Public Sector Reform

Dans l’Etat de l’Oaxaca, Mexique, l’association de municipes est un phénomène  qui prend une ampleur croissante. En se focalisant sur la plus ancienne d’entre elles, l’Union Libérale d'Ayuntamientos du District d’Ixtlán, on étudie les raisons qui entraînent une institution politiquement subordonnée comme le municipe à rentrer dans un tel processus d’organisation. L'association de municipes est un phénomène qui rompt les schémas traditionnels de séparation entre la sphère de la société civile et de la politique institutionnelle. Elle représente actuellement une tentative de contrôle et d'autonomisation de l'agenda politique au niveau micro-régional. “Chaînon” entre les autorités de communes traditionnellement renfermées sur elles-mêmes, l’association est le vecteur d’un processus plus global d’extériorisation des municipes indiens et ruraux, catalysé par la politique de décentralisation du gouvernement mexicain.

Reforms to reinvent government have not only sought to improve public service but also highlighted the necessity to transform governance by moving away from traditional, top-down approaches and towards more decentralized and participatory systems. A significant feature of these reforms is the application of information and communication technologies (ICTs). By studying a program in the Philippine city of Naga, this paper will show how ICTs can be effectively used by a local government in reinventing itself.

In this chapter, I propose an alternative explanation of ICT implementations that fail on their reformist intentions. I develop my argument in the context of the Greek public administration in the mid 1990s examining the flagship IT project of the era, the Taxation Information System (TAXIS). TAXIS implementation shows how it is possible for ICT innovation to produce some, albeit limited, results even in rigid clientelistic/particularistic environments without threatening, in any significant way, the strong embrace of clientelistic mechanisms over state bureaucracy. This view is in contrast with existing accounts, which adopting a deterministic point of view, advocate further computerization of administrative processes in order to oblige public administration to the redesign and simplification of operational activities. The solution lays more to a change on the governance model than a need for new tools.

The UK welfare state is under unprecedented attack from (1) harsh spending cuts, focussed particularly on benefits and services for women, children, low-paid people and claimers of working age, and (2) a profound restructuring programme, which is fragmenting services and embedding private provision across the state sector. It is proving surprisingly difficult for pro-welfare state actors to make a case for generous state welfare that is both inclusive and electorally attractive. This paper analyses why this is so and what can be done about it.  It discusses trends in the development of the welfare state and in discourse about the problems it faces, the trilemma that pro-welfare policy-making faces, various new directions in policy and a reform programme that might help build a more inclusive welfare discourse. The arguments are necessarily compressed in a paper of this length. More extended discussion and further evidence is available in Taylor-Gooby (2013a) with background in Taylor-Gooby 2013b, c, 2012a to d and Taylor-Gooby and Stoker 2011.

"Description
‘Why do pubic sector professionals resist change? Tummers offers a compelling account of the alienation of professionals following new public management reforms. This timely and methodologically innovative book shows public managers how to implement organisational change, and provides scholars with a set of new measurement scales. Policy Alienation and the Power of Professionals is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand how professional organisations operate, and why professionals resist some changes, while embracing others.’
– Steven Van de Walle, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Contents
Contents: Preface 1. Introduction to Policy Alienation and the Power of Professionals 2. Historical Background of Alienation 3. Public Policies and Alienation 4. Measurement Instrument of Policy Alienation 5. Antecedents of Policy Alienation 6. Policy Alienation and Resistance to Change 7. Policy Alienation, Organizational Context, Personality and Resistance to Change 8. Discussion and Conclusions References Index

Further information
‘Tummers’ book resurfaces alienation as an established and useful concept, but also as a forgotten and ignored reality. Shifts in policies affect the meaning of these policies, and reforms affect power balances. The analyses in this book are crucial to help understand why policies fail and why there is resistance to change. Tummers coins “policy alienation” as an increasingly indispensable concept. Reforms would have been different if Tummers’ analysis on powerlessness and meaninglessness was more taken into account.’
– Geert Bouckaert, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium and former President of the European Group for Public Administration

‘Lars Tummers has written a must-read book! While systemic changes ushered in by market-oriented reforms have received attention, little is known about the plight of the individual in modern bureaucracies. Tummers presents a masterful and authoritative account of policy alienation that public service professionals experience. The breadth and depth of Tummers’s scholarship is impressive! This book has something of value for everyone from the casual reader to public management scholar.’
– Sanjay K. Pandey, The State University of New Jersey, US

‘Why do pubic sector professionals resist change? Tummers offers a compelling account of the alienation of professionals following new public management reforms. This timely and methodologically innovative book shows public managers how to implement organisational change, and provides scholars with a set of new measurement scales. Policy Alienation and the Power of Professionals is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand how professional organisations operate, and why professionals resist some changes, while embracing others.’
– Steven Van de Walle, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Professionals often have problems with governmental policies they have to implement. This ranges from Israeli teachers striking against school reforms, via British civil servants quitting their jobs as they have problems with New Public Management reforms focused on cost cutting, to US healthcare professionals feeling overwhelmed by a constant flow of policy changes, resulting in tensions, conflicts, and burn-outs.

This eloquent book by Lars Tummers develops a framework to understand these important issues with policy implementation, using the innovative concept of ‘policy alienation’. Policies in healthcare, social security, and education are analyzed. The conclusions challenge the common assertions regarding the reasons why professionals resist policies. For instance, the impact of professional influence, often viewed as an end in itself, is nuanced. Lars Tummers reveals that it is far more important for professionals that a policy is meaningful for society and for their clients, than they have an influence in its shaping.

Policy Alienation and the Power of Professionals is essential for public administration scholars, policymakers, change managers and professionals. To improve its academic and practical significance, a ‘policy alienation’ questionnaire is developed to measure the degree of policy alienation felt by implementers. This instrument can be used to first understand and then improve policy performance in various settings."