Impact of Globalization on Public Administration
As a student of public administration, it is needed to discuss the impact of globalization on public administration as globalization is now a widely used term. It has assumed a multi-dimensional character encompassing economic, social, political and cultural activities as well as it has challenged the very basic of some of the long-cherished goals and tradition of public administration. It is increasingly changing the character of the state and the nature of administration. Responding to these changes posed by globalization is not an easy issue. several strategies have been adopted by scholars and practitioners to cope with the pressures of globalization.
The impact of globalization is observed in the following areas of public administration-
Public Service Reforms
One of the dominant reasons which compel consideration for public service reform is adoption of free market economy in 1980s in UK and other western countries and in 1990s in India, which is also known by different names, e.g. New Economic Policy, Structural Adjustment Program, Privatization, Liberalization and so on. The impact of globalization on free market reforms on the concept of government, structure of government and governmental business are generally described as the new way of governance, government by the market, new public management and so on. These reforms are based on the perception that private sector is better than public sector.
NPM and Re-inventing Government
The impact of globalization on New Public Management and Re-inventing government is significant. It has been stated that NPM and reinventing government advocates that government should not only adopt the techniques of business administration but also adopt the values of business. The NPM focuses on management and deals with converting public bureaucracies into agencies which deal with each other on a user pay basis.
Entrepreneurial Government
Public administration is now viewed by many as an entrepreneurial government with the impact of globalization, whose job is to attain cost-effectiveness. Public sector firms are now under worldwide pressures to enhance their productivity by increasing efficiency. The must only perform those activities that is specially required to do. Withdrawal of government from many activities requires more private sector involvement and utilization of privatization and outsourcing.
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Good Governance
The concept of good governance was conceived in 1989. It was found in a World Bank Report on Sub-Saharan Africa. It defined good governance as “a public service that is efficient, a judicial system that is reliable and an administration that is accountable to the public.” It is equivalent to purposive and development-oriented administration, which is committed to improvement to quality of life of the people.
e-Governance
A search for alternative distribution systems has always attracted the attention of experts in public administration. Since 1980s, many scholars have been advocating privatization as well as e-governance is the application to the process of government functioning to bring simple, moral, accountable, responsive, and transparent (SMART) governance. Developed as well as newly developed countries are spending heavily on e-Governance. Introduction of e-governance has led to significant changes in the citizen administration relations in the arena of service delivery in terms of higher speed, greater access, less cost and less public harassment.
Quality Service Delivery
service Quality Initiatives (SQIs) are now commonplace in all Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries as well as the countries in Asia.
In Malaysia, a number of measures have already been implemented to maintain the quality of service, including Total Quality Management (TQM), counter services and citizen certification.
In Greece, a number of actions have been taken up to improve quality of services to better serve the people. These include; simplifying administrative procedures, giving legal weight to electronic communication and establishing charters of citizens rights.
The French government’s Ministry of Infrastructure has instructed each of its local offices to create a customer relationship function to develop, promote and coordinate measures to improve user responsiveness.
Public-Private Exchange and Interaction
In many countries public-private sector exchange and interaction is now a familiar concept.
In the UK, interchanges schemes between public and private sectors have existed for many years now. In Australia and New Zealand, competition and contestability are now familiar mechanisms that reduce the scope of public sector and increase dependence on the private.
In Malaysia, the Malaysia Incorporated Policy (MIP) is based on the philosophy of close cooperation, collaboration and joint action between government and industry.
Performance Management
Clear and explicit performance management programs have been adopted by mid 1990s in many OECD countries and in Australia, New Zealand, UK and USA. The programs have been put in place to closely focus on and target activities towards desired results. One of the variants of performance management is performance contracts, which are now widely used in OECD countries in order to malice administration responsive, accountable, and efficient. Performance management initiatives have also been implemented in some Asian countries, most notably Singapore, concentrating on institutional reforms, changes in procedures and attitudes of public employees.
Empowering Citizens
Globalization from below has also witnessed the rise of grass-roots, peoples active participation at the local level in areas such as women’s empowerment, education for all, human rights including the rights of the poor, consumer rights, environmental protection and decentralization. Thus, empowering citizens has been a key element of recent reform wave surrounding public administration.
The orientation and the impact of globalization have changed the outlook and attitude of public administration. Although the nature and extent of such an impact has not been the same for all the countries.
