“GETTING THE STATE RIGHT”: A CONTINGENCY Theory Of Administrative Reforms in Ontario and Ghana

Abstract

Within the last twenty years, many states have been using quasi-market principles such as those expounded by New Public Management and the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) to reshape their administration. This is often perceived as a ‘one-size- fits-all approach’ to administrative reforms. This dissertation utilises contingency theory to evaluate the implementation of administrative reform policies by comparing Ghana and Ontario in order to analyze whether the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to administrative reforms is, in fact, the case. In particular, the dissertation examines privatisation and performance management systems as policy options for changing the administrative state. The study shows that countries face different institutional and capacity constraints. In addition (a) their histories; (b) levels of socio-economic and political development; (c) their governance systems; (d) the extent of external influence; and (e) their culture play a key role in the success of policies developed to change the administrative state. It suggests that in order to tailor the reforms to a country’s environment, these variables must be taken into consideration when administrative reforms are being planned. In conclusion, the dissertation confirms the argument that due to environmental differences ‘one-size-does-not fit all.’ It shows that policies that have worked in a particular country will not necessarily work in another, especially when the countries in question of transfer are developed and developing ones with markedly different cultural heritages.