The paper analyzes 3 main trends: (t1) The economic development in the Muslim world is slower than in the rest of the world. (t2) The world grows increasingly democratic due to rising incomes, but this trend does not affect the Muslim world. (t3) The world grows increasingly secular due to...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the working of the Ombudsman offices in six developing democracies in the Commonwealth Caribbean in order to assess/evaluate the degree or extent of effectiveness of these offices. It aims to look at them from both contemporary and...

Gives a personal account of the author’s memories and experiences of apartheid prior to South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994. Looks at the changes which have taken place in the nature and function of governance in South Africa ‐ from oppression to liberation ‐ and the...

The White Paper on Local Government in South Africa signals the intention to establish a performance management system for the sector. This paper suggests that current approaches to performance management, as used, for instance, in the UK public sector, would need substantial revision to be...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the overarching lessons to be gleaned from 30 years of public management literature. Design/methodology/approach The methodology was simple: review the professional literature generated during that time period. Findings Despite important...

Purpose – To shed light on the political economy aspect of post‐conflict reconstruction in Iraq and illustrate how bad governance and economic mismanagement has devastated a country once endowed with abundant natural and human resources. Design/methodology/approach – The wealth of...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe an example of populism in the Caribbean. Populism is a worldwide phenomenon but little has been published about the development of populist politics in the Caribbean region, where it may find a unique expression. Design/methodology/approach...