Today, India is one of the leading players on the global stage. It is competing with other countries not just in the marketplace but also in respect of its governance structures. This book underscores the need for creating a modern civil service, which epitomizes best practices overseas and in the private sector, and exemplifies contemporary management philosophy, and techniques. Using a comparative approach, S.K. Das identifies a range of initiatives that will serve to transform the civil service into a world-class organization, compatible with strategic, economic, and technological requirements of the twenty-first century. Based on the reform experiences of Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, and the UK, these initiatives have been carefully modulated to suit India's requirements. Underlining the challenges involved in reforming the bureaucracy, the author also discusses the legislative, administrative, and procedural changes necessary to build a high-performing civil service.

Explores the options for political reform in China. Presents the argument for building a consultive rule of law regime as an alternative to liberal democracy, provides critiques of this thesis, and then tests the thesis through empirical studies on the development of the rule of law in China.

This monograph identifies a range of initiatives for reforming the civil services in India from a comparative perspective. The reform experiences of countries like the UK, Sweden, and New Zealand are analysed and modulated to suit India's requirements.

The deficiencies in the capability of the state to design and implement effective policies are arguably the biggest development challenge facing developing countries like India. This book seeks to assess state capability in India, identify weaknesses in policy design and programme implementation, and their causes, and propose some measures to remedy them. Importantly, it does so while recognizing political economy constraints and focusing predominantly on the administrative contributors. To this extent, the book's suggestions are practical enough for adoption by stakeholders at different levels. It describes the institutional design, constitutional provisions, the organizational structure, and the personnel of the Indian state. It covers a wide spectrum of aspects impacting state capability, ranging from ideological narratives and systemic constraints to procedural and personnel management issues to the behaviours and attitudes of individual bureaucrats. It offers a new analytical framework to think about effectiveness of state on the policy-making process. It also offers a nuanced perspective and suggestions on many of the popular themes in public administration - size of the state, generalist and specialist debates, lateral entry, digital monitoring systems in governance, outsourcing and private participation, use of consultants, risk aversion in bureaucracies, performance-based incentives, programme evaluations, and so on. Finally, being participants and observers in the bureaucratic system, the authors describe reality without always seeking to locate it in the framework of existing academic literature, thereby offering fresh insights and enriching the discourse on state capability.

Deepak Gupta did his BA from Allahabad, MA from St Stephen’s college and MPhil in International relations from JNU. From the IAS batch of 1974, he has spent many years in the field in the erstwhile state of Bihar, including two districts (Saharsa 1979–80; Rohtas 1986–88) as Collector. He served in many departments in state and center and was also posted in India Trade Centre, Brussels and spent a year as WHO Advisor on TB in Delhi. He retired in 2011 as Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. After retirement he consulted with the World Bank and UNIDO and writes on issues of energy and sustainable development. He was Chairman of UPSC from November 2014 to September 2016. His published works include Documentation of Participatory Irrigation Management, Covering a Billion with DOTS, Achieving Universal Energy Access in India: Challenges and Way Forward, and Caught by the Police.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of India’s public services and bureaucratic systems, and explores why widespread corruption and inefficient delivery have slowed development. It: discusses the underlying reasons for the prevailing inefficiency in public services; examines the complex linkages between ethics-based public service, India’s cultural and spiritual heritage, and its current economic development model; and outlines ways to create an ethics code and an environment that is conducive to better administration and good governance. Lucid, accessible, and meticulously researched, this will prove essential to scholars and students of public administration, governance studies and political science, particularly bureaucrats, policy-makers and civil service aspirants.