Name: Geert Bouckaert
Level of education: Professor
Positions:
- IIAS President
- Chairman of the Commission Effective and Efficient Government (CEEO)
- Advisor to the Rector for the School of Arts
- President of the European Association of Public Administration Accreditation (EAPAA) etc.
Geert Bouckaert is professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the KU Leuven Public Governance Institute. He is the former Director of the Institute. He is coordinator of the Policy Research Centre – Governmental Organization – Decisive Governance. He as well is president of the International Institute of Administrative Sciences (IIAS).
Professor Geert is also known for his best research findings and policy designs. In addition, he has published several publications in the field. Public administration today, Training for Leadership, Government Agencies: Practices and Lessons from 30 Countries are among his publications.
Professor Geert had received several Awards and Honoree Doctorates from well-known American and European universities. Winner of the Annual Award for the best article, Alexis de Tocqueville Prize, ASPA International Public Administration are among the awards. The Ethiopian Herald had a while with Professor Geert Bouckaert. Excerpts…
The Ethiopian Herald: Could you introduce yourself to our esteemed readers?
Professor Geert: My name is Geert Bouckaert. I am professor at the Ku leaven University which was founded in1425. I have combination background in Civil Engineering, MBA, and Political science.
Herald: What is public administration?
Professor Geert:Public administration is not just public service because normally we say public administration is the administration of the public’s fear. That is what official administration is. But public administration is a field that studies the way government maps out policies and handles service delivery. It is how we organize policies and deliver services from the public point of view.
Herald: What are the main challenges in public administration?
Professor Geert: It depends on the regions and worlds of course. We have different challenges according to the different circumstances. I think the general challenges are to realize the SDGs. That is one of the concerns. To do that there is a need to support the overall public sectors.
The other one is the issue of resources and democratic government. How to combine the politics and administration is the main issue.
In addition, there are some elements pertaining to which societies feel abundant because they feel that the public administration is not taking care of them. These are the challenges for many countries.
Herald: What are the prerequisites to be a country portraying good public administration?
Professor Geert: Well, there are different checklists and rankings. The ranks are correlated with the resources of the country. If you have high GDP per-capita, it is easier to be on the top ranking. So, from this point of view, it is a bit unfair to compare globally. But of course what is crucial is you do not fall below the minimal level. What you have to avoid in global prospective is failedstate and the country does not have enough resources to look after their own population.
So, it is not an Olympic game to compete globally, it is all about how we can serve the population in a decent way and how we can have a healthy, educated and protected society. That differs from country to country. But the bottom line is to have sufficient resources to mobilize the care of your population.
Herald: What is the current level of African public administration as compared to the developed countries?
Professor Geert:African public administration has pluses and minuses in handling governances. One of the plusses is they have dynamic young population. So, the demography of the country is actually what is missing in Europe. To have a lot of young people which are ambitious is an asset and potential. The question is of course how you can involve your young population to create solid country. I think that is a plus.
The minuses are the culture of good governance. It is not always present in the African countries. To try to upgrade good governances systems is a shared problem of African countries.
Herald: Could you tell us about the role of institutions in strengthening public administration?
Professor Geert: The public sector is important in the transformation of a country because the public sector is automatically responsible for education, economic framework, businesses, health issues, security among others. So, the role of public institution is to create framework via which societies can organize themselves. Universities should take high responsibilities. They are actually crucial vehicles to create common agendas. They should create frameworks and joint ventures.
It is important to have medium enterprises that can take care of themselves. So, the legal framework has to be offered by institutions.
Herald: What should be done to promote public administration in the continent?
Professor Geert:I think we have to have sufficient capacity to make a change which means competences. Capacity is not only about people but also the sufficient resources and data to know what is going on.
Teaching and research elements are very important. There are three things you should have. You have to have competent people, budgets, data, and legal frameworks which create same stability.
Herald: How did you find Ethiopia’s current level of public administration?
Professor Geert: On the average,it is important all arms of the civil service are competent. So, you need good teachers and healthy people. Also, the police have to be properly educated. They have to respect the legal frameworks.
It is better for a country to look at its own way of how to make a progress. Ethiopia has made a great progress in development but the population is growing fast. It needs high quality management. Actually, we cannot compare but we have to look at our pasts and how we could improve things down the road because the culture here and in other countries is really different. Ethiopia should look at the strategies and learn from the past. That is what could actualize a change in the sector.
I believe in Ethiopia and its potential. There are young educated people who really know what is going on abroad and what should be done here. I want to emphasize the importance of EPAA (Ethiopian Public Administration Association). It creates a lot of opportunities which weren’t there in the past. It helps to bring universities together and to have an impact on civil services and create synergies. So from that point of view, Ethiopia has a lot of assets. The country is moving forward and I understand citizens appreciate that. You have to watch many agendas .Security is very important.
The Ethiopian Herald Sunday Edition 9 February 2020
BY AMBO MEKASA
