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Techno-bureaucratic governance is fundamental to contemporary public service. This is because the roles of the bureaucrats and technocrats become more relevant in policy formulation and implementation when the government had to (re)invent its institutions to move from routine administration to that of development planning and management. Utilizing a qualitative approach, the paper notes that techno-bureaucratic ideology values technical expertise itself and its technical experts, efficiency, economic development and effective public service delivery. Adopting comparative perspective, the paper examines techno-bureaucratic governance and public service delivery in Indonesia and Nigeria. The paper takes a cursory look at the similarities and differences between the two countries. The paper notes that the technocracy nurtured by the New Order in Indonesia was cohesive and effective because of its technical expertise and has helped Indonesia to turn oil income into productive investments,whereas in Nigeria the oil income was used for prestigious projects to the detriment of productive investments. The paper therefore recommend among others that developing societies need a new strategy in delivery services in their public service, and this can be achieved through skilled <br />professionals, technocrats and knowledge based actors. It concludes that for public service to deliver effective services, an efficient bureaucracy and technocracy remain invaluable.

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One of the widely held beliefs in public management is that strict commitment to an ideology of public service values, which is a critical factor in the delivery of public services. However, with the introduction of market-oriented reforms-innovations, most of these values face severe and serious challenges. This study, using a comparative and analytical method, examines the principles which underpin the African governments’ program of innovation in public service delivery and in particular the traditional public service ethos. The article reveals that over the years, African public services and those who work in them fall short of the ideal leading to the attempt to innovate by introducing the market values which have equally raised questions about possible threats to the ethos. After identifying some challenges that innovation may pose, the article suggests that traditional public sector ethos should be redefined to allow for innovative ideas in service delivery. Finally, the study concludes that a new “synthesized” ethos that draws on the core elements of bureaucratic principles as well as market based values, would deliver superior public services.

Performance management has attracted a lot of debate in the recent past. It is a systematic effort to improve performance through an ongoing process of establishing desired outcomes, setting performance standards to improve performance and productivity and aim at improving the quality of public service delivery. In view of this, the article discusses the extent to which performance management practices influence performance and productivity in public sector institutions in Africa. It notes that though performance management has been introduced in the African public service with the intentions of monitoring, reviewing, assessing performance and recognizing good performance, performance management systems in Africa have not been able to achieve the expected level of performance which will improve productivity. As a result, the article gives brief overview of public sector performance in some African public services and recommends among others that African public services need to lay more emphasis on productivity through <br />effective implementation of performance management systems. It concludes that public sector organisations in Africa can learn a lot from Western companies which have been wrestling with this issue for over two decades now.

Abstracthe role of the public service in achieving good governance cannot be underestimated.

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