ABSTRACT
It is time to revisit the function of governments in diverse political settings from a public administration perspective, especially in the rapidly globalizing and changing world of the 21st century. What does it mean to be a public administrator in this global age? Seminal shifts have occurred in global politics: at the end of the Cold War there was a significant advancement towards globalization and a slowdown, but persistent rise of the Global South in world affairs. The role of governments in these “public” arrangements has become a crucial question: should they be dominant, regulatory or merely user/client oriented? Besides efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery, are there more important criteria, such as inclusion, citizenship and standards of equity, to judge public governance?
