In the coming weeks, the IIAS Knowledge Portal will turn its focus towards the three sub-themes of the IIAS International Congress 2012 which will take place in Mérida, Yucatán (Mexico).

Those themes are :

1. Democratic governance for socio-economic development;
2. e-Government instrument to strengthen trust;
3. Public value: the case of tourism.

Please come back as we will start developping these themes very shortly and in the meantime, will finalize this year’s 3 themes.

If you have some information in relation to those themes you would like to share with the IIAS Knowledge Portal, do not hesitate to contact us.

Regularly, the IIAS, in collaboration with publishing house, SAGE, will showcase one or several articles of its journal, the International Review of Administrative Sciences.

On the occasion of the IIAS Congress, the IRAS team has selected a few articles relevant to three subthemes treated during those three days. The following articles will be free of access until the end of 2011.

Water management

Symposium on water governance. Prologue: water governance as a government’s actions between the reality of fragmentation and the need for integration
Jurian Edelenbos and Geert R. Teisman

Water sector reform in Italy and in the Netherlands: ambitious change with an uncertain outcome versus consensus-seeking moderate change
Daniela Argento and G. Jan van Helden

Regulation Issues

The history and future of nation-building? Building capacity for public results
Jocelyne Bourgon

Immigration

The changing border: developments and risks in border control management of Western countries

Berry Tholen

The International Review of Administrative Sciences is an international peer-reviewed journal devoted to academic and professional public administration. Founded in 1927 it is the oldest scholarly public administration journal specifically focused on comparative and international topics. IRAS seeks to shape the future agenda of public administration around the world by encouraging reflection on international comparisons, new techniques and approaches, the dialogue between academics and practitioners, and debates about the future of the field itself.

IRAS is the official journal of the of the International Institute of Administrative Sciences (IIAS), the European Group of Public Administration (EGPA), the International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration (IASIA) and the Commonwealth Association of Public Administration and Management (CAPAM). IRAS is published in three different language editions – English, French and Mandarin Chinese.

If you would like to look for other subject related to administrative sciences and public administration, please visit the IRAS section on our website!

Three new focus themes, linked to the IIAS Congress in Lausanne are being developped on the Knowledge Portal.

To further thoughts and discussion, you will find find the issue papers prepared on ths occasion.

- Water Use and International Management

- Migration and Trans-national Challenges

- Regulations in Public Administration

In the meantime, check out our “Focus” Section as the themes will be updated in the coming weeks!

If you would like to share news, books, articles, etc. relevant to those themes, do not hesitate to send an e-mail to Fabienne Maron (f.maron@iias-iisa.org) and Mélissa Monaco (m.monaco@iias-iisa.org) or leave a comment on this article.

Migrations are a global wave that societies and governments will face and manage with new policies and instruments. When we say Migrations, we refer to a complex and global phenomenon whose conditions, connotations and outcomes can be ambivalent for the countries of origin and the countries of destination. We define Migration as ‘the geographic movement of people across boundary with the purpose of establishing a new permanent or semi-permanent residence’. There are multiple reasons for migration. The contemporary international migration trends are the latest repetition of many population movements which reshape states and cultures. But we distinguish these migrations by the fact that states developed their administrative apparatus and tools for managing the migration flows.

Read complete issue paper

News about the “Migration” theme from IIAS Members and our partners.

Australia GovMonitor Australia Speeds Up Process Of Determining Asylum Seekers Claims - A new, faster initial assessment for asylum seekers effective today will speed up the process of determining asylum seekers’ claims. Changes to the refugee status determination process for irregular maritime arrivals will apply from March 1, consistent with the government’s announcement following the High Court’s decision handed down on November 11 last year.

Austria ACCORD: Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation ACCORD provides independently, neutrally and objectively information on countries of origin of asylum seekers in order to contribute to fair and efficient asylum procedures.

Belgium Federal Government Information Portal The Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS) has published its annual report for 2010. – This report sheds light on the work of the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS) and makes people understand aspects that are not limited to on asylum statistics and decisions made as we can also get an idea of how the CGRS accomplishes its mission of granting protection to refugees. Migration Office The Migration Office is part of the Federal Public Service “Interior”. It is responsible for managing the migrant population in Belgium, namely the access of foreigners to the territory, their stay, their establishments, as well as repatriation procedures. On fieldwork, the migration Office is working closely with other agencies such as embassies and consulates, municipal authorities, federal police, social inspection, or the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Activity report for 2009 : https://dofi.ibz.be/fr/jaarverslag/2009fr.pdf (in French)

Chine China Daily La relocalisation massive au Ningxia devrait débuter prochainement – PEKIN – Un projet de migration massive afin de relocaliser 350 000 résidents des régions pauvres de la région autonome de Ningxia Hui auNord-Ouest de la Chine, se heurte encore des obstacles comme le manque de fonds, de hauts responsables régionaux ont dit.

