There are a multitude of hazards that confront attempts to change institutional or political orders in pursuit of good governance. Even seemingly technical prescriptions run up against local political and social realities which make their adoption difficult and, if adopted, require significant modification of the original prescriptions. Moreover, the technical, rationalist and/or normative language employed in the good governance discourse masks contests over power, rights, resources, and actors’ conflicting interests. There is a definite need to situate the good governance debate in the local context rather than reflexively adopting a universalistic positing of the fact or desirability of governance convergence across countries and sectors because the reality is that the world-wide deployment of good governance rhetoric is not accompanied by convergence in thinking or practices across nations. Transforming Asian Governance asks:

• How do good governance principles translate into local settings?

• How do local settings influence the conception of what is good governance and how the debate over good governance is deployed as a political or administrative strategy?

Using case studies in governance from Thailand, the Philippines, Pakistan, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Korea and Japan, this book will be essential reading for anyone interested in the public and social policy of Asia, and international and comparative governance more generally.

Contents

1. Introduction Scott A. Fritzen 2. Improving Administrative Performance in Malaysia Hong-Hai Lim 3. India: Getting Governance Right for Inclusive Growth Santosh Mehrotra 4. Is Foreign aid compatible with good governance? Theory and Evidence from the Philippines Eduardo Araral, Jr. 5. Public Sector Transparency and Corporate Accounting Practices in Asia Xun Wu 6. The Hara-factor: Some lessons from innovations in governance in Japan Jorrit de Jong and Arre Zuurmond 7. ‘Good Governance’ and traints of Local Conditions: Thaksin and the Breakdown of Thailand’s Public Integrity System Alex M. Mutebi 8. The Judiciary’s Role in Good Governance in Korea Joongi Kim 9. Healthcare Reforms in Thailand: Rethinking Conventional Wisdom M Ramesh 10. Restructuring Government: An Empirical Analysis of Agencification in the Public Health System of Rajasthan Avantika Singh 11. The Structural Transformation of Public Bureaucracy towards Good Governance: The Case of Team-based Management in the Korean Government Chang Kil Lee 12. Technocratic Solutions versus Political Realities: Implementing Governance Reforms in the Balochistan Province of Pakistan Raza Ahmad and Syed A.A. Akif

Author Bio

Scott Fritzen is Assistant Professor in the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.

M Ramesh is Associate Professor in the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.