nissan Institute /Routledge, London, 2006. viii, 246 pages. £75.00. Is Japan really changing? This question is frequently debated by Japan experts. Japan has faced continuing pressure for internationalization, especially since the 1980s. The 1993 political change and the 1994 electoral reform significantly impacted the political scene, leading to stronger powers for the prime minister while reducing the power of factions of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and policy subcommittees. This made it easier for the national leader to introduce reform. In the economic arena, with increasing pressure from the international community, the government continuously introduced economic liberalization and marketization. Some scholars point to the institutional changes of the last two decades and stress that Japan has experienced significant change. T. J. Pempel, for example, declared that a "regime shift" took place in Japan. Other experts [End Page 569] argue that Japan's reform efforts did not change the basic nature of the Japanese government and that the Japanese market is still closed compared with other advanced nations. This book supports the argument of those who believe Japan is not changing by focusing on the continuing bureaucratic behavior in agricultural policymaking despite many pressures toward liberalization. Throughout the postwar era, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) regulated rice distribution and marketing, and the ministry protected rice farming by maintaining a high producer price under the 1942 Food Control Law. With strong support from the ruling party and agricultural interests, the 1961 Agricultural Basic Law was established to protect inefficient farmers and to provide agricultural subsidies, effectively providing MAFF with a "charter of agricultural intervention" (chapter two). With increasing fiscal and international pressure in the 1980s, however, the agricultural policy area could no longer escape liberalization and marketization. Administrative reform efforts, conducted under Prime Minister Nakasone Yasuhiro to reduce the fiscal deficit, targeted areas of "wasteful government expenditures," including the rice-price subsidy program. The 1986 Maekawa Report to the prime minister strongly urged a market opening and structural improvements in agriculture befitting "an age of internationalization." Tokyo offered a series of market-opening measures for agricultural products in order to accept rulings under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and to reach agreement with the United States (chapter three). Furthermore, in 1993 with increased international pressure, Prime Minister Hosokawa Morihiro accepted the Agreement on Agriculture of GATT's Uruguay Round to open Japan's rice market, which had long been regarded as a political sanctuary. With pressure from competitive farmers, the 1994 Food Law was introduced to allow direct rice sales to retailers and consumers. The law was further revised in 2003 to remove most of the government's control over rice distribution and pricing mechanisms. In addition, the 1999 New Agricultural Basic Law brought a fundamental shift from a price support program to an income compensation system to meet requirements of the World Trade Organization (WTO) (chapters four and five). Despite these apparent liberalization measures, George Mulgan points out that the gap between the rhetoric of MAFF's policy and the reality of actual policy widened in the 1980s (p. 68). The food control system was maintained to keep the gap between the international and domestic prices for rice. No serious structural change was made to drive away inefficient farmers. Opening the market for agricultural products provided MAFF with control over subsidies to prepare and compensate producers. In return for the 1993 opening of the rice market, for example, the LDP demanded large-scale countermeasures for farmers and rural areas which allowed MAFF to use a [End Page 570] massive fund of ¥6 trillion over six years. More than half of the fund went into "MAFF-allocated public works programmes covering both the agricultural and rural sectors" (pp. 87–88). The 1999 New Agricultural Basic Law authorized "continuing intrusive government intervention in agriculture" (p. 116). The author argues that MAFF constantly put priority on maximizing its influence on agricultural policies. Her hypotheses highlight various points surrounding this argument: that the ministry strongly resisted policy proposals that would reduce its...

Administrative reform in Belgium: Maintenance or modernisation?

This article aims to analyse, classify and explain similarities and differences in administrative reform in four separate Belgian administrations along four internationally observed trends in administrative reform: organisation, personnel, strategy, and finance. Comparatively, Flanders can be classified as an early moderniser, followed by the federal government, which had been locked longer in a trajectory of maintenance. The French-speaking governments of the Walloon Region and French Community are late modernisers, and compared to both the Flemish and federal government their reform efforts are more fragmented and incremental. The main factors explaining variations in administrative reform in Belgium are differences in institutional continuity, policy entrepreneurship and policy diffusion, all three of which combined to support administrative reform efforts at the Flemish and, slightly less so, at the federal levels, and were markedly absent in the French-speaking governments. Aggregated indicators of differences in political culture do not convincingly explain differences in public sector reform, but the degree of partisan control over the administration, as a meso dimension of politico-administrative culture, impacts on the French-speaking governments' resistance against certain types of organisational and human resources management reforms.

A Master of Public Administration Degree with Chinese Characteristics?

This article examines the newly launched Master of Public Administration (MPA) programs in the People's Republic of China. By tracing the history of the discipline of public administration in China and various administrative reform efforts during the past two decades, the authors describe the major factors that propelled the Chinese to adopt a Western-style professional MPA degree. The article also points out the implications the new degree will have for senior public officials in China and the challenges they will face as they implement the MPA degree throughout the country.