Quality of Governance and Ethical Public Service Delivery (PSD) in Developing Countries

Abstract

The article reviews different conflicting values that often put donor organizations on a collision course with the recipient countries. It focuses on public values and relates the topic to the broader value framework of quality of governance. It also discusses some of the problems that exist in several developing countries such as the absence of established acceptable ethical norms and when there are, they are ignored with impunity. It looks at the role of rampant poverty in breeding corruption, and the fact that public service institutions are weak. The cases of Nigeria (still a developing nation) and South Africa (an emerging economy that might join the BRIC group) are briefly reviewed. They present two insightful case studies to analyze the clash between public values and quality of governance in PSD with the two countries adopting different strategies. Although the article focuses on public service delivery (PSD), it also looks at public values in the broader value framework of quality of governance as one of the major obstacle for an efficient cross-national public service delivery. The ethical and cultural dimensions of Alternative Service Delivery are discussed both at global, national and local levels.

Strategic processes to further the professional status of social work in Nigeria

“…Given the political dynamics surrounding representation and ISWON’s challenge to NASoW’s legitimacy, only a strong professional association can deal with the processes at work and counter these threats, among them patrimonialism, by which political leaders trade political favours in exchange for the loyalty of key interest groups. Garcia-Zamor (2015) highlighted the significant levels of government corruption in public service delivery benefitting some ethnic groups at the expense of others. Might self-serving interest groups be a factor in social work’s unsuccessful thrust for recognition?…”

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Good Governance, Public Service Delivery and Public Trust: Case of Banadir Regional Administration of Somalia

“…Good governance has been studied in various contexts (Garcia-Zamor, 2015;Mohamed & Kulmie (2023;Thomas, 2012). Public serviceas is a strategic issue as it addresses the basic needs of society.…”

Local governance, corruption, and public service quality: evidence from a national survey in Vietnam

“…The TA&P attributes are believed to reduce officials' discretion, increase community monitoring, and set a solid foundation for a proper punishment of corrupted acts (Khan, 2006). The implementation of these strategies, however, requires a strong rule compliance behavior and an adequate law enforcement capacity (Hors, 2000;Khan, 2006), which often are lacking in developing countries (Garcia-Zamor, 2015;Samaratunge & Wijewardena, 2009). In addition, the real driver of corruption in developing countries is not necessarily discretion of officials but rather rule-violating behaviour of the related parties (Khan, 2006).…”