ABSTRACT
The rejection of the concept of administrative reform is more complete than in the field of development administration. This contrasts sharply with the situation two or three decades earlier when the wholesale restructuring of Third World administrative systems was a key element of development doctrine. There are four key terms: development administration, administrative reform, administrative change, and administrative development. For all that was written on administrative reform, administrative development and administrative change in the two decades from 1950 to 1970 the treatment of these issues is remarkably narrow. A re-examination of the literature on administrative reform reveals that most writers have approached it either as a political issue or a technical one. The political leaders, with a position outside the bureaucracy and no intrinsic interest in administrative change, are most likely to utilize reform in a strictly instrumental fashion for the attainment of specific ends. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
