ABSTRACT

There are a few essential reasons for which we should start the study of public administration systems in the contemporary world with the Western model. Irrespective of the form of government and political system, most government models in the countries of Western civilization are based on the principle of government decentralization in both vertical and horizontal terms. One could identify the following key institutions of public administration within Western civilization: republicanism; democracy; and decentralization of power. Contemporary democracy is diverse and significantly differs not only from civilization to civilization but also within the Western world itself. The territorial span of Orthodoxy is much narrower than that of the Western Christian denominations. In a number of countries, centralized bureaucracy has virtually ceased to exist, so that the state has been thrown back to prehistoric times. Colonialism has been the key and decisive factor in the development of modern public administration in African countries.