ADMINISTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC:

PERSPECTIVE AND PROBLEM AREAS

Roman Dubsky

Administration as a field of theory and practice has increasingly moved in a new direction in the South Pacific. It is the aim of this study to identify this direction and examine the nature of change that has oc­curred in this field from the early 1970s onward. Experience in the region, like recent experience in other developing areas, indicates considerable

change in the nature of administrative systems and problems as a result of commitment of Pacific states to accelerated development. There has been, for example, a vast extension in the activities of public institutions, and similarly private organisations have assumed a growing importance in the context of development. Increasingly, the influence of advanced tech­nology has made itself felt, affecting administrative practice. Such major changes in Pacific administrative systems, both public and private, call

, for an appraisal of these systems as they are at present. This involves attempts to identify the new trends in administrative thought and practice and to redefine the role of administrative studies in the light of changing social and political conditions.

This article focuses on the theoretical aspect of administration, known as administrative studies. It is evident that for administrative studies to be an effective discipline! it should provide a theoretical ex­planation of the concept of administra~ion that goes beyond mere description of actual administrative practice. It should offer a theoretical focus that can serve both as a meaningful conception of reality and a useful guide to future administrative action. It is the main objective of this study to identify such a focus. The method used for arriving at this objective is dialectical, following progressive social science. A progressive theory may be said to follow a progression of reality, acconmodating itself to new conditions. By identifying emerging trends in development, theory should provide a valuable guide to future action, helping to focus both practical and intellectual energies in the desired direction of development. A new realistic focus for the discipline is, then, likely to arise from

a dialectic 'confrontation' between theory and practice, although the dia­lectic meant in this context refers mainly to practice interpreted in terms of technological rather than more traditional political or ideological causes.

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The arglJTlent of the study covers three areas of administJ;'ative in­interest. The first is the development of administrative thought in the South Pacific since the early 1970s, which is intended to establish the desired trend in or focus for administrative studies and development. The second is the concept of the viability of Pacific administrative systems as this is reflected in the writings on administration in the region. In this connection, available literature and academic practice are briefly reviewed, and some specific problems are selected as areas of potential scholarly interest and suggestions are made about theoretical treatment of such areas. The third area covers another specific problem area, de­velopment planning, because this seems to exe~lify best the new trend in administrative development. In the concluding section, implications are drawn from the preceding arglJTlent for administrative studies in the region. In this connection, problems affecting administration which are, due to tra­di tional values and to the emergence of technocracy are considered and the prospect is explored for strengthening the trend in administrative theory and practice identified in the study.

This study may be expected to be useful in at least three ways. First, by providing a clear theoretical focus to the discipline of administrative studies, which then can serve as a guide in teaching and induce realistic arid progressive action. Second, by drawing attention to desirable future developments both in administrative theory and practice. Lastly, the study will fill, at least partially, an existing gap in the literature on adminis­tration in the South Pacific and hopefully will encourage further study and research in this field of interest.

ADMINISTRATION FOR DEVELOPMENT

In the South Pacific, the realisation of the need to appraise and reform existing administrative systems in the light of changing re~lity has been a gradual process, starting in the 1970s. It has come earlier in some Pacific countries, later in others, being closely associated with the ~rant­ing of politicaJ independence. In some areas, such as in national planning, new approaches were tried as early as the mid-1960s, at least in Fiji and Western Samoa. However, ref orms undertaken then were due mainly to prag­matic reasons having to do with efficiency, or rather the inefficiency, of prevailing government systems. They did not question the wisdom of such systems, inherited from the colonial past, which were now merely modified to suit the new independence era. In most cases this meant transformation of the old secretariat system of government administration into a

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Westminster-type systems, based on government ministries and departments. Within this administrative framework major structural or functional changes were not, at that time, undertaken or contemplated.

As the following argument indicates, conditions both in administrative practice and thought have not remained static. Inadequacy of existing govern­ment systems has been sufficiently strong to put increasingly in question the conventional administrative outlook and practice. This has led to subse­quent reforms in established institutions in all Pacific states. However, such reforms have been gradual, being spread over a considerable pe'riod of time. They involve an on-going process of administrative change and by the early 1980s have been introduced only partially.

In the area of administrative thought, changes that have occurred in the region during the period covered by this study have followed comparable changes in other developing areas. These have been essentially from the 'orthodox theory' of administration to a new concept of development admin­istration. The orthodox theory, which dominated the field of public adminis­tration perhaps until the 1960s, was brought to developing countries from advanced countries to be used as a prescription for administrative reforms. It was based on Max Weber's theory of bureaucracy and Frederick Taylor's and Henri F ayol' s theory of scientific management, . which were achievement­oriented and focused on administrative rationality and efficiency in the fulfillment of organisation goals (UN 1975:14). This theory was challenged from the 1960s onwards, when its limitations had become increasingly evident, for it had failed to properly relate administrative systems to the context of development. The concept of development administration, which emerged mainly in the 1960s was expected to overcome the shortcomings of orthodox concepts. It involved the view that administrative reforms occurring in developing countries should go beyond conventional administrative development. Rather, they should be based on a new concept of administration, of an 'admin­istration for development', which would focus explicitly on the objectives of development.