Denmark Academy for Migration Studies in Denmark Its objectives are to push research on migratory issues forward in order to better understand and cope with social, cultural and political problems of integration, exclusion and co-citizenship, and to provide an informed knowledge base for political decisions, public debates and popular perceptions on migrants and immigration.

Italy Dossier Statistico Immigrazione – Statistical Dossier on Immigration Statistical Dossier on Immigration – The Dossier Statistico Immigrazione collects all the available data on immigration, placing it in its national, regional and local context and discussing its various aspects and problems. It also contains analysis of the statistical data by major experts in the field, and tables summarising and illustrating the data.

South Africa Bua News Govt tightens immigration laws – The Department of Home Affairs is tightening immigration regulations in the fight against corruption and people who cheat their way into staying in the country. Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said on Tuesday that while a majority of people who came into the country were law abiding, there was “a significant minority” who abused immigration laws and got away with it. But now government is closing those loopholes in the law.

Spain Ministry of Labour and Immigration (Ministerio de Trabajo e Inmigración) The organization of policies on asylum and migration: Report – This report was produced by the European Migration Network, written by the Spanish EMN National Contact Point. This National Report describes the general structure of the political and institutional system as well as the distribution and organization of competencies concerning migration and asylum in Spain. Link to the Ministry of Labour and Immigration : http://www.mtin.es/en/index.htm (English)

Switzerland Federal Administration Switzerland- Nigeria Migration Partnership : the first state of affairs (last modified on 23/06/2011) — On June 21, 2011, the commission of Switzerland – Nigeria migration partnership met for the first time in Abuja. Through this partnership both countries wish to establish a balanced and comprehensive cooperation in the field of migration. Exchanges between the two sides proved to be positive. Conclusion of a readmission agreement with Denmark – The Danish Minister for Refugees, Immigrants and Integration Søren Pind and the Swiss ambassador Viktor Christen today signed in Copenhagen an agreement on readmission. This agreement regulates the readmission of nationals of States Parties and third country nationals and stateless persons. FOM – publication of the report on migration, 2010 – The migration partnership agreement with Nigeria and special flights are the main themes of the 2010 report on migration published by the Federal Office for Migration (FOM). This report provides figures to support an overview of the activities of the FOM.

United Kingdom Local Government Improvement and Development Healthcare: creating a level playing field for migrants - Nowhere in the UK is untouched by migration. Whether they are asylum seekers fleeing persecution from oppressive regimes or people arriving to work or study, migrants can be found in every village, town and city. But research suggests they are struggling to access what should be a basic right – healthcare. What is the problem and what can the NHS, local government and the voluntary sector do to help? UK/ MIPEX- Migrant Integration Policy Index Migrant Integration Policy Index – MIPEX is an interactive tool and reference guide to assess, compare and improve integration policy produced by the British Council and the Migration Policy Group. MIPEX measures policies to integrate migrants in 27 EU Member States and four non-EU countries. It uses over 140 policy indicators to create a rich, multi-dimensional picture of migrants’ opportunities to participate in European societies.

European Institute of Public Administration Publication (2010): The European Asylum System and Minimum Standards: ‘Suggestions for practice and policy’ – Even though the phenomenon of refugees has changed over the course of recent decades, asylum remains an important issue for states all over the world. The paper is divided into four sections. The first section provides some background information on the international legislation; the second looks into the need for European refugee protection and focuses on the concept of the Common European Asylum Systeme; the third section examines examples of Dutch policies. In this framework, ‘good’ and ‘less good’ practices as well as problems with the application of the EU minimum standards are highlighted; the last section of the paper provides some policy recommendations and gives a summary of practices which may apply in asylum cases.

