Greater China Dialogue on public administration: New research now available

Australia’s relationship with China has never been more important. ANZSOG’s Greater China Dialogue on Public Administration has been building research links and deeper understanding between the jurisdictions since 2011.

Papers from the 2018 and 2019 Dialogues – on urban governance and the use of technology in public administration – have recently been published in the Australian Journal of Social Issues and the Asia Pacific Journal of Public Administration and are now available free until the end of February.

These articles, by academics from Australia and Greater China, detail developments in government administration in both the Peoples Republic of China and Taiwan, including a focus on urban governance and the use of new technology in public administration. The articles on Australia are also highly topical and relevant for practitioners with an interest in using new technology, urban governance and designing governance structures.

Papers from the 2019 workshop, published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Public Administration, explore the opportunities and challenges from public sector use of new technology. Chinese papers describe the evolution of public-private partnerships to make better use of technology, acknowledging the difficult challenges involved, and the way technology can improve the capacity of the legislature to oversee government budgets and performance in China.

Australian papers include an examination of the use of Artificial Intelligence and the challenges that must be addressed, a highly practical articulation by a former Australian Statistician on how best to manage new technology and the use of big data, a study of the APSC’s ‘professions model’ including for IT, and an exploration of the dilemmas in performance management and use of new technology.

Papers from the 2018 workshop published earlier this year in the Australian Journal of Social Issues focus on urban governance. They compare developments in the huge Chinese cities and Australian cities, and include studies of Australia’s experience in developing communications infrastructure and of our history of oscillating Commonwealth interest in cities and the more recent shift towards bipartisan interest.

Papers from the 2017 workshop were published this year by ANU Press in a book, Designing Structures for Performance and Accountability. The book complements an earlier one, Value for Money, on budgeting and financial management. The articles in the new book explore how the appropriate degree of independence of administration from politics varies with function and is reflected in governance structures. It also examines developments in aged care and disability services including through partnerships with the non-government sectors. Articles also describe the use of informal arrangements including the use of ‘small leading groups’ in China to address issues across agencies and jurisdictions.

Visit the Greater China Dialogue on public administration webpage for access to papers from earlier workshops, including those published in the Australian Journal of Public Administration. covering such issues as citizens-centred services, inter-governmental relations and HRM and the concept of merit.