The emergence of the new orientation in administrative thought was due to several reasons. One was the emphasis in the new states on 'development' conceived as accelerated political, social and economic growth, where administrative development was treated as an appendage of political development. It was implied that, like all other developing systems, admin­istration also should become a developing system. Another reason was the emphasis on a special place of administration in development, which emerged

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in the 1950s and subsequently in the late 1960s and the 1970s. It involved the idea that administrative reforms could play a crucial role in national development by modernising government institutions and practice, and in this way they could also induce other types of development, including polit­ical and economic change. Finally, a shift in administrative thought was encouraged by the increased role which the state had come to play in the economies of nations. This is reflected in the vast extension of its ac­tivities in all developing countries, particularly in the area of economic policy. Also, by way of controls of one kind or another, the state had come to impinge more directly on the life of citizens than in the past. This then led to new ideas about the state and development and also affected ideas of administrative development.

As this new orientation is central to the present study, involving a new focus in administrative thought and values, it must be clearly defined and differentiated from the orthodox position. This will be done in the following argument. For the sake of brevity of exposition, the orthodox position will be presented by the Weberian model of bureaucracy only, which, as noted earlier, is one element of the orthodox theory.1

The concept of development administration departs radically from the conventional view of administrative systems (Dubsky 1979). It involves at least four major changes in administrative thought. One, from value neutrality to value corrmitment. Weber's model excludes all ethical judge­ment (i.e., a consideration as to what is good or desirable) from administra­tive judgements; administration is concerned only with the ~ of action, while the ends of actions are defined by others, normally political leaders. Development administration, on the other hand, is goal oriented, corrmitting itself explicitly to the desirability of certain general objectives, surrmed up under the concept 'development'. Indeed, this corrmitment is basic to the concept of development administration, which has been defined, in a well-known phrase by Weidner (1960:98), as "the process of guiding an organ­isation toward the achievement of progressive political, economic, and social objectives that are authoritatively determined in one manner or another."

The second change is from a relatively st.atic to a dynamic view of organisation. Weber views organisation as essentially a passive agent of the dominant political authority, functioning mechanically and rigid in its operation. Given a development orientation, however, organisation should be conceived in a dynamic way, as including innovative ideas and imaginative outlook, and as being flexible in its operation. The third change in thought, closely connected with the preceding gne,involves a contrast between 'closed'

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and 'open' systems of administration. The Weberian system assumes stability of the environment, is inward-looking in its outlook, focusing only on what happens within the system itself. The developmental system assumes a chang­ing environment and focuses on the impact on administration of a variety of external political, economic and social or cultural forces.

Finally, the nature of thought has undergone a change in the view of the role of administrative officials. Administrative relevance to a new environment, defined by the context of development, is said to call for a new conception of the role of the administrator, which goes beyond the simple portrait of the ideal bureaucrat sketched by Weber. In brief, in Weber's model administrative officials are conceived in terms of narrow functions, identified with specialisation within a rigidly-defined hier­archy of functions. In the theory of development administration they are conceived in terms of a wide range of tasks, often unorthodox in character, which are frequently outside their competence as mere 'specialists'. They become an 'agent of development' and their role involves such new tasks as, for instance, acting as planners, initiators of policies, managers of entreprises, participants in decision making and practitioners in problem solving. As I have stated elsewhere (Dubsky 1969:4):

Willy-nilly the administrator may have to transcend his tradi­tional, rather unexciting instrumental role to become a reform­ing innovator, planner, entrepreneur and executive of economic policy, all such quali ties combined in his one person. This will naturally require a new type of administrative imagination and certain qualities of personality, not seriously touched on in the conventional Weber ian model.

DEVELOPMENT REPORTS

In the South Pacific area, the new orientation in administration focused on development emerged in the early 1970s, although periodic use of it had been made in the preceding decade. With the possible exception of national planning (to be mentioned later), more comprehensive attempts to view Pacific administrative systems from this perspective started only during this period. A number of reports appeared written on administrative problems in the region, prepared mainly by international agencies, whose message was the need to reform existing administrative systems in a develop­mental direction. 2 Of these, perhaps the most useful for the present purpose, because of its comprehensive coverage, is one prepared by UNDAT

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in 1972, entitled "Public Administration in the South Pacific" (Angus 1 972) • Written by N.C. Angus, the report was short (only ten pages long) and was intended to provide, in its words, "a general appraisal of the situation relating to progression in public administration in the South Pacific area" (Angus 1972:1). The style and content of the report tell us a great deal about the state of aaninistration in the South Pacific region as it was perceived then, from a rather progressive point of view focusing on development.

