Research Context and Significance

Chapter 1: Introduction and Research Description

1.1 Introduction

This study examines local administration capacity for primary education service delivery in Bangladesh. It explores the role of administrative reform in capacity building in the Bangladeshi public administration. Public administration, as

‘government in action’ (Richardson & Baldwin, 1976, p. i), functions in Bangladesh within its broader socioeconomic environment and politico-administrative framework with a formal organizational setting and functional stability, with legislative guarantees (Ciprian, Gabriela, & Dimbu, 2010, pp. 37-38). Administrative reform seeks to reduce this gap by facilitating opportunities of public administration capacity building for service delivery. A general introduction to the study is presented in this chapter. The chapter provides a background and articulates the key problems under investigation.

The research context within which the study is situated is also presented. The chapter also provides background information of the issues discussed and situates Bangladesh in a developing country context. It establishes the purpose, scope, objectives and questions asked in the study. It then provides a brief summary of the research and describes its limitations, distinctiveness and structure.

1.2 Research Context and Significance

Administrative reform, known as ‘special public policy’ (Ciprian, Gabriela, & Dimbu, 2010, p.37) is the reorganization of the institutions of governance aimed at optimising the service delivery capacity of public institutions. Such institutions must cope with changing local and global social, economic and political environments (Fuller, 2010, p.

1) to meet objectives ranging from ‘crisis management’ to overall national development (Wart & Kapucu, 2011, p. 489). It has far-reaching implications for institutional

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capacity building of organizational apparatus. It “tries to head off crises in the capacity to govern” (Caiden & Sundaram, 2004, p. 373, as cited in Dror, 2001). Reform initiatives can also “aid in the capacity building process” (Jooste, 2008, p. 18).

Administrative reform efforts in developing countries have gained momentum in the post-independence period. Such efforts represent, relatively speaking, “a mosaic of alternatives, marked by spells of progress followed by long periods of stagnation”

(Khan, 1999, p. 256). The need for administrative reform with modernization was recognised in a number of developing countries during the last quarter of the twenth century. International development organizations like the World Bank (WB) and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) led to the rise in popularity of the New Public Management (NPM) perspective in the threshold of 21^st century ed to an intensification of these efforts. Until then, the state played the leading role in administration and development. This generally implied a centralisation of administrative power. In the new context authority and power has become more diffuse, with the role of the government shifting from administrative to that of welfare and development (Vartola, 1984, pp. 119-120). There is now almost a worldwide consensus regarding public administration reform, which sees a close relationship between effective public administration and national development (UNGA, 1996).

International concern formally came into being with the decision of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 1996 the United Nations (UN) committed to the creation of a poverty-free world with sustainable human development by 2015 (UN, 2001, p. 1).

This was to be achieved by strengthening governmental capacity for policy development, administrative restructuring, civil service reform, human resources development, public administration training, improving performance in the public sector, financial management, public-private interaction, and the management of

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programmes emphasizing the development of sustainable national state capacities (Rahman, 2001, pp. 2-3). Additionally, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), launched in 2000 had eight ambitious goals, including universal primary education, to be achieved by 2015 (Hulme, 2010, p. i).

Within the general pattern of underdevelopment, there are diverse socio-political, economic, and cultural variations and differing historical inheritances and legacies.

Developing countries also vary greatly in levels of political stability, quality of administration, the degree to which they are connected to global economic flows, linkages to other countries, living standards, productivity, population growth and dependency burdens, agricultural production and primary-products exports, and the prevalence of imperfect markets. Within these variations, dependence and vulnerability are common features across all developing societies. Bangladesh, as a developing country, represents an interesting case for research for the following reasons:

─ The government of Bangladesh is making efforts to improve the system of public administration by building up the institutional capacity of public administration for public service delivery;

─ As a member of United Nations and signatory of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Government of Bangladesh has also made efforts to achieve its targets and implement its goals, including universal primary education, by the specified timeframe of 2015;

─ Little is known about the available sources of information on administration in the country. A comprehensive overview of the reform efforts and implementation of these objectives since the 2000s has not been undertaken; and

─ A study of the Bangladeshi context may provide information of wider relevance to similar societies facing similar problems.

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This research seeks to explore the effects of administrative reform on institutional capacity building in public service delivery with reference to the MDGs’ goal of universal primary education. The Bangladeshi situation displays some features unique in the developing world context. A study of this nature should therefore be of significant interest. Taking Bangladesh as a case has provided some valuable references en-route to a better understanding of public administration capacity in developing countries. Thus the study explores the role of administrative reform in building institutional capacity in the public sectors of aid dependent developing countries worldwide.