Administrative Decentralization and Bureaucratic Reform: India and Indonesia. 1 (original) (raw)
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Administrative Decentralization and Bureaucratic Reform ; India and Indonesia
2014
The paper compares the broad outlines of decentralization taking place in India, dating from the last decade of the past century, with that of Indonesia in the first decades of the present one. When appropriate, material from China will be included in the essay. Of the usual subjects of political, administrative, and physical decentralization, the center of focus is on the generally acknowledged least successful in terms of reform, i.e. the civil administration. What the approach lacks in specific details concerning administrative decentralization in the respective republics, it makes up for in the emphasis on the key characteristics of each. Moreover, as public administration tends to reflect the individual countries’ prevailing norms, such an approach tends to be influenced by a new range of literature and researchers whose views challenge accepted wisdom and inspire new lines of thinking on the subject. Justification for the approach comes from expectations that cross fertilizati...
Administrative Reforms and Decentralization: India and Indonesia
Social Science Spectrum, 2015
The paper compares the broad outlines of decentralization taking place in India, dating from the last decade of the past century, with that of Indonesia in the first decades of the present one. It focuses on the generally acknowledged least successful of reforms, namely that of public administration. Public administration tends to reflect the respective country’s prevailing norms. The paper opens with the more important contrasts between India and Indonesia with reference to governmental structure, respective colonial heritage, and focus of decentralization efforts. The crux of the paper is whether administrative decentralization furthers, hinders, or is neutral with regard to bureaucratic reform. Assessment of successes and failures leads to discussion of continued, if not higher, levels, of corruption/dysfunctional behaviour at all levels in the civil service. After disposing of misconceptions of the Weberian bureaucratic system inherited from the colonial past, possible improveme...
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