ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the basis of critiques of Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs), highlights opportunities and challenges posed by performance-based administration, and contributes to an understanding of public administration from a comparative perspective. It considers the state to include the institutions designed by society to perform public functions reflecting the will of the people. The chapter defines public administration to include the institutions, processes, and procedures established by public law, as well as the people working in them. It presents the concepts of public administration and the state as phenomena arising from historical changes. The chapter also discusses how SAPs infringe on Ghana's sovereignty, challenges the legitimacy of the state, and reduces the capacity of public administration to adopt policies to support the underprivileged in society. It emphasizes that the autonomy of the state in Ghana has diminished because of the strict adherence to "conditionalities" that donor agencies have imposed.