The report is divided into several sections. The earlier sections describe the general social and political context of the region, identify organisations that operate region-wide and describe the "principal aanin­istrative problems of the region." Five such problems are identified: a lack of education properly adapted to the needs of Pacific countries; a shortage of ttades and skills necessary for the implementation of development plans, which only Fiji appeared to be tackling; problems associated with under-utilisation or failure to utilise customary land tenures; problems due to excessive popUlation growth; and those having to do with "the nature of the climate, the emphasis on personal relationships and the relative ease of subsistence food production." The last three characteristics are given particular prominence. They are said to "make nonsense of the western 'work ethic' in the minds of many of the indigenous people."

The later section focuses on the public service systems in the region. Their colonial heritage is emphasised. They are said to "have all been shaped and conditioned by the particular metropolitan power which once controlled or advised them" (Angus 1972: 7) • It is also indicated that, in their present operation, these systems have preserved their traditional orientation and that they do not exhibit any particular drive towards dynamic development. As the report puts it (Angus 1972:7):

There has been little restructuring of the services, and most of them still operate under personnel policies and rules inherited from colonial days. National policies and rules were heavily weighted in favour of law and order, elementary education, and health aaninistration. Speaking broadly, vigbrous policies of economic and social development were required of the public serv­ices only after independence, and, again speaking broadly, the public services were not orientated to meet these new challenges.

Other points indicate the conventional strengths and weaknesses of colonial-founded public service systems. Their strength is reflected in

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their smooth and reliable operation as well as in other beneficial qualities, summarised as follows (Angus 1972:7):

Their public reputations are reasonably high, and public ser­vants, with security of employment, better than average educa­tions and a regular cash income, are something of an elite in most cOf11Tlunities. There is no public evidence of corruption, and the metropolitan-created systems of personnel, stores and money controls appear to operate reasonably well.

On the other hand, these systems suffer from certain weaknesses which makes it difficult for them to cope with changes occurring or that are desirable in Pacific social and political systems. Several weaknesses are identi­fied in the report; for example, rapid growth of public services in number of personnel and tasks (with the result that "in spite of their still rela­tively small size, many of them seem to be moving towards Max Weber's model of developed bureaucracies"), brain drain, absence of "regular efficiency and economy reviews by competent, well-trained inspectors" in internal management, and so on. One weakness is given particular prominence and is declared to be "fundamental". This is lack of development orientation, which makes it difficult for administrators to assume new roles required in the context of development. As the writer puts in (Angus 1972:7,8):

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One fundamental weakness is the relative lack of high executive talent and experience in the public services capable of thinking and acting in development terms. Most of the public services appear to be able to handle an established programme of operations (health, public works, education, etc.) with average efficiency. They can also cope with clear and present emergencies like, for example, the recent Hurricane Bebe disaster. What they lack relative to need (as do so many other public services) is the creative imagination, experience and techniques able to help the political executive to discover and clarify its objective and priorities, to be able to report cogently and clearly the alternative possible course of action open to government, and to be able to promote change and development effectively, effi-ciently and economically. are able to administer

Put another way, most public services the status quo quite satisfactorily.

They are not, however, the powerful instruments of development which one feels the situation warrants if government development plans really represent the objectives of government, which one must assume they do. One major difficulty is that the relatively

few experienced, talented ac:kninistrators are so overloaded with work - and often with work of wide differences in subject-matter - that they have no time for vigorous follow-up of their decisions to ensure implementation of them.

The analysis of the 1972 UNDAT report throws considerable light on the form and scope of ac:kninistrative interest in the South Pacific in the early 1970s. First, it indicates that public administration systems in the region were basically conventional in their operations and outlook, despite the presence of the rhetoric of development in some Pacific coun­tries. This is explicitly stated: "This Report cannot consciously establish that there has been 'progress' in any meaningful sense of the term. The public services are coping, but only that." Second, it indicates that, although the need for reforms is often recognised, reforms are likely to be minor in scope, not focused on restructuring the systems. Also, more basic changes are likely to take a long time to be accomplished. As the author puts it, "There is no doubt in the mind of the UNDAT Public Administration Adviser that public service reform in the region is possible and desirable. Its implementation would [however] absorb some years of time" (Angus 1972:10). At least two major obstructions to early administra­tive reforms have been identified. One is the prevailing attitude of the people, mentioned earlier, which negates the Western 'work ethic' and in­vol ves a lack of ' challenge' • The other is a lack of firm conmitment to major reforms by national leaders who may not be willing to risk facing opposition to major changes or to upset the existing system by subjecting it to a comprehensive study. In his phrase, "The basic problem ••• is not technical. It is whether a government is prepared to risk the resistance and possible fall in morale of its public service if a serious study of its operations by an outside agency is to be requested" (Angus 1972:10). Lastly, the report contains significant limitations which throw additional light on the nature of administrative interests. It omits at least two major areas: development in the private sector and proposals consisting of specific strategies and techniques to improve the existing conditions. Instead the analysis remains solely on the level of identification of problems.

