Jobs for the boys : patronage and the state in comparative perspective / Merilee S. Grindle.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Grindle, Merilee, 1945-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Civil service--Case studies.

Civil service.

Public officers--Selection and appointment--Case studies.

Public officers.

Patronage, Political--Case studies.

Patronage, Political.

Civil service reform--Case studies.

Civil service reform.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (296 p.)

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Patronage systems in the public service are universally reviled as undemocratic and corrupt. Yet patronage was the prevailing method of staffing government for centuries, and in some countries it still is. In Jobs for the Boys, Merilee Grindle considers why patronage has been so ubiquitous in history and explores the political processes through which it is replaced by merit-based civil service systems. Such reforms are consistently resisted, she finds, because patronage systems, though capricious, offer political executives flexibility to achieve a wide variety of objectives. Grindle looks at the histories of public sector reform in six developed countries and compares them with contemporary struggles for reform in four Latin American countries. A historical, case-based approach allows her to take into account contextual differences between countries as well as to identify cycles that govern reform across the board. As a rule, she finds, transition to merit-based systems involves years and sometimes decades of conflict and compromise with supporters of patronage, as new systems of public service are politically constructed. Becoming aware of the limitations of public sector reform, Grindle hopes, will temper expectations for institutional change now being undertaken.

Contents:

Introduction: Weber's ghost

A system for all seasons

Politics in the construction of reform

Apres reform: deconstruction and reconstruction

Latin America: patterns of patronage and politics

Roots and branches

Crafting reform: elite projects and political moments

Ambiguous futures: the politics of implementation

Conclusion: the politics of institutional creation and re-creation.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780674070035

0674070038

9780674065185

0674065182

OCLC:

1041188322