Public sector reform has moved on apace since the first of the Commonwealth Public Service Country Profile Series was launched in 1995 when the principles of New Public Management (NPM) were in an early stage of adoption. Since then, the various civil services described in the series have undergone radical change in scope, organization and approach rendering a revision timely. Now up dated and completely revised, these re-issued Country Profiles continue to be an accessible and valuable source of reference which attempt to both describe and analyze the often tumultuous and controversial public sector reforms which have taken place in contributing countries since 1995. Practicing bureaucrats, diplomats, political and academic audiences will find these new books invaluable in benchmarking best practice in public sector reform across Commonwealth member countries.

A country-by-country synopsis of the public sector reform programmes in 40 Commonwealth developing countries, with a profile of each country and an outline of the reform initiatives, implementation processes, achievements and problems encountered.

This book shares best practice in the design of better record management systems, including developing a Retention Schedule. Also covered is a manual used by ministries and departments as an example, and guideline formulas for using a schedule and indexing.

Economic realities have led governments to review their programmes. This work shows that any new approach must take into account a whole variety of factors. It sets out practices for better service provision which have emerged across the Commonwealth, emphasizing the choice available

This title was first published in 2000: Serving the State is an invaluable two-volume exploration of global trends in public administration education and training. Volume 2 of this important reference work explores traditions and contexts. Included for examination are the French and Islamic traditions, The Netherlands, Scandinavia, Latin America, Small Island States and former communist countries such as Poland and the Ukraine as well as other countries undergoing rapid economic change.

This is an update to the 1996 portfolio and continues to provide a framework for building and sustaining effective public service organisations, based on current good practice and the wide experience of senior public sector managers throughout the Commonwealth. The second edition contains much of the original material, now up-dated together with several new sections. The Portfolio update is designed to be used as a companion resource to the Public Service Country Profiles which, together, can be used as a basis for benchmarking to compare activities and best practices across different national settings.

How have Malta and Cyprus - both EU members – transitioned from colonial island states to independent democracies? With the assistance of primary documentation this book traces the difficult path of these two states to becoming independent liberal democracies by using the pathway of democratization through decolonization. Using socio-economic and political data, analysed through the microscope of political science and international relations theories, Isabelle Calleja Ragonesi charts the progress of the two islands in the context of a number of four distinct phases. Firstly decolonization, independence and achieving the status of procedural democracies; secondly post-colonial independence consolidating democracy and regime breakdown; thirdly sovereign nation-state status and second attempts at consolidating democracy and finally attempting to reach substantive democracy status and EU membership. The study of these two states is contextualized within the context of democratization in Southern Europe and the cases of Malta and Cyprus provide new insights on the region for scholars of political science and international institutions.