If this report summarises the state of conventional administration and emerging trends in administrative thought in the South Pacific during the 1970s, reports written a decade later, often by the same agencies and again focusing on the public sector, indicate several new developments. They suggest a more technical approach and a more conscious developmental

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focus, which is now better integrated into the overall system. Three areas seem to be given most attention: administrative training. planning for development and government reorganisation. which includes schemes of decentralisation. Among these reports, one is of a general nature, Public Administration: Some Analyses and Proposals. published by UNOAT in 1980 (McCutchan 1980). Unlike the previous 1972 report. this report is somewhat broader in scope. not being related solely to the region, and its source material is somewhat dated.

The choice of the topic and the main themes of this report are. however, significant, suggesting underlying thought. The argument focuses on public service systems and how these can be improved. Its emphasis is on improve­ment by training. In this connection, three areas are identified: training for the top management, training for the middle management, and follow-up procedures. Courses for top managers, for example, include planning, budg­eting and financial controls, motivations, staff evaluation, coordination and communication, "modern and appropriate management techniques", and a host of other topics. In middle management training the emphasis is on such subjects as delegation and control, leadership, public relations, communication theory, "getting along with your boss", "planning to work with your staff", "productivity with your staff", and so on. For follow­up procedures, one technique given emphasis is follow-up courses by the University of the South Pacific, consisting of a series of short refresher and reinforcing courses. Apart from training, a few other areas are briefly discussed as being in need of improvement. One of these, involves the pro­posal to define clearly departmental objectives in public service systems, which suggests the idea of structural re-organisation.

Although the 1980 report does not commit itself explicity to a development orientation, this appears to be implied in its emphasis on organisation and management capabilities and in the overall tone of its argument. More explicit commitment to the development thesis is found, however, in other documents or works written on administration in the South Pacific during the early 1980s. These will be mentioned in the subsequent section. Considered together, these works indicate that administrative acti~ ity has been increasingly perceived in relation to the framework of national development as well as the presence of a developmental focus in administra­tive thought.

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VIABILITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEMS: LITERATURE

The emergence in the South Pacific of a new developmental focus in administrative thought has made it imperative to view admir:listrative ac­tivity from a new per spective. The nature of administrative problems in the region now involves the question of the viability of Pacific systems in the context of development. How to make these systems, public or private, accord with their basic commitment to national development? How to increase their capabilities to achieve the desired objectives of development? These questions have become the major concern of all writings on administration in the region since the earl y 1 97os, and particularly in the early 1 98os. Works that have been published are focused mainly on public systems, but occasionally also private organisations have been tackled. Trends in these works and in the teaching of the subject will be described presently.

The literature in this field during the earlier period consists mainly of documents published by Pacific government or U.N. agencies and of articles on problems of public or business organisations. Government documents comprised r~orts on specific issues of reform, annual reports by various departments (e.g., finance, planning office, Public Service Commission) or national development plans. U.N. reports, as that by UNDAT, focused attention mainly on general public administration, administrative training and government reorganisation in particular Pacific states. There were also reports prepared by regional organisations such as SPEC which tended to concentrate on areas of particular administrative interest.

The overwhelming emphasis in the 1970s was on training. This is reflected in the appearance of many publications in this area, some by the University of the South Pacific, and to the establishment of at least two training-focused institutions in the region, one in Fiji (the Fiji National Training Council) and another in the Solomon Islands (the Administrative Training Centre). Some of these publications were only of an introductory character; e.g., USP's "Course for Senior Administrators and Managers" (1971) and "Course for Senior Supervisors: Suva" (1973). The scope of interest in training may be gauged by the "Selected 8iblio­graphy of Reports on Training in the South Pacific 1969-1974", mentioned in "Training in Administration and Management at the University of the South Pacific", which refers to as many as thirty works focused on training, cover­ing the countries of the region. 3 Most of these pUblications were guides used in seminars or training courses, aiming at upgrading or developing administrative skills at different levels. Apart from training, some re­search work was done in the late part of the decade in connection with

27:1

university teaching, which was focused mainly on government structures or institutions in the various South Pacific countries.

