ID: 15680
Authors:
Donald C. Stone, Alice B. Stone.
Source:
Revista de Administração Pública, v. 9, n. 1, p. 90-120, January-March, 1975. 31 page(s).
Document type: Article (Portuguese)
Show Abstract
Prof. and Mrs. Stone', paper deals with the importance of increasing the administra tive caplbility as an essential ingredient for accelerated development in Africa. The authors define administrative capability as the institutional capacity of a government or agency to formulate and carry out plans, policies, programs, activities, facilities, operations, or other measures to fulfill development purposes. It is stated that disappointing results in development programs are in no small degree due to lack of recognition, in UN development strategy as well as by national governments, of the need for sustamed efforts to create administrative capability. Other reasons are the non-operative character of national development plans and the shortage of political and administrative officials to understand these causes. Most development medels and strategies have been dimsighted in their preoccupation with ecenomic factors and in adhering to the prevalent assumption that good policies and programs are self-implementing. It is the author's view that until the offices responsible for development strategy and assistance in both the UN system and in national governments are staffed with persons who understand the requisites af policy and program implementation, development efforts will be frustrated. A UN report mentions several external factors that have retarded progress in the developing countries and makes appropriate recommendations. However, not a word is said about the necessity of developing administrative capabilities to carry out the suggested measures. The same oversight prevails in most national development programs. Planning agencies lack personnel sufficiently concerned with the political and administrative requirements for implementation. There is a need for strengthening political processes in national development. Constructive executive-legislative relationships can contribute enormously to accelerated development. While interference in internal political affairs of another country is unacceptable, there is no valid reason why political systems and processes should not be examined comparatively on a technical level to see what works well and to seek ways of improvement. The authors propose a research agenda to this end. In order to adopt specific measures to increase institutional capability, first its elements or components must be identified. The authors list ten such elements, the composite mix of which determines the degree of administrative or institutional capability. A schedule is presented for each element specifying the principal factors which reveal whether it is well or poorly fulfilled; thereby it is possible to assess on a scale the adequacy of the organization in respect to each element. In Appendix it is shown how a schedule for one of the elements might be designed for evaluating the commitment to and resourcefulness of a national government to engage in sustained improvement of the total administrative system. These evaluations are seen as the first step in the endeavour to improve capability and performance. They bring to light inadequacies and generate recognition that change is necessary. A country desiring to engage in administra tive reform and improvement may utilize a combination of several approaches indicated in the paper. Any such program should foster the dissemination of new concepts. practices and technology throughout the government both for guiding and training purposes. Three basic managerial instruments are essential to producing the plans, competences and motivations for change: 1) establishment of administrative management units: 2) assignment of responsibility to program managers, with appropriate staff support; 3) pre-service and inservice training. These requisites demand institutionalization and continuous support at all government levels. The most important element of administrative capability is the quality of personnel. A search this past year to identify countries which had engaged significantly in public sector manpower and education planning revealed only a handful. Most surveys have been confined to traditional categories of personnel familiar to statisticians and labor economists, and have shed relatively little light on the requirements for administrative and specialized professional personnel. Manpower requirements need to be reflected in national development plans. On the basis of its manpower findings a country can determine the kinds of educational programs to be incorporated into a plan to develop the necessary competences. Several educational initiatives are listed as relevant. Decisions must be made as to the fields or specializations to be covered. A major question is the role of universities. Within the constraints of most African universities it may not be feasible to create a school of public administration to carry out academic programs, nondegree executive training, research, and advisory services. On the other hand, political scientists often claim public administration to be a subfield of political science and thus prevent its expansion as a multidisciplinary based profession. If these and other obstacles can be overcome a school of public administration stablished with enough support to meet the needs of a country will mean a great contribution to accelerated development. Concomitantly with manpower and educational development, every country needs to identify its research and technology requirements. Problems in development administration can be solved by scientific research and technology utilization in the same way as, for instance, in agriculture, medicine or engineering. For this purpose, funds should be provided in the country's development plan and budget program. In addition, the budget of every new project should incorporate a sufficient research and training component to enable it to be well designed, organized, staffed and managed. The research and technology development can be conducted by universities, government agencies, separate research institutes or private enterprises. The ideal setting is the university, if it is flexible and responsive to public needs. The authors conclude that if a country can marshal sufficient political and administrative leadership it can make progress in building indigenous capabilities for accelerated development by: 1) formulating and implementing the kind of measures outlined in the paper; 2) preparing more operationally viable development plans; and 3) concentrating on urgent and manageable development undertakings while building the capacity for achieving broader and longer term development objectives.
