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This article highlights the objective of the special issue which is to understand the status of public administration in six profiled countries -Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Turkeyin the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The special issue explores public administration as a concept-the diversity of guiding general principles that determines how governments administer the affairs of state in the context of their governance frameworks-and as praxis-the diversity of public administration structures, procedures and practice, and reform initiatives. It is evident that the countries profiled have adopted a mode of public administration and governance that mirrors its history, and its cultural, geo-political, socio-economic, and conflictive environments. In this context, the editors hope that the articles presented in this special issue will contribute to advancing the public administration literature in MENA.

This article assesses the challenges of introducing Quality Management (QM) in the Turkish public sector in two pioneering central institutions. A survey was conducted with the aim of exploring in particular the views of the workforce on the feasibility and prospects of QM. Findings revealed that despite the differences in both the practice and the perceptions, the workforce had a positive attitude and shared an awareness of the need for a comprehensive reform that included wide utilisation of QM. The results also imply that the success of QM is conditioned by the approach adopted and the organisational context. Considering the fact that QM necessitates long‐term commitment and adequate resources, its future cannot be isolated from general problems of the Turkish public administration system. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Regulation and control of public procurement constitute a crucial field for the application of governance ideals and practices. This study explores the public procurement reform process in Turkey with reference to the implementation of governance as part of an ongoing neoliberal discourse and practice. Turkey's public procurement system was reformed in 2002 in line with governance principles of transparency, anti-corruption, securing competition and by establishing an independent regulatory institution. A decade after this reform, our analysis shows that political will, economic forces in the procurement market and problems in the institutional-organizational setting are factors that play a role in the relapses from governance ideals and practices. Points for practitionersReforms aimed at achieving good governance in public procurements are hard to sustain. The specific institutional traditions of local contexts, interventions of political authorities and powerful economic interests play an important role in the success of reforms. Persistent ad hoc modifications of public procurement laws erode the regulatory scope, change the composition and political autonomy of board membership, and undermine the principles of transparency, accountability and competitiveness. There is a need to actively ensure sustainability of governance principles through strong defense mechanisms which should be institutionalized within local social dynamics.