In the early 1980s interest in study and research in the field of aaninistration has increased greatly and spread to new areas. For example, works have started to be written on government decentralisation or local government reorganisation, on public and private organisations, development planning, administration of rural development, entrepreneurship in small business and in the area of policy analysis, all drawing on specific ex­perience in the South Pacific and all ascribing to, or assuming, a framework of development. These works include Ali and Gunasekera (1982), Carroll (1982a, 1982b), Hailey (1982) and Dubsky (1982, 1984), Chawla and Wadhwani ( 1983), Young (1984), Gunasekera (1981, 1 982), Higgins and Sukhdeo (1983), Premdas and Steeves (1984), SPEC (1982) , and UNDAT (1982, 1983) • 4 An interesting initiative in this field has been the founding in 1983 of a new journal in management, Pacific Journal of Management, published by USP.

Much of the research on administration in the region has come from the University of the South Pacific. Research seems to have been encouraged by university authorities and given financial backing. The discipline of Administrative Studies has been particularly active. During 1981-1983 re-search conducted by or decentralisation, development planning,

its members covered such topics as local government administrative training, public service systems,

small business enterprises, entrepreneurship in small businesses, management education, management motivation, government policy toward industry, management of rural development, regionalisation of national administration, aspects of policy analysis, aspects of constitutional stud­ies, legal anthropology, and personnel problems in the tourist industry in Fiji. It is significant that all these topics dealt with Pacific problems and that their treatment reflected the framework of development.

The Administration discipline has also led the way in teaching admin­istrative theory and practice and in introducing through teaching the new advances in administrative thought. To simplify somewhat, in the late 1970s the emphasis in teaching was largely conventional public administration, while in "the early 1980s the development administration approach has become increasingly central, supported by an emphasis on organisation and management and a new course in policy analysis. Also, a new stream in business admin­istration has been introduced which is likely to expand in the future with the rising desire to strengthen private entreprise, marketing and manage­ment systems in the region. A good example of the transformation in teach­ing occurring in the discipline is the change in the content and form of

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the introductory course to administration. In the 1970s the foc·us was on public administration, involving an essentially legalist and descriptive approach. This course has undergone a change in the early 1980s to become oriented toward organisation and management behaviour.

A brief review of literature and teaching in the South Pacific in the field of administration indicates an increased use of a development frame­work in response to emerging demands for a more robust type of development. It also reveals a relative poverty of literature and an uneven coverage. Many important areas of rising interest are not considered or are considered only inadequately: for example, the effect of smallness or the 'tyranny of distance' on regional systems, the impact of indigenous culture and values on administrative practice, the operation of administr.ative organisations at the informal level, the network of communication, the effect of adopting advanced managerial models and techniques on administrative behaviour and efficiency, and the position of the upper civil servants in government decisio~making. Omitted or not given serious treatment are also such other important issues as conflicts ar1s1ng in the public service in some countries due to differences in ethnic or cultural interests, friction ari­sing in the context of centralisation versus decentralisation of authority, the place of women in administrative systems, participation of the people or the private sector in decision-making, the question of democratisation and regionalisation of systems, and decentralisation of or accessibility to public goods and services particularly in the rural areas. The failure to deal with such issues draws attention to the need for more extensive research and for broadening the scope of academic and teaching interest in the Pacific region both in public and private administration.

In the subsequent two sections a few specific areas of administrative interest will be considered to suggest how these areas can conceivably become an object of scholarly research and so enrich administrative theory and teaching. Most of these areas already have been subject to theoretical treatment in the existing literature on administration, however, such lit­erature has not been explicitly focused on smaller countries as those in the Pacific.

UTILISATION OF RESOURCES

Utilisation of resources is of considerable importance for Pacific administrative systems in the context of development. Several areas could be subject to scholarly interest in this field, some of which have been

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already partly explored (Carroll and Dubsky 1982). One such area is that of adaptation of conventional organisation and management approaches (characterised by strict specialisation or rigid separation of functions) to the Pacific development context. A number of possible reforms can be considered in this connection, two of which will be explicitly identified. (I shall focus on the public sector only, but the argument would undoubtedly apply also to private institutions.) One involves the adoption of a multi­functional approach. In a situation where major under-utilisation of resources and services exists due to limited clientele, amalgamation of functions may be a more realistic practice than strict specialisation. Public employees may be asked to perform more than one task or particular divisions (e.g., personnel) need not be kept strictly separate or self-con­tained but may serve several ministries. This would conceivably allow more flexibility in the service, both horizontal and vertical, and be more eco­nomical by pooling the use of existing resources. Another possible reform involves a limitation on the number of public agencies. Effective use of national resources requires that undue multiplication of such agencies be prevented. Experience in many developing states indicates that excessive growth of government agencies is too costly and that it creates considerable problems in both personnel and equipment. Moreover, in small countries a proliferation of agencies is likely to interfere with rather than facil­itate a smooth flow of administrative work, for it departs from the idea of simplicity of systems. Therefore, there should be a maximum limit on the number of agencies, which may be arbitrarily set.