European Union EU-European Parliament Bulgaria and Romania will soon join Shengen area – The European Parliament considered the accession of Bulgaria and Romania into the Schengen area is now possible as the conditions are fulfilled. However, these two countries will have to take additional measures and work out a common approach with Greece and Turkey to face potential increase of migratory pressure in this area. European Parliament ‘President is delighted of this Parliamentary decision taken and call on the Council to follow the recommendations of the vote expressed. EUROLAT plenary closes with greater unity on Mercosur and migration - General : EuroLat Co-President José Ignacio Salafranca (EPP, ES) closed the fifth Plenary Assembly in Montevideo (Uruguay) on Thursday with a very positive message on the outcome of the meetings between MEPs and their Latin American counterparts, “which will surely help to push forward negotiations on sensitive agreements like the one with Mercosur”.   EU- European Commission Developing a common approach to migration – The EU is seeking to create a common asylum system, strengthen border controls, increase oversight of its border-free travel area and use immigration policy to help fill gaps in the labour market.   European legislation Framework programme on solidarity and management of migration flows for the period 2007-2013 – This program is designed to improve management of migratory flows at European Union level and to strengthen solidarity between member States. It has four dimensions: integrated management of external borders, with the setting up of an External borders Fund, asylum policy, with the prolongation of the European Refugee Fund; the social, civil and cultural integration of non-member country national, with the setting up of a European integration Fund; and the fight against illegal immigration and the return of Non-EU member Country nationals residing illegally in the EU, with the setting up of a European Return Fund.   European Migration Network English: European Migration Network is a network coordinated by the European Commission (DG Home) in cooperation with national contact points of each member States. The aim of the EMN is to meet the information needs of Union institution and of Member States authorities by providing updated information on migration and asylum, with a view to supporting policymaking in the European Union in these areas.   ACP Observatory on migration – The African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Observatory on Migration is an initiative of the Secretariat of the ACP Group of States, empowered by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and funded by the European Union. Its goal is to establish a network of research institutions and governmental entities dealing with migration in the six regions of the ACP Group of States. For now the ACP Observatory is based in Brussels but will be moved to an ACP country in the coming year. Observatory Director Laurent de Boeck explains that “the role of the observatory is to compile the data necessary to limit the negative impact of South-South migration while using to advantage its potential contribution to development on the human, economic, social and cultural level». The Observatory relies on the work of research institutions and private researchers from different backgrounds (universities, research centers, public institutions). Every two months, The ACP observatory publishes its Newsletter to keep informed people about the Observatory’s activities and the latest news on South-South migration issue. The first edition of the Newsletter was launched in May 2011. Here the link: http://www.acpmigration-obs.org/sites/default/files/Newsletter%201%20-%20May%202011.pdf   EU-Bénin, Cameroon, Mali, Sénégal Labour Migration Management Partnership – Since the first January 2009, there is a partnership for the labour migration management. The aim is to help Benin, Cameroun, Mali and Senegal to promote and manage effectively labour migration between recipient countries and UE members as a global approach of the migration cycle. This project aims more specifically at employment public services and their ministers. This project is part of the Thematic Programme “2007-2013 Migration and Asylum” launched by the EU to help non-members countries to better manage migration flows in all dimensions.

The Global Forum on Migration and Development The Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) is a recent initiative of the United Nations Member States to address the migration and development interconnections in practical and action-oriented ways. It is an informal, non-binding, voluntary and government-led process that marks the culmination of more than a decade of international dialogue on the growing importance of the linkages between migration and development.

International Organisation for Migrations http://www.iom.int/jahia/Jahia/about-iom/lang/en – Established in 1951, IOM is the leading inter-governmental organization in the field of migration and works closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners. IOM works in the four broad areas of migration management: Migration and development Facilitating migration Regulating migration Forced migration.

Migration4Development: EC-UN Joint Migration and Development Initiative http://www.migration4development.org/ Use this site to meet others working in Migration and Development, exchange ideas and form partnerships. Members of the forum include civil society organizations, diaspora groups, migrants associations, local authorities and UN agencies. From Migration to Development: Lessons Drawn from the Experience of Local Authorities One of the preliminary lessons learned arising from EC-UN JMDI-funded projects and from exchanges on the online community of practice, M4D-Net (www.migration4development.org), is that, where local authorities are project partners, they are playing a key role in contributing to the initiatives’ success, because of the close relations they have with migrant communities in the North and because their involvement in the South ensures that projects are aligned with local development needs. As this report points out, local authorities’ efforts have been most effective where decentralisation has strengthened the role they can play, as in the case of the municipality of Cartaya, in Spain, which has developed a circular migration programme with Morocco to manage seasonal labour migration in the agriculture sector, or in Senegal, where regional development agencies draft development strategies through a participatory approach involving local communities and, crucially, members of the diaspora abroad. Report in English: http://www.migration4development.org/sites/m4d.emakina-eu.net/files/JMDI_Migration_to_Development_Condensed_LA_report.pdf

Following the publishing of Governance of Public Sector Organizations: Proliferation, Autonomy and Performance, we interviewed the book’s co-editors Per Lægreid (Professor at the Department of  Administration and Organization Theory, University of Bergen) et Koen Verhoest (Associate Professor and research Manager at the  Public Management Institute, Catholic University of Leuven) on the state-of-the-art of public organizations governance and its ongoing changes.

