The past two and a half decades have seen major transformations in public sector management and governance across the globe. This book examines the ways public sector management and governance in Malaysia has changed and is changing under contemporary reform models. Chapters are written by well-established scholars and academics with intimate knowledge in their respective fields, and provide a thorough and insightful analysis of the reform trends and developments on a range of topics. These include performance management, compensation reforms, public budgeting, accounting and reporting, privatisation and public-private partnership, e-government, managing ethics and accountability, local government and inter-governmental relations. While the book surveys the topics that are central to public sector management and governance, it also focuses on the nature of reforms and changes that were introduced, as well as the forces that have shaped their design and implementation process, and the initial impacts and results. Overall, the book provides students and scholars of Politics and Southeast Asian Studies with a greater appreciation and deeper understanding of the recent developments and current trends of public sector management.

"A welcome addition to existing works on public policy and administration in Malaysia, given the scarcity of the existing literature. The issues discussed are backed by empirical findings carried out by the authors. Application of institutional analysis with many cases and empirical findings."--

Public sector reform has moved on apace since the first of the Commonwealth Profile Series was launched in 1995 when the principles of New Public Management (NPM) were in an early stage of adoption.

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, organisation and approach rendering a revision timely. Now up dated and completely revised, these reissued Country Profiles continue to be an accessible and valuable source of reference which attempt to both describe and analyse the often tumultuous and controversial public sector reforms which have taken place in contributing countries since 1995. Practising bureaucrats diplomats political and academic audiences will find these new books invaluable in benchmarking best practice in public sector reform across Commonwealth member countries.

This book argues that there is nothing inherently stable, persistent or enduring about institutions. By examining the various issues facing the Malaysian bureaucracy and adopting an institutional analysis, this book brings the point that institutions are disposed to change because they are fraught with tension due to the quality of institutions. Using various examples, it explains that such tension and change dynamics can come from institutional resources, the manner in which resources are distributed to different actors, the varying power configurations among institutional actors and the larger political, economic and social environment that institutions operate in.Accordingly, in examining the various concerns of the Malaysian bureaucracy, this book highlights the typologies of institutional change and the inherent tension over resources that exist among actors that makes reform attempts, at times, potentially problematic but not impossible. New concerns in public policy and governance that are yet to be discussed widely in the Malaysian public administration literature are raised, including issues on collaborative governance, public service motivation and representative bureaucracy.