Another major area of utilisation of resources is administrative de­centralisation. This has assumed increased importance with the trend in most Pacific states towards regionalisation and devolution of central power. In this connection at least four dimens10ns can be considered:

1) Delegation of authority or responsibility, particularly to middle-ranking officials. This move may go a long way to solving the problem of overload which is common at the level of senior positions. It should lessen some of the burden associated with highly centralised administrative systems and also reduce difficulties of communication resulting from considerable distance existing between islands which make effective administrative action and control hard to achieve. In addition, this should give the oppor­tunity to middle-ranking civil servants to utilise their potential more fully and to test their suitability for higher positions.

2) Greater reliance on more traditional ways of running local administrative systems. This may be a practical and workable measure, which may save

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valuable human and other resources for more strategic uses. Activities in this area may include, for instance, dispensation of justice in certain cases, self-help and efforts at mobilising rural people for development.

3) Participation and self-reliance. In this context, 'participation' involves a more direct voice by the island people in running their local systems, partaking in the local decision-making process, while 'sel f - reli­ance' in its local application means a return to more traditional ways of running island communities, as it has been suggested in the previous point. Traditional administrative structures could be coopted to become a part of the newly-created structures.

4 ) An integrated area approach to development. This is a new approach that could be explored in decentralisation as an addition to the prevailing sectoral approach. In this case, the focus in development are particular territorial units that are viewed for certain reasons (of geography, accessibility, etc.) to be particularly manageable for purposes of effective planning and development.

There are also other areas of utilisation of resources which deserve a deeper conceptual treatment than they are getting. For instance, there is the issue of inventory or management audit of administrative resources and their review at regular periods, which should encourage a more rational assessment of administrative potential and needs, and so a more rational use of resources in administration. Also there is the issue of regional cooperation in administration, involving the pooling of scarce resources and knowledge among the various Pacific countries. This would reflect the willingness of regional leaders to share experts and relevant facilities as with the pooling scheme for technical assistance advocated by IY\boya for African developing states. Dr there is the issue of clarification of the distinction between political and administrative functions, meant to prevent conflicts of authority which tend to arise when vague or excesslvely general notions of authority are held. Another issue is that of 'brain drain', prevalent in many regional states, and the issue of speeding up the localisation process, meant to increase self-reliance of regional administra­tive systems.

DEVELOPMENT PLANNING

The area of administration or organisation of development planning is another problem area in need of extensive study because of the central

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role that this activity has come to play in Pacific economic and social systems. In this field serious study and research is scarce and only in 1983 was an attempt made to give this subject a comprehensive coverage, involving five Pacific states (Dubsky 1984). Available resources comprise mostly government reports and development plans. Some advances in this field have been made in teaching. This is exemplified by an increased use in the early 1980s of development documents in many USP courses. At least one course, offered by the university, entitled "Administration in the Context of Development", is focused partly on this area; since 1982 planning and budgeting have constituted a major part of its content.

The neglect of theoretical interest in this area is rather surpnslng. Not only because of the growing importance of this activity, but at least for two other reasons as well. One is that in the organisation of national planning the focus on development has preceded other areas of administration, public and private, by perhaps a decade, as development planning started in the Pacific (at least in Fiji and Western Samoa) in the early 1960s. The second reason is the relative wealth of potential topics which this area offers for scholarly study and research. Some of these topics will be elaborated briefly belOUJ.

One topic is the nature of development planning. This can be defined in terms of a comprehensive type of planning, integrated into the framework of national development, and as a departure from conventional approaches to planning. It involves a host of concepts and strategies whose novelty has been recorgnised in all Pacific countries. For example, Fiji's Development Plan 6, the first plan with the new orientation, claims to be "a departure from previous Plans in that it attempted to take a comprehensive view of the economy and its problems and presented the Plan in an integrated framework." Or Western Samoa's Development Plan 1 is said to have "laid a basic foundation for an institutional and policy framework for progress towards systematic and sustained economic and social planning for the future. " Dr Development Plan 1975-1979 in the Solomon Islands presents itself as "a Plan with a fresh look; not only does it look different and follOUJ a different layout from previous Plans but it also is based on a new approach to planning for development. We believe that planning is necessary to get the best use of our national resources for national development." The contrast between the old and the new focus in planning activities is summarised in the following statements by two Pacific planners (Dub sky 1984):

The earlier plans were basically public expenditure capital pro-

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gralTlTles whereas OP5 attempted to look at the overall national development. It introduced the concept of macro planning. [Fiji]

These early plans were really statements of projects, a list of projects. Development plans should have consistency and should cover the social sectors, infrastructure, government sectors as a whole, but the early plans tended to focus on piecemeal, specific projects such as roads, plantations, mostly economic planning. [Vanuatu]

Another topic is the organisation of this activity. This includes broadly a wide range of aspects all of which deserve a more detailed study. Important among these are organisation structures of national planning agencies, coordination within an agency and with other agencies, organisa­tional division of planning activities, growth of agencies in staff and activities, institutionalisation of participation by the people and the private sector in planning decisions, the role of politicians in the planning process, as well as such more technical issues as evaluation, monitoring and reviewing, mechanism for implementation of plans, progralTlTles and pro­jects, generating data for planning, and so on.

