Comparative Governance Reforms : Assessing the Past and Exploring the Future

This book presents a comprehensive view of governance reforms, changes, and developments in the structure, process, and cultures of governments and public administration systems around the world since the 1980s. The focus of this book is on the last forty years of experimentation with governance and public administration reforms, with an eye to the future. A wide range of chapters covers various countries―both comparatively and individually―and the nature and dynamics of their governance reforms and changes in administrative systems.

The volume utilizes several theoretical approaches that include: 1) institutional theory as applied to explain the ‘context’ of changes and reforms; 2) political economy that explains who gets/gains and who loses; 3) dialectical theory that explains and analyzes the past and the present and predicts the future of governance reforms across the world; and 4) path-dependency theory that explains how past experiences tend to influence the future reform efforts. Governance reforms are also assessed with the alternative theory of Sound Governance (Farazmand 2004) which considers powerful external political, economic, and military forces of globalization and their effects on developing nations.

The book is organized into five parts, excluding the Introduction. Part I provides a robust theoretical backbone for the volume. Parts II-IV present case studies (as single or groups of countries) on governance reforms in select countries of Europe, Asia and Central/Latin America. Part V offers a long concluding chapter on the global governance reforms and puts the previous reform measures with recommendations for future governance and administrative reforms. Contributing significantly to knowledge on governance reform, administrative reform, government and public administration, this volume will be of use to scholars and students of public administration, governance, and policy, as well as policy makers and government administrators worldwide.

Dr. Ali Farazmand is a Senior Professor of Public Administration and Policy at Florida Atlantic University, where he has been teaching since 1995. With a Ph.D. and MPA in Public Administration and Policy and an MS in Educational Leadership, all from Syracuse University, Professor Farazmand is a prolific global scholar with over 200 major publications that include many seminal groundbreaking articles in top refereed journals, over 45 authored and edited books and Encyclopedias, and several UN reports. His most recent publication was the 15 volume Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance, 2nd ed (Springer, March 2023), Professor Farazmand’s forthcoming books include: Corruption and Accountability Problems in Modern Governments (Springer, Fall 2024); (2) Modern Organizations: Theory and Practice, 3rd ed (TBA); (3) Organization Theory and Behavior, a textbook (TBA); Globalization and Governance in a Multi-Polar World Order (TBD); and The Age of Madness.  He is also the Editor-in-Chief of Springer Nature book Series on Public Administration & Policy, Governance, and Globalization; the Founding Editor in Chief of Public Organization Review since 2001; and former Editor-in-Chief of International Journal of Public Administration (2011-2021).