This seminar will attempt a re-reading or re-interpretation of why bureaucracy in Africa has been framed/considered a "failure" vis-à-vis the ecological postulations of Frederick W. Riggs’ Prismatic theory. The author explains bureaucratic failure in most African and other developing states as a factor of mal-integration of universal administrative principles in the manner of contact of the West and the traditional societies in the course of colonisation, resulting in supplanting of the traditional values and creation of a priviledge system based on Western values that have been exploited by the elite at the expense of the public interest and development in general. The paper downplays the phenomenon of overlap of non-administrative values with ideal (western) administrative norms in preference to the thesis of cultural alienation and wrong foundational precedence in the insitutionalisation of modern bureaucracy in prismatic societies. The paper is developed as a connexions piece and seeks to offer a critical reinterpretation of some dominant perspectives in public administration rather than definitive solutions or possible directions to ineffective public administration in Africa. It contributes to the post-colonial reading of public administration system of developing countries vis-a-vis the seemingly blind alley of the prismatic theory and the universalistic (ideal) inclination of the bureaucratic theory.
Okey Ikeanyibe is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Public Administration and Local Government in Nigeria’s indigenous premier university, University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN). He works currently as a Visiting Research Fellow in the School of Public Policy at Central European University from September 2014 to April 2015. His major research area is on development issues in developing countries. Okey is particularly interested on issues of administrative and institutional reforms, pensions and personal social security administration, local governance, public personnel administration and political party organisation. He has published extensively in both national (Nigeria) and international journals and books. Some of his books are Principles and Practice of Personnel Administration: A Nigerian Perspective published by Lambert Academic Publishing, Germany, and, Public Policy in Nigeria: Perspectives on Social Policy and Administration. He also co-edited the book An Anthology of Theories for Social Research, published in Nigeria. Okey is a member of many professional bodies and is engaged in consultancy services for the in-service training of government employees, especially those of the local governments in Nigeria.
This seminar is hosted by the CEU Africa Research Group.