A topic also deserving attention in connection with development planning is the emergence of technocracy which has become a strong feature of all Pacific planning systems. This is identified with excessive emphasis on technical or technological solutions to all problems and with the tendency in decision-making to favour ideas of advanced technology and science. In planning, the technocratic influence is reflected, for example, in the increased use of concepts and strategies of advanced technology and science, including advanced organisation and management or economic models and macro approaches, comprehensive ideas about the utilisation of national resources and the use of computers. All of these imply attempts to rationalise econom­ic and social systems and to exert control over their operation, which is the hallmark of technocratic interest. Although Pacific planners themselves deny the ambition to act as technocratic managers (I social engineers I) and claim to be merely I policy advisers I, their real . influence in national policies has undoubtedly increased greatly. The reason for this is the centrality of planning activity in national development and the fact that consul tation of the people or people I s participation in planning has been quite limited in scope (Oubsky 1984).

This technocratic influence in planning should be explored in depth because of its potential impact on the nature of development in the region.

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In time, it may adversely affect established social, cultural and political values by becoming a major influence in undermining such values. This i s conceivable because, with its relative disregard of traditional ideas of progress and its complete faith in technology, technocracy introduces a new element in thought, which challenges established ideologies and values and may even be viewed as competing with them. For this reason the emerging technocratic trend may be in need of critical evaluation as to its desir­ability in the Pacific. Such evaluation would likely focus on the neglect in technocracy of humanist approaches to development and on the adverse effect of technocracy on existing political and cultural values. Criticism may come challenge

from those Pacific politicians who perceive technocracy as a to prevailing ideas of political development and to their

supremacy. An interesting possible example of direction against overly technocratic planning in the Pacific is the complete absence of formal comprehensive planning since 1981 (for three years) in the Solomon Islands, which may be related to dissatisfaction with the formal, technocratic style of planning done there in the early 1980s. Technocratic planning apparently failed to reflect adequately the new trend in the polity toward devolution of political authority and decentralisation of development. Another criticism would undoubtedly come from the advocates of the influential dependency theory who deny the possibility of any genuine social development in the South Pacific as long as capitalism is the dominant influence in the region's economic systems.

DEVELOPMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE STUDIES

The argument of the study has led to several findings about admin­istrative theory and practice in the South Pacific. The first general find­ing is the emergence of a new orientation both in adninistrative thought and practice, focused on development. This has been defined and contrasted with the preceding orientation. The argument indicates its increasing pre­dominance in the writings on administration in the region since the early 1970s and also in teaching since the late part of that decade. It is evident that the idea of development constitutes a link between the emerging trend in both administrative theory and practice, which suggests a progressive and realistic approach in this field of study. Further progress may call for expanding, strengthening, and making deeper the application of develop­ment orientation to administrative theory.

Another finding of the study draws aUention to a relative poverty of literature in this field. There is a heavy reliance on government

278

documents and U.N. reports, but scholarly works, involving a more objective analysis and critical approach, are lacking (although the subject of admin­istration in the region is frequently touched on in works written by economists, sociologists or political scientists from their own perspective). Also, the coverage of this topic is uneven and a broader treatment of admin­istrative problems, involving a comparative approach, is, with a few ex­ceptions, lacking. As the preceding argument indicates, conditions in this field have improved greatly in the early 1980s. However, positive encourage­ment of more extensive study and more specialised research may be necessary if the discipline of administration is to keep up with rapid changes occurring in Pacific systems and if it is to provide the desired conceptual and inspi­rational guidance to administrative action.

Another finding of the study is the emergence of a technocratic orienta­tion, particularly in development planning. It is evident that Pacific planners enjoy a growing influence, which, despite claims to the contrary, is in a technocratic direction. This makes technocracy an important phenom­enon in the region's administrative systems. However, the influence of technocracy in the region may not be in a desired direction; it may have an adverse impact on currently held values and culture. This impact cannot be disregarded. For this reason, a legitimate part of administrative study in the Pacific should be research focused on technocracy, and the implica­tions of the technocratic orientation for administrative development - and more broadly for social and political development - should be critically examined. Finally, the findings of the study indicate two conflicting trends in Pacific systems, one assertive of traditional or conventional administra­tive values, another towards modernising values, as social forces are pulling in different directions. Such conflicts draw attention to the special nature of administrative experience in the region. It should be the task of Pacific administrative theory and study to define the nature of such experience.

