The perils of a bureaucratic fad in Africa: Examining the effects of the agencification of the state apparatus in Gabon

Abstract

The paradigmatic ascent of the new public management (NPM) doctrine in the 1980s was a joyful moment for advocates of market‐led public sector reforms. Four decades later, following disappointing results, the NPM is no longer dominant. Pending the emergence of a new leading paradigm, however, NPM‐inspired reforms are still being pursued in several nations worldwide. The central African nation of Gabon is one of those. For 8 years, it pursued an unsuccessful program of agencification of the state apparatus reportedly to create a “modern” public bureaucracy that would support economic modernization. This article provides the first scholarly analysis of the effects of this program. It shows that agencification fundamentally undermined the fragile foundations of the Gabonese administrative state. The magnitude of the damage to the state apparatus stands as the key finding of this study. This outcome further strengthens the case against an uncritical adoption of exogenously‐developed public sector reforms.

Public sector reforms in developing countries: A preliminary review

“…The most recent trends in post‐NPM reforms in developing countries are captured by research published in the journal Public Administration and Development during the last 5 years. The failure of the global model is exemplified by a case study of agencification in the central African state of Gabon where research demonstrated how these reforms ‘fundamentally undermined the fragile foundations of the administrative state’ and scholars called for caution in ‘adopting uncritically exogenously developed public sector reforms’ (Ofoulhast‐Othamot, 2022, p. 179). The experience of civil service reforms in Bhutan over a 15‐year period further illustrated how the individualistic principles underpinning NPM as a global model failed to align with a culture of collectivism and risk aversion (Ugyel, 2021).…”

The Central Role of Middle Leaders in Public Administration Facing Organizational Merger Policies

“…In Portugal one of the NPM mechanisms that has been emerging is mergers, both in the private and public sectors (Madureira, 2020). State reform has been a focus in several countries (Ofoulhast-Othamot, 2022;Farr-Wharton et al, 2021). Particular action, in Portugal, is that of hierarchical integration in use in merger movements in the public sector (Reis & Sarmento, 2019).…”