Understanding Public Management Through Neopatrimonialism

A Paradigm for all African Seasons

Bibliographic Data

ID20051925
AuthorsOle Therkildsen, Ole Roland Therkildsen (0000-0002-7493-9809, corresponding author)
Year2017
Pages35-51
Publication date2017-11-28
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeCHAPTER
VenueAfrican Exception (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.4324/9781351147927-3
OpenAlexW2908124224
ISBN9781351147927
LanguageEN
Citations received10

This chapter focuses on understanding public management (the contemporary term for what used to be called public administration) in sub-Saharan Africa through the paradigm of neopatrimonialism. It outlines the main propositions of neopatrimonialism in order to identify its analytical implications for empirical and comparative studies. The explanatory power of the neopatrimonialism paradigm is assessed based on analyses of actual development outcomes with respect to judicial courts, bureaucracy and taxation. It is suggested that additional factors to those selected by proponents of neopatrimonialism need to be included in explanatory frameworks for African politics and administration. Measuring or assessing the extent of patrimonial power is much more elusive. Pay policy is central to public management in sub-Saharan Africa and a subject about which neopatrimonialism should be expected to provide useful insights because pay is a potentially strong instrument for a patron who aims to reward clients from state resources

Political science · African history and culture studies · Global and Cross-Cultural Management · International Development and Aid