Abstract

One of the insights gained from studying reforms in public organizations is that the political-administrative system is not – as is popularly believed – in a state of inertia, but actually in a state of flux. As internal and external preconditions and constraints change, so does the view of how to tackle problems, and of what the goals, solutions and consequences should or might be. In addition, reforms are producing countervailing reactions that are paving the way for new reforms. Light (1997) describes reforms in terms of tides that have ebbed and flowed over the decades as different reform philosophies have prevailed.