Defining the Challenge, Making the Change: A Study of Public Administration Reform in Arab Transitions

The purpose of this report is to provide an evidence base, some signposts to an effective change governance strategy and a series of critical questions to inform deliberation. It does this through the completion of five core components of research: (1) a meta-analysis of existing public administration reviews in both developing areas and transition states; (2) the comparison of reform processes and instruments; (3) the identification of better practices; (4) the evaluation of reforms centred on using decentralization and local strategies for building social cohesion and better primary service delivery; and (5), using the evidence-base developed in the four components of research to identify the critical questions and issues that would need to inform a successful change governance strategy in transition states.