Self-published by the IIAS, the Public Governance Series aims at sharing the knowledge produced by its members. It is available for free as e-book, and for sale on paperback.
This book undertakes an institutional analysis of the GIFT-MENA network with a focus on its operations and operational challenges. It examines the network's attempt at establishing a permanent platform for cooperation and knowledge transfers in the field of governance and Public Financial Management amidst the region’s volatile landscape.
The early chapters delve into the network’s early years by focusing on the network’s action environment and objectives, namely the promotion of State modernization, good governance, and Public Financial Management through a “South-South” cooperation framework at a time when a regional State modernization agenda had been adopted. This period, marked by ambitious yet donor-dependent operations, saw the successful roll-out of training, research, partnership-building, and technical assistance initiatives geared towards fostering a community of practice among public sector institutions across the region.
The later sections of the book analyze the network’s operations in the course of the “Arab Spring” and “Arab Winter” (2011-2017), particularly in relations to shifts in donor financing on one hand and the priorities of the region’s institutions on the other. These chapters demonstrate how shifts in donor priorities in relation to political prerogatives on one hand and the ambivalence of the region’s States ultimately brought the network to a standstill. The book then provides recommendations for the design of future inter-Arab governance networking initiatives.
"Brilliant. A timely and accurate analysis of an often-ignored subject, that of intermediary networks that can transcend social divides and bureaucratic rigidities and serve as conduits for State reform and inter-regional integration." Dr. Khaldoun AbouAssi, Provost Associate Professor, School of Public Affairs, American University
"Governance Cooperation in a Conflict-Ridden Context: The Case of the GIFT-MENA Network is a compelling reflection on lessons learned from an experience in regional collaboration, partnership, networking, and State capacity development for effective governance and service delivery in a context of prolonged conflict and fragility. Reading through the book, policy makers and leaders of public service training institutes will grasp the necessity to move away from incapacitating conflicts and fragility to resilience and transformation into long term shared socio-politico-ecomomic prosperity and stability supported by value-based of effective governance, equity and inclusion." Dr. John-Mary Kauzya, Professor Extraordinary, School of Public Leadership, Stellenbosch University
Good governance has become an increasingly important topic not only in research, but also policy. This trend has been reinforced by the rise of new challenges and opportunities that are brought about by aging populations, economic slowdowns, climate change, deglobalisation, geopolitical tensions, new technological revolution, and the global pandemic. This edited volume, prepared by the Nanyang Centre for Public Administration (NCPA) in collaboration with the International Institute of Administrative Sciences, is a collection of chapters written by leading practitioners and academics from around the world, offering insightful and multidisciplinary perspectives on good governance in the post-COVID 19 era.
“Controlling a major pandemic which results in global lock downs requires governments that combine their capacities with those from the private sector and civil society. It also requires central governments to collaborate closely with local governments. This book demonstrates not only that a combined horizontal and vertical governance, but also the synergies of digital and social innovation, result in higher levels of resilience for society. This book is essential to know how to handle the next major pandemic.” Geert Bouckaert, KU Leuven Public Governance Institute, Leuven, Belgium
“The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about unprecedented challenges to economies and societies worldwide, with the delicate balance between lives and livelihoods often put to question. However, the wide-ranging disruptions have brought not only challenges, but also new opportunities as we change the ways we live, work, and play. Good Governance in a Post COVID-19 World – Global Health and Economic Recovery is a timely publication at this critical juncture as the world moves beyond COVID-19. This book, edited by Hong Liu, Celia Lee, and Jeremy Goh, is timely for helping us to understand the emerging trends of governance in various sectors and countries. With the impressive collection of chapters from a diverse group of academics and practitioners, this book will be of immense interest to anyone interested in multi-disciplinary perspectives on the post COVID world.” Mr Zainul Abidin Rasheed, Member, Board of Trustees, Nanyang Technological University; Ambassador (Non-Resident) to Kuwait, and former Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Singapore
“This excellent collection brings scholarly contributions on the deeply complex COVID-19 crisis that profoundly touched people’s lives across the globe and on the essential governance and leadership issues of our time. A common thread of the book—diversity of perspectives, a multidisciplinary approach, and a focus on policy perspectives with empirical evidence—make it very relevant to the current debate on governance and to our understanding of public policy in a rapidly changing world. Highly recommended book for both policymakers and researchers.” Dr Arkebe Oqubay (PhD), Senior Minister, Ethiopia, Professor of Practice at SOAS University of London and University of Johannesburg
The contributions in this book illustrate how international organisations have adapted their governance to changing environments. The book starts with setting a theoretical framework followed by an analysis of the dynamics of change and often the resistance to change. The international community has, moreover, over the last decades created new types of international organisations, which requires reflection on the concept of international organisations itself. But in general existing organisations over time adjusted to new circumstances. Many organisations were in fact created to bring about change in the world, such as eradicating diseases, eliminating hunger, alleviate poverty, etc. But purposes and structures must move with the times. Many new member States joined world-wide organisations following the decolonisation process. Integration processes, such as in the European Union attracted more member States. Particularly European organisations had to review their membership or cooperation schemes with Central and Eastern European countries following the collapse of communism there. The requirement of more accountability and transparency entailed, especially in the financial institutions, the creation of reporting mechanisms for fraud or corruption, but also for submitting claims or grievances by private citizens or companies. It also led to the transformation of one non-governmental organisation into a public international organisation, etc. The case studies written by experts in their respective fields provide detailed analysis and inside information.
