Reform as Process:

Implementing Civil Service Reform in Africa

Building an effective civil service is crucial for public service delivery and good governance, but reforming bureaucratic institutions is notoriously difficult. This book takes a fresh perspective on this challenge by documenting and analyzing the implementation of dozens of reforms initiated by six African countries in the last 30 years. I show that these reforms have largely failed to achieve their goals because they have approached organizational change mainly as a matter of changing formal structures and processes through one-off projects. However, some these reform efforts also contain the seeds of a more promising approach that sees reform as catalyzing an ongoing process of continuous improvement. The book makes theoretical and empirical contributions to academic literatures on government performance, public service delivery, and development, and discusses practical insights and strategies for reformers around the world to achieve change in practice.

Currently under review.