GOVERNANCE, PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, AND THE CHALLENGES…
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However, it has created a number of challenges for public administration. All governments face competition from different countries to improve their services. The government faces the challenges of openness and scrutiny by the public in the world. This book analyzes globalization and its challenges regarding governance and administration. There is a growing demand for improving the quality of government in all countries. It places additional pressures on public administrators to improve the level of governance. With the rise and participation of the civil society, the government faces the challenge of enlisting the cooperation of the civil society in the delivery of the services. The government faces the challenge of interacting with diverse actors, both internal and external, in the performance of its responsibilities. Belloubert and Timsit (1993) asserted that heterogeneity, centrality, and rationality were the three most important focuses of the earlier public administration theorists. However, public administration has undergone a tremendous transformation. Public administration was conceived as an exogenous variable to the society. The transformation as a result of globalization has caused the de-institutionalization of techniques and de-differentiation of the sphere of action which was primarily bureaucratic (Belloubert and Timset 1993). Halachmi and Bouckaert (1995) assert that in this context of an emerging global village, geography and national borders are losing much of their old meaning. In a global village, the governments must be prepared to respond to the situation that may occur at any time. They emphasized three challenges faced by the government: between the public and private sectors; internal and external flexibility; and monitoring the changes. An analysis of the effects of globalization contributes to the understanding of the challenges of public administration.
Globalization of Demands There is also a globalization of demands as a result of the internationalization of the media. People in remote villages, even in Africa and Asia, can watch television news from global news networks such as the BBC, CNN, and also other countries. The issues covered in the international media make people aware of the problems faced by the world. The people across the world share common concerns as a result of the globalization of their problems. For example, people share the concerns for income inequality, poverty, the environment, and terrorism, to name just a few. As a result of common concerns, the government faces the pressures of dealing with