A theory which is proposed for Pacific administrative studies would, it seems, avoid extreme traditional and modernising elements. Arguably, mere reliance in administrative action on conventional wisdom would be un­realistic, for this would block all chances of progress, which is said to be wanted. On the other hand, extreme modernisation may be similarly un­realistic, for when undertaken too fast and in relative isolation from the prevailing conditions and values, it is not likely to add much to the effectiveness of administrative systems; indeed, it may even have disruptive effects on them. This is supported by the experience with administrative modernisation in other areas of development, where rapid imposition of ad-

279

vanced rationality has led to unworkable results, as the existing systems have tended to develop what Fred Riggs calls "formalism" and "ritualism" in administrative conduct, professing modern values, while, when the pressure is removed, practising established social values. Rather, a theory appro­priate to Pacific conditions would seek to blend the two elements.

A progressive administrative theory in the context of Pacific develop­ment, both relevant to Pacific conditions and useful as a guide to action, would, then, comprise not only a development orientation, but also an appro­priate balance between the two elements, convention and development. It is this, of course, that Pacific leaders claim to seek in their conduct of public policy. This is one of the basic questions facing administrative studies in the region today, how to bring about such a desirable condition. A variety of possible answers may be offered, but these are still subject to further scholarly research by theorists of administrative development.

As a contribution of this study three proposals will be offered to suggest a possible direction of such research. One is the adoption of ex­perimentation in administrative theory rather than rigid imitation of im­ported models. This involves the willingness to view administrative problems in the light of actual Pacific experience and to modify relevant models to suit existing conditions, focusing on the modification of conventional notions of management and organisation in the context of small Pacific island states, as proposed in the earlier argument. Another proposal involves the idea of giving recognition in administrative development to traditional structures, involving the willingness to incorporate such structures to a degree into developing systems in the Pacific. This has been exemplified by plans for decentralisation of administration. Finally, the idea of pro­gressive administrative studies appropriate to Pacific countries seems to call for a broader, more general approach to administrative development, on which issues of administrative theory and practice would be closely connected with desired objectives in other areas of national development. It is evident that administrative study, if it is to serve as a tool of development, must adapt itself to such broader objectives of national development, which will also include the goals of social, economic and po­litical development as these are professed by particular Pacific countri~s.

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FOOTNOTES

1. It may be objected that the choice of a contrast between the orthodox Weberian theory and development administration is too narrow, as many aspects of the new theory (e.g., the emphasis on flexibility of systems) are found also in other organisation theories, particularly the sys­tems theory. The implications of this argument seems to be to deny the novelty of the 'development' focus in administration. However, at least two points can be made in support of the position taken in this study. The first is that the concept of development administration itself has come in existence mainly in opposition to the orthodox theory, particularly to the orthodox notion of administrative rational­ity, or as a reaction to orthodox concepts and techniques applied in the past to administration. The second point is that most organisation theories today have been focused on the maintenance of systems, on system stability, while it is exactly the message of development ad­ministration to advocate a contrary position, emphasising the need for de-stabilising administrative systems and introducing major changes in them.

2. Several such reports were written during the period 1972 to 1973 by N.C. Angus, UNDAT's Public Administration Adviser, on Fiji, the Solomons and Western Samoa, including a general report on "Public Administra­tion in the South Pacific" (1972), analysed in this article.

3. See "Selected Bibliography of Reports on Training in the South Pacific, 1969-1974" in USP (1974:VII-IX).

4. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of literature in this field.

281

FOOTNOTES

1 • It may be objected that the choice of a contrast between the orthodox Weber ian theory and development administration is too narrow, as many aspects of the new theory (e.g., the emphasis on flexibility of systems) are found also in other organisation theories, particularly the sys­tems theory. The implications of this argument seems to be to deny the novelty of the 'development' focus in administration. However, at least two points can be made in support of the position taken in this study. The first is that the concept of development administration itself has come in existence mainly in opposition to the orthodox theory, particularly to the orthodox notion of administrative rational­it y , or as a reaction to orthodox concepts and techniques applied in the past to administration. The second point is that most organisation theories today have been focused on the maintenance of systems, on system stability, while it is exactly the message of development ad­ministration to advocate a contrary position, emphasising the need for de-stabilising administrative systems and introducing major changes in them.

2. Several such reports were written during the period 1972 to 1973 by N.C. Angus, UNDAT's Public Administration Adviser, on Fiji, the Solomons and Western Samoa, including a general report on "Public Administra­tion in the South Pacific" (1972), analysed in this article.

3. See "Selected Bibliography of Reports on Training in the South Pacific, 1969-1974" in USP (1974:VII-IX).

4. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of literature in this field.

2B1

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