1. Could you please identify two main trends in the governance of public sector organizations?

Per Lagreid: A first trend from the mid-1980s is increased agencification implying establishment of semi-autonomous organizations at arm length distance from political executives.  Another trend is that there is a layering or sedimentation process going on producing composite and hybrid organizational forms. Rather than replacing old reforms, new reform initiatives tend to be added to old reforms and mix with them in rather complex ways. Recently, we see that the agencification process has stalled to some extent and that it has been supplemented by whole-of-government reform initiative implying stronger central control and interorganizational coordination.

Koen Verhoest: Public administrations have been, so to speak, smitten by agency fever, but we are also seeing parallel processes of decentralization and centralization and of regulation and de-regulation. We see complex combinations of structural reforms, linked both to NPM and post-NPM doctrines. A central feature of these changes is that there is an unstable balance between autonomy and steering of the central agencies. Moreover, there is a layering process ongoing: Post-NPM reforms do not fully replace NPM-related reforms, but are supplementing them, resulting in increasingly complex public sector organizations.

2. Why this increasing complexity?

PL and KV: One answer to this is that increased complexity in society tends to enhance complex organizational forms. Digging more into this question we would argue that there is no one-factor answer to this complexity. There are different driving forces such as international reform doctrines, as well as external pressure from the technical as well as the institutional environment. Historical-institutional legacy and administrative tradition and culture are also important as well as polity features embedded in existing structural arrangements. The possibility for executing an active reform policy from the political and administrative executives is constrained as well as enabled by such factors.

3. Could you explain the link between changes of organizational forms and performance of the Public Sector? How do changes in formal organization lead to better performance?

PL: The evidence based knowledge about the effects and implications of different administrative forms is still rather patchy.  The means-end knowledge and ability for ex ante rational-calculation of the impacts and effects of different organizational forms are rather weak among the reform agents. However, it is clear from empirical evidence that different organizational forms do matter and do affect the way public organizations operate and work in practice. But usually, there is not a one-to-one relationship between organizational forms and performance. Based on the empirical evidence we discuss in the book, we can say something about the direction of this relationship but we cannot give a precise forecast of the strength of the impacts. This has to do with the fact that context matter to a great extent but also with the ambiguity of the performance concept.

KV: Another factor that may explain this weak causal link is that the formal organizational form does not say much about the actual features, in terms of autonomy and control. A major finding is that de facto autonomy and control of public organizations may differ substantially from what is formally prescribed for the involved organizational form. Therefore, one needs to study the actual, and even perceived, levels of autonomy and control in order to understand the effects on performance. But even then, many other, mutually affecting, intervening factors come into play, like leadership and organizational culture, organizational size, the nature of the task at hand, the presence of clear objectives, etc. A major challenge for empirical research is to systematically study the interplay of these intervening factors, upon which the performance of public sector organizations is contingent.

4. What are the practical implications of these organizational changes? Could you provide us with a concrete example?

PL: One implication is that reformers score higher on political control than on rational calculation. The Achilles heel in administrative reforms seems to be that reform actors have limited understanding of the consequences and implications of their own reform initiatives. Another implication is that rather than purifying a single model we need a repertoire of models for political-administrative institutions to understand the future challenges of public management, administration and governance.

The public administration is multi-functional and has to balance different values and norms. Therefore it is normally not a question of hierarchy, networks or market. The main challenge is how they can be combined and be balanced in a supplementary way. Designers of public sector organizations have to be aware of the fundamental dialectics between basic organizational principles for coordination, specialization autonomy and control.

KV: We question if simple ideas of autonomy are a necessary condition for increased performance. Changing the organizational form of affiliation, as in agencification, is clearly not a panacea for all diseases, not even for underperformance. In situations with a weak understanding of the effects and implications of reform it might be wise to avoid major and controversial radical reforms based on big new ideas and to opt instead for more incremental change processes that enjoy high legitimacy among the reformers as well as the reformed. There is also a need to build feedback-loops and possibilities for experiential learning into the reform process so that adjustments can be made as reforms proceed.