"Chris de Cooker’s new edited opus provides the reader with uniquely innovative insights into the governance of several international organisations and is a must read for every scholar and practitioner of international relations and public administration." Prof. Shin-Ichi Ago, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto Japan; Prof. Spyridon Flogaitis, University of Athens; Dražen Petrović, Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour Organization (ILOAT).
In this book Dr. Kauzya highlights how, from the ashes of the 1994 genocide, governance, Public Administration and Leadership of the country was reconstructed and transformed into an effective instrument of State direction and action for people-centered development.
In order to effectively address the challenges that were specific to Rwanda at the time and in the future, an effective, responsive and accountable public service was progressively designed and put in place after 1994. The institutional, decentralized and coordinated structural arrangement that was designed and implemented ensure that the public of Rwanda effectively participated in the governance and administration of the country. Most importantly the history and traditional practices of the people of the country were examined and some of its practices redesigned to modernize public administration through home-grown, people-centered practices that the local people could easily relate to, own and operate.
Scholars of Public administration in post-conflict countries could borrow from the experience of Rwanda captured in the book especially in terms of strong central government leadership, bringing the public back into public administration, and coordinating the central and local in the delivery of public services in a poor country. Before the Rwandan Public administration scholars and practitioners forget where the current system they are operating came from, they will benefit from the book.
Many books about Rwanda after 1994 have focused on the conflict, war and genocide of 1994. Dr. Kauzya’s book focuses uniquely on how public governance administration, and leadership were rebuilt and transformed to make Rwanda one of Africa’s effective states today. The thread that runs throughout is the spirit and ideology of self-reliance which has formed the bedrock of the country’s governance and socio-politico-economic development efforts since 1994.
Disasters disrupt communities across the World, whether resulting from natural forces, major transportation or industrial accidents, or public health emergencies. They can be compounded by wicked problems such as Climate change. When they occur, disasters can cause major loss of life and property and massive disruption of daily routines. They do not respect social, economic or political boundaries. They affect all societies, but their effects can be particularly devastating in developing countries.
Governments are invariably drawn into responding to major disasters, but how they respond can make a crucial difference to a disaster’s immediate effects and its longer-term impact. Each national system of governance and public administration is unique, as is the combination of natural and human-conditioned hazards that it faces. Every government, however, requires an effective ability to learn and apply lessons from past events. They must also be able to anticipate and respond to future events. The capacity of public sector governance and administrative institutions can make a crucial difference to what happens in any given situation and to community and government resilience in the longer run.
Dealing with Disaster offers insights into how to study and manage hazards in our societies at risk and in turn how to respond when hazards turn into disasters. Its four sections address theoretical and cross-cutting issues, the international dimensions of disaster response, case studies of national crisis management agencies, and case studies of disaster events.
“Bringing together 29 experts from 12 countries around the world, this book provides both academic and practitioner perspectives on crisis and disaster management in a comparative context. This book is a must read for students, academic scholars, policy makers, and public managers interested in understanding crisis and disaster management.” Pan Suk Kim, International Director (American Society for Public Administration), Public Administration Professor (Yonsei University), former Minister and IIAS President
"Dealing with Disaster", edited by David C G Brown and Jacek Czaputowicz, is a big book on a big function of public administration and government. It is ambitious in its breadth and detail. Amongst its many concerns are preparing for disasters, whole-of-government approaches, learning, local government, local communities, collaborating across national borders, and the work of international organizations. A particular strength of the book is the wealth of case study material, grounding the book in facts, and yielding insights and lessons." Paul Joyce, Institute of Local Government Studies, University of Birmingham; Publications Director and International Institute of Administrative Sciences.
This book provides the readers with a set of vivid studies of the variety of national approaches that were taken to responding to COVID-19 in the first few months of the pandemic. At its core is a series of reports addressing the national responses to COVID-19 in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East and North Africa. Country reports present the actions, events and circumstances of governmental response and make an early attempt at producing insights and at distilling lessons. Eyewitness reports from civil servants and public managers contain practical points of view on the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic. In different chapters, editors and contributors provide an analytical framework for the description and explanation of government measures and their consequences in a rich variety and diversity of national settings. They also situate the governmental responses to the pandemic in the context of the global governance agenda, stress the important relationship between governmental authorities and citizens, and emphasize the role of ideological factors in the government response to COVID-19. A bold attempt is made in the concluding chapter to model government strategies for managing the emergency of the pandemic and the consequences for trajectories of infection and mortality. As the editors argue, the principles of “good governance” are of relevance to countries everywhere. There was evidence of them in action on the COVID-19 pandemic all over the world, in a wide range of institutional settings. COVID-19 experiences have a lot to teach us about the governance capabilities that will be needed when future emergency situations occur, emergencies that might be created by pandemics or climate change, or various other global risks. Governments will need to be agile, able to learn in real time, good at evaluating evidence in fast changing and complex situations, and good at facilitating coordination across the whole-of-government and in partnership with citizens and the private sector.
