What are the key considerations for governments and international actors in reforming developing countries’ public services? This book from the United Nations Research Institute for Development examines some important obstacles to institutional change and mechanisms for promoting reform, including new public management (NPM). It argues that reform plans have not been adequately implemented, and that donors need to recognise the importance of local context, political dynamics and consensus to improve service delivery.
Public sector reform is driven by various factors: fiscal and economic crises, domestic pressures and the influence of international financial institutions and donors. The New Public Management (NPM) approach has had more influence on the design than the implementation of reforms. Other non-NPM reforms, like decentralisation and pay and employment reforms, have also been significant.
A recent workshop on public service reforms in five Africa countries identified some successes, but many drawbacks in the implementation, sustainability and accountability of initiatives. In response to a World Bank study outlining reform challenges, donors have broadened their approach by linking civil service and other institutional reforms.
Various findings are made on past performance and future priorities in undertaking reform:
- Implementation of NPM and non-NPM reforms has been limited. Contractual and decentralised relationships have not generally replaced traditional hierarchical bureaucracies.
- Historical context and local institutions should influence reform designs. South African initiatives have been shaped by historical inheritance. The traditional absence of a professional civil service in Latin America means that institutional change is required to underpin NPM reforms.
- Reformers should recognise local political realities and key actors’ motivations. Power dynamics between ministries; interest groups’ objectives; election-related motives and the extent of political leadership for reform should influence reform design and implementation.
- Donors should foster “drivers of change”. A shift in a technocratic emphasis to an approach based on political economy should help implementation by encouraging practical analysis about how institutions change.
Reformers should focus on visible delivery improvements and foster consensus for change, while remaining realistic about the capacity of local structures to support widespread reforms:
- There is limited evidence of improvements in service delivery resulting from public service reforms. “Quick wins” approaches in Tanzania and Uganda have streamlined bureaucratic and judicial operations, while Peruvian and Brazilian tax systems have seen enhanced performance. Policymakers need to link reforms with service delivery by targeting sectors and organisations that can improve delivery, especially to the poor.
- Developing countries’ may have limited capacity to implement comprehensive reforms. Institutions should be tested for reform readiness; reforms should be sequenced to conform to capacity constraints; and political capacity-building should complement technical capacity-building.
- Reformers should develop constituencies and momentum for change. Economic liberalisation in Sri Lanka and Ghana created incentives for reform among entrepreneurs; Kenyan traders came to support the abolition of the state maize monopoly after witnessing its benefits. Such support can be difficult to encourage in some contexts, especially where authority is diffused, but an awareness of socio-political and institutional context can enable the fundamental changes necessary to underpin reforms.
