Transformation of Public Administration in Hong Kong: Managing an Expanding Economy in the Process of Political Transition

Abstract

The development of public administration as an academic discipline is always influenced by the changing socio-economic and political environment in a society. While Anglo-American governments enjoyed sustained economic growth in the two decades after the Second World War, there was a broad consensus about the role of government in promoting public welfare. With the extension of democratic institutions and practices, academics started to concentrate on the questions of ‘why’ and to what ‘effect’ (Presthus, 1975; Frederickson, 1977; Golemsbiewski, 1977). Major policy issues emphasized ‘who benefited from what?’ and ‘to what extent was a government’s policy directed toward achieving a more equitable society?’ Such demands of a welfare government were found to become extravagant in the adverse economic conditions of the late 1970s and the early 1980s, as many governments faced the problem of stagflation. In order to continue functioning in the face of financial constraints, governments had the limited alternatives of either cutting the existing welfare programmes or raising more revenue for new services. All these changes had a profound impact on the approach to governing, and the theoretical underpinnings of public administration as an academic subject as well. One example is the application of private sector management ideas and tools to the public sector. Another example is large-scale privatization of public services.