ABSTRACT
As a dynamic discipline, public administration is gradually adopting the evolving practices of the real world of governance. The catalytic agents of change include: the information and communication revolution, globalization, movements for democratization and the advent of the knowledge economy. Some of these contemporaneous changes that have led to new ways of governing are: (a) the advent of New Public Management (b) the co-optation of multiple actors, like the private sector and civil society, into the policy process and (c) the opening up of public administration to more ethical and accountability concerns. Right to Information Laws, e-governance, Citizen Charters, Public Service Guarantee Acts and increasing judicial activism, may change the face of public administration in developing countries. It is encouraging to see that these states are competing with each other, with the aim of improving their rates of growth, creating Human Development Reports and publicizing their initiatives on good governance. An index of good governance needs to be compiled, which will enable inter-state comparisons.
