To comment on this, or any article, click on Post A Comment below the article. To read other articles by this author, click on the links in the Related Articles box below.

Alexandru V. Roman

Social science scholars have long suggested that trust in market dynamics and governments are indispensable dimensions of successful governance. According to multiple recent public polls, given the current economic condition and recent corporate and political shortfall, citizens’ trust in government is approaching or exceeding all time lows. In his 2011 book The Price of Civilization: Reawakening American Virtue and Prosperity, Jeffrey Sachs delineates the decay in social responsibility and the diminishing emphasis on morality of the past five decades as the common denominator behind the current political and economic struggles. According to scholars such as Sachs, it is impossible to solve current economic, political and global challenges without restoring trust in governance and public administration. I believe that accomplishing the latter, however, might be unfeasible without an emphasis on ethics in the private sector and a reevaluation of what currently is primarily a moral-free market narrative. There are several reasons that have led to this ironic interdependence between trust in government and private sector ethics.

Bill Miller

What a difference two years make. On January 12, 2010, the world was horrified to witness the aftermath of the devastating 7.0 earthquake that decimated Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and killed over 200,000, maimed thousands, dispossessed over 1.3 million and caused losses of approximately $7 billion, which is 120 percent of Haiti's 2009 gross domestic product (GDP).
For a brief period, media from all over the world chronicled and documented the human and physical devastation. When the "CNN Effect" ended, Haiti was no longer in the spotlight.

During this two year-plus interim, a multitude of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and United Nations (U.N.) agencies–in tandem with many governments and private sector groups–stayed involved and lent a hand to help Haiti re-build. Although considerable progress has been made, there are still monumental challenges that will extend well into the future.

Joe Sarcone

Somewhere between our mission and the work that we do everyday rests the plight of the underserved. How can this gap exist? More often than not our organization’s mission defines the extent of our public service. At the core of our service lie the laws, regulations and policies that decide our work day to day. Even though there is intent at the core to serve all equally according to our mission this doesn’t always happen. Moreover the unaddressed issues of the underserved in the gap do not necessarily resolve themselves of their own accord. Instead they come back to the attention of government in the most unexpected and costly ways.

Kenyatta Lovett, Constance Eneh, Meg Streams

The Nigerian fuel subsidy and its withdrawal. Ironically, although the world’s eighth largest oil producer, Nigeria is still importing fuel for domestic use 52 years after its independence: 90 percent of petroleum products used inside the country are imported, according to the African Development Bank Group’s 2011 African Economic Outlook. The same report notes that the country’s main source of revenue is oil and gas, accounting for nearly all export earnings and almost two-thirds of government revenue. Despite these assets, Nigeria has been importing fuel for decades due to the gradual collapse of its own refining capacity. The fuel has then been sold at a substantially subsidized price inside the country; the gas is vital not only for transportation but also for powering generators, given problems with the electrical grid.

This article is the second of a two-part posting.

Panagiotis Karkatsoulis

Taking into account the previously-mentioned remarks, no significant change in the administrative reform policy is expected to take place in 2012: The horizontal cuts will be continued and consequently the public sector’s core functions won’t be carried out properly.

As a countermeasure to that grim prospect, a recovery plan must be agreed upon by major stakeholders, including at least:

1. Measures to strengthen the administrative professionalism, mainly the following:
A drastic reduction, by at least 50 percent, of the political appointees, of the posts of Deputy Ministers, Vice-Ministers, General and Special Secretaries, political advisers and other staff employed through political channels: 16 Ministers, 21 Vice Ministers and 9 Deputy Ministers, 75 General and Special Secretaries and 1080 political advisers just for the central government. Adding the 325 municipalities and 23000 legal entities, the number of political appointees is considerably higher.A change of the status of the Secretaries General of the Ministries from politically appointed to selected among qualified professionals for a certain period of time (managers)

This article is the first of a two-part posting. Watch for Part 2 to be posted this Thursday, January 26th.

Panagiotis Karkatsoulis

The future of the Greek state seems, at first glance, mortgaged; a series of problems justifies this ominous prediction. The most important, in order of priority:

A) The many years of resistance to the reform of the State, including the period of the Economic Adjustment Programme. The failure to adapt to international and national rapid developments in the economy, technology and current risks, places the Greek state in the chorus of states with high operating costs, low efficiency and significant corruption.

B) The pseudo-reforms (i.e., the reforms that were announced but never implemented) due to clientelistic strategies and the promotion of vested interests. As a result of the “fake” reforms, the credibility of the Greek political system was undermined, on a European and international level, and the already severely weakened trust of the public employees towards their political leaders was withdrawn.

This article is the second of a two-part posting. To read part one, see the Related Articles box below for a link.

Arie Halachmi

The changes that are needed to address each of these items necessitate the creation of new staff units at the central government level with corresponding counter-part units at the ministerial level. Eventually, similar units would have to be established at the provincial and local levels commensurate with their unique circumstances. Learning from the experiences of governments in other countries Greece should make better use of the resources that are available to it from the academia and corporate research entities.

In the January 2012 issue of Governance two British authorities on public sector management describe a global trend toward greater austerity when it comes to the business of government. The article notes that in many countries the salaries and pensions of public employees have been slashed. Agencies have been downsized and new measures were taken to freeze or reduce the hiring of new employees. There is no doubt that the foreign entities that were involved in assisting Greece to address its financial woes expect it to follow suit. The Hellenic government, under any leadership, is expected to demonstrate in a tangible way the use of austerity measures that are similar to those that have been taken by other countries around the world and in particular by those in Europe. Taking such measures is not intended to penalize public employees in Greece.

This article is the first of a two-part posting. Watch for Part 2 to be posted this Thursday, January 19th.

Arie Halachmi

In order to discuss this important question in a serious manner one must be able to assess the challenges facing Greece at the present. Put differently, one must be able to define the issues and factors that make up the reality any Greek Prime Minister, regardless of party affiliation, must face as he or she try to move the country forward. One of the most pressing issues is the economy and one of the leading factors is the unavoidable foreign scrutiny of everything that is being done by the government in terms of managing fiscal affairs and government performance. Unfortunately, no Greek leader can afford to overlook these two nor do they have too many choices about dealing with them. Like it or not, the implication of this observation is that past structure and performance level of the public sector cannot be used as a basis for designing the future of the public sector. It should be noted here that portraying the Greek reality in this way is not a judgment of the dedication or talent of government employees as a group. Rather, it is a sober realization that the country cannot support anymore the size of the government apparatus or the scope of its services and programs as we have known them until now.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! In the spirit of starting 2012 with a fresh and positive outlook for both work and life, we at PA TIMES Online felt the following 2-part article to be particularly appropriate. The authors will also be presenting a session on their inspired philosophy during the National Conference of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) to be held in Las Vegas, NV, March 2-6, 2012.

Elaine Dundon and Alex Pattakos

Opa! Indeed, it is much more than simply a word; it is a lifestyle and a workstyle! Against this backdrop, let’s review briefly each element of this inspirational philosophy of living and working:

Others
Mos t of us are striving to connect in more meaningful ways to build stronger relationships with family member, friends, coworkers, customers, and other members of society. Our research focused on the interconnectedness of life in the traditional Greek villages. The lessons from this research are applicable to how we interact and build authentic relationships in both our personal and work lives. The focus of life in the village is on the collective “we”; caring for and sharing with others for the collective good. How many of us can truly say we treat our workplaces like traditional village communities?