5. What will be the perspective for the next decade in terms of managerial, policy and financial autonomy?

PL: To a greater extent, we have to address the different dimensions of autonomy such as managerial and policy autonomy. One of the biggest flaws in New Public Management was the separation of management from policy. One important lesson from the agencification reforms is that political salience and tasks matter as well as mutual trust relations and reputations. This means that contexts matter and it is not a single answer to the question.

KV: A public sector organization’s degree of autonomy is actually a product of balancing managerial autonomy with policy autonomy and financial autonomy with structural aspects of autonomy. The autonomy granted on one dimension to one agency, in the daily organizational life of this agency, may become less relevant if autonomy on other dimensions is lacking. The same holds for the control of public sector organizations, where ex ante control, ex post result-oriented, financial, structural control and control by contacts are combined in hybrid forms. Thus, designers of public sector organizations need to make complex choices and trade-offs when creating agencies, and when doing this, they need to use a multi-dimensional understanding of autonomy and control. Moreover, formal design and its actual functioning are two different realities. Although agencification does attenuate political steering signals, compared to departments, de facto political control does not always respect the formal logic of organizational form, like in the case of highly salient tasks or strategic behaviour by agency managers. Formal rules and regulations, which seemed functional when the agencies were created, may become obsolete after a while or are not enforced as they were intended to be. Designing an optimal formal-legal agency status by combining degrees of autonomy and control is not the whole story. There is an additional need for behavioural guidelines for politicians and bureaucrats how to handle and review autonomy, control, and mutual relations during the lifetime of an agency.

6. What do the ‘whole-of-government’ reforms imply? Better coordination and increased control?

PL: Whole-of-government initiatives are important first of all to handle the ‘wicked issues’ that are not following the borders between organizations policy areas or administrative levels. NPM reforms was first of all directed towards the principal-agent issues of how superior bodies could control subordinate organizations within the same ministerial area, but had little to offer to address the more pressing question of how to handle problems and  tasks that are transcending organizational borders. The challenge is to find organizational arrangements that can enhance increased cross-borders collaboration and horizontal coordination.  Another element of this post-NPM movement is increased central control. In many countries the agencification process has been slowed down and the need for central capacity is back on the agenda.

KV: Summing up, the post-NPM ‘Whole-of-Government’ reforms imply an increased focus on integration, horizontal coordination, and enhanced political control. This counter-reaction of increased central control and coordination to organizational proliferation has been observable not only in Norway, Australia, and New Zealand, but also in the UK, Sweden, and The Netherlands. But ‘whole-of-government’ is, just as NPM, a rather ambiguous and not very coherent reform movement, supplementing rather than replacing NPM measures.

Michiel de Vries, Professor of Public Administration at the Radboud University, wrote a book about recurrent trends in governance, titled “The Importance of neglect in policy-making”. It was published recently in the IIAS Governance and Management series of Palgrave.

Could you explain the title?

This book offers a theory which argues that it is not only possible to explain when policy change is likely to occur, but also to predict the direction. It argues that what is neglected at present is likely to become dominant in the policies of the near future. Crucial is that the means available to policy makers are always less than needed in order to balance different demands. Therefore, one cannot address all demands placed on public policy making si­multaneously; instead, some aspects have to be emphasized while others are neglected. The core of a fundamental policy change is always concerned with a shift of attention toward those aspects of problems that were the most chronically neglected in the previous policy. Furthermore it argues that with the birth of a new policy generation, a convergence towards meeting the dominant value of that generation will be noticeable in all policy areas. Therefore there is great importance in what is neglected in policy-making.

Based on what idea did you write this book?

Scholars have come a long way in explaining policy change. Recent investi­gations have identified many factors and characteristics of actors that explain why fun­damental policy change occurs and when it is likely to occur. How­ever, we are still unable to predict in which direction the nature of the change goes. This book argues that research into that question is a feasible next step in the process of trying to understand policy change. Furthermore, it argues that in order to explain and predict the nature of policy change, one should not only investigate and extrapolate what is prioritized at present, but especially search for what is neglected, and not only analyze the contents of preceding policies, but rather the non-contents thereof. The central hypothesis is about identifying periods in which, irrespective of the policy field, the newly developed policies all emphasize the same aspect, that is, the one neglected most before. This makes it possible to discuss policy generations.

Are these policy generations visible in practice?

Such policy generations are visible in the development of the main goals of public policies, the dominant use of specific policy instruments, and the role of societal actors in policymaking processes.

