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How has reform changed Chinese and American civil service systems in light of China’s landmark reform in 1993 by contrast to the aftermath of the U.S. Civil Service Act of 1883? While there are significant differences, remarkable administrative and political similarities also emerge. Particularly salient is the role of educational systems in the civil service development of both countries. Surprisingly, this comparative analysis finds a common struggle to balance professional expertise with political accountability and control. King Kwun Tsao of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and John Abbott Worthley of Seton Hall University argue that further comparative research is essential to hone an improved understanding of China specifically as well as civil service systems generally.

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The 1998 administrative reforms in China provide a pregnant context for comparative analysis of the “reinventing government” movement. Described in some detail, the reforms are compared with the recent administrative reform experience in the United States. Significant similarities are illuminated using the prisms of ideology, politics, history, bureaucracy, and economics. Insight emerges on the role of experience, leadership, and technical-political expertise in administrative development. The analysis concludes that the art and science of global public administration can be advanced through increased comparative analysis of non-Western developing systems with the more developed Western administrative states.