Defining the challenge, making the change: A study of public administration reform in Arab transitions

The Arab Spring demonstrated the widening gap between ordinary citizens and their political institutions and the need for more inclusive, transparent and accountable governance. In mass protests, ordinary citizens expressed a desire to recast the relationship between the State and the citizen through a new social contract based on parity of esteem and equal opportunity irrespective of ethnicity, class, age, gender, religion and political affiliation. This constituted both a social and an institutional challenge that requires a focus on governance rather than government. Arab States have seen changes in the nature of the social problems that they are confronting and in the way they can be talked about and addressed. In the past, governments could simply command people to do things but this is not so easily done now. The problems that Arab States face are often multi-dimensional and complex. We live in a world where more interests have specialized knowledge, more citizens are educated and articulate, and more individuals use social media to rapidly form and then reform collective identities. To solve the collective problems they face requires action from government but also action from a range of nongovernmental actors and citizens themselves. Change governance is the phrase we use to capture this new terrain of governing.