So what did you see?

The policy generations are visible in the developments in public policies in the Netherlands in the period between 1945 and 2000. I distinguished five policy generations: reactive missionaries just after the Second World War; caring technocrats between 1951 and 1963; polarized spenders between 1963 and 1980; efficient managers from 1982 until 1994; and new missionaries from 1994 until 2006. I argue that each generation indeed emphasized one aspect of policymaking and neglected the other functions. Each one of the policy generations was successful in accomplishing what they intended to accomplish, although they were severely criticized for neglecting what became dominant in the subsequent period.

The book has a clear focus on the Netherlands. What is so special about that country?

This book explains how the small country called the Netherlands – almost totally destroyed during WW II, being very poor and judged to be primitive at that time – could become one of the wealthiest, democratic and modern countries in the World? It is a success story. In the book I argue that respective Dutch governments, consciously or unconsciously, opted for an efficient and effective solution of focus and flexibility. Instead of trying to accomplish everything at once, they chose to achieve one goal at a time. These goals altered when the previous ones had been achieved and the focus turned to other problems that had been neglected previously.

Is there a normative side to the story?

The book calls for selective attention by governments. Do not try to solve all problems simultaneously but rather proceed sequentially. It calls for focus and flexibility.

Although this still needs further investigation, the idea of selective attention might also be interesting from a normative point of view. Sequential optimization implies “focus and flexibility”, which might be much more efficient, effective, democratic and able to achieve more goals than trying to accomplish all these dimensions of policies simultaneously. It releases governments from the strain caused by the impossibility of getting it all at once, and makes successful policies (in terms of the one-sided goals) more feasible. Second, it avoids the consequences of the dilemmas in the multiple demands placed on policies. Trying to balance the dilemmas in order to achieve an optimum outcome in all four often results in half-hearted policies resulting in insufficient results in every respect.

So what should policy makers do?

In the book I argue that one-sided policies present a pragmatic answer to the theoretical problem raised by classic scholars in political science and public administration, namely that many de­mands placed on the policy making process pose dilemmas. Maximizing one may be achieved only at the expense of minimizing another equally important feature of public policies.

Isn’t that contrary to the basic idea in Public Administration that policies should be balanced?

In theory, public policies should seek a balance between these de­mands. However, this analysis suggests that it might not be so awkward to try to balance them sequentially instead of simultane­ously. When we incorporate the time dimension, it is possible to develop policies that through time are able to conform to each of the demands, although every period is characterized by the protracted neglect of at least one of the demands.

With technology, the dissemination of information is constantly evolving so the knowledge portal IIAS is expanding into the world of social networks by creating a Twitter account. We are also testing the multimedia water with the opening of a YouTube channel.

By following our Twitter account, you will find the latest news published on the website in real time. Innovation, performance, administration in times of crisis, conferences … you will not miss a beat of what makes the news in public administration.

On our YouTube channel, our team will initially offer a selection of relevant videos covering various fields of administrative sciences and ultimately, our goal is to deliver original content.

We are looking forward to see you join us!

Twitter account: http://www.twitter.com/pa_knowledge

YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/iiaschannel

And of course, our group on LinkedIn is still very active: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=1794744&trk=anet_ug_hm

The  World Observatory of Teaching in Public Affairs, as stated on their website:

The quality of the modes of governance adopted by countries and regions of the world correlates significantly with the way education shapes the behavior of those in charge of public affairs – be they public servants, company directors or civil society leaders.

The World Observatory of Teaching in Public Affairs (WOTPA) was created in order to address these issues. Launched in 2005 by the Institute for research and debate on governance (IRG, Paris), the Charles Léopold Mayer Foundation (FPH, Paris, Lausanne) and the Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration (IDHEAP, Lausanne), it is supported today as well by Sciences Po (Master of Public Affairs, Paris) and by CIGI (The Center for Innovative Governance Innovation, Waterloo, Canada).

It gives the visitor a comprehensive and global look on the different instutions providing training in public administration and what kind of programme they provide.

A database of essays, comparative studies and proposals is also being developped.

Public sector organizations around the world face unprecedented pressure to improve service quality while progressively lowering their costs. Performance is becoming vital.

The Performance theme is a major issue and at IIAS, EGPA and IASIA, we develop research and focus on this important issue.

The first focus of our knowledge portal is dedicated to this important theme

News on Performance (List)
News on Performance (GoogleMap)
Publications on Performance
Interview: Wouter Van Dooren & Steven Van de Walle About Performance