While public administration practice and education in general has become considerably professionalized in the last decade, existing knowledge on public administration in Southeast Asia is fragmented at best, and often devoid of a useful reference. While journal articles and government reports provide decentralized information, Public Administration in Southeast Asia: Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Macao takes a comprehensive and comparative look at the major components of administration systems. The selection of countries and regions included reflects the diversity of Southeast Asia. Organized by Country The handbook fills a critical need by bringing together leading scholars who provide an insider perspective and viewpoint on essential and advanced issues. Divided into five sections, each dedicated to a particular country, the text outlines topics relevant to modern public administration, including: History and Political Context of Public Administration Decentralization and Local Governance Public Ethics and Corruption Performance Management Reforms Civil Service System Focusing on recent developments in public administration in these countries which are among the fastest growing economies in the world, the book explores their practices and innovative approaches in public administration. For many years people have been fascinated by the cultures, peoples, and governments of Southeast Asia, and now they have a book that discusses the apparatus of government in Southeast Asia – their agencies, contexts, processes, and values.

This Handbook offers a critical analysis of the major theoretical and empirical issues in public policy and public administration in China. Investigating methodological, theoretical, and conceptual themes, it provides an insightful reflection on how China is governed.

This book investigates the case of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) of People’s Republic of China, mapping the changing patterns of political-administrative relations affected by the sovereignty change and structural reforms. It identifies the conditions that account for the varied political-administrative relations resulting from these changes, and develops an analytical framework that integrates and adapts theories and models from Western contexts to explain varied political-administrative relations in Hong Kong policymaking. The book tests its hypotheses through a qualitative comparative analysis of 18 cases occurring during the period of 1997–2012. It also conducts a comparative case analysis, which identified alternative causal conditions that were missing in the original framework. The book concludes that civil servants no longer dominate policymaking in Hong Kong after the regime change and structural reforms. While senior civil servants have sustained influence over policymaking processes through codified rules and political appointment, some of them have adapted to the changes in political environment that require more proactive policy styles and more hierarchical loyalty to the Central People’s Government of China than before. The first-hand interview materials presented in the book provide insights about internal political-administrative dynamics rarely accessible from the public domain. These insights provide inside knowledge of the actors, structure and processes of local policymaking in a context of post-colonial transition, and will be of interest to public administration scholars.

This book describes and analyses the role of the public sector in the often-charged political atmosphere of post-1997 Hong Kong. It discusses critical constitutional, organisational and policy problems and examines their effects on relationships between government and the people. A concluding chapter suggests some possible means of resolving or minimising the difficulties which have been experienced.

Presents a comprehensive new text on administrative law in Hong Kong; discusses judicial review, administrative tribunals, the Ombudsman and subsidiary legislation.

Education reform has become a highly political issue in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) since the transfer of sovereignty to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Lo and Hung focus on the political struggles among stakeholders, including the government of Hong Kong, the Catholic Church, parents, students, teachers, the central authorities of Beijing, and even the bureaucratic politics between Beijing, the Hong Kong government and the Examination Authority. They examine the key elements of education reform in the HKSAR, including language and curriculum reform, national security education, civic and patriotic education, the rise of the pro-Beijing education elites and interest groups, and the revamp of examination questions and examination authority. The entire education reform in the HKSAR has pushed the Hong Kong education system toward a process of mainlandization, making Hong Kong’s education system more similar to the mainland system with emphasis on political "correctness" in the understanding of Chinese national security, history and culture. Highlighting the political struggles among the various stakeholders, this book is essential for scholars of Hong Kong and China, especially those with an interest in the relationship between education and politics.