ABSTRACT
This chapter shows the obstacles to administrative reform that have been identified by earlier researchers, and sets out some solutions. Studies of administrative reform have generally been prolific regarding the factors that may block administrative reform. The focus of attention has generally been on how the process of reform itself highlights obstacles in its path. Isolation may limit the effectiveness of would-be reformers, because they may be unaware of reform efforts in the outside world, and may be overwhelmed by the immediacy of the problems in their own locale. Caiden showed how factors such as geography, history, technology, culture, economy and polity could block administrative reform. Literacy, social awareness and consensus among elite groups about any reform will aid the reduction of social obstruction. Tummala argues that any administrative reform, in both developed and developing countries, which ignores political and social factors and fails to explore links between these factors is bound to produce ritualistic reform and innocuous incrementalism.
