Berhanu Mengistu

Privatization, Governance and Economic Development in Developing Countries

The study examined the impact of privatization on economic growth and income inequality in 82 developing countries between 1991 and 2002. Using the least squares dummy variable (LSDV) approach, we found that privatization did not have a significant impact on both economic growth and income inequality. However, good governance had a positive impact on economic growth and a negative impact on income inequality, while foreign direct investment (FDI) had a negligible impact on economic growth but a positive effect on income inequality. The findings of the study suggest that country-specific characteristics may be more important in promoting growth and reducing income inequality than any economic policy per se.

Women and Minorities in the Work Force of Law-Enforcement Agencies:

The idea of representative bureaucracy has provoked an important series of debates in the literature about police personnel management and representation of women and racial minorities. The critical questions in this study are: (a.) Does the sworn police force reasonably reflect a cross section of the groups being policed? and (b.) What factors are considered in representation of women and minority police officers in law-enforcement agencies? Black and Hispanic representation on police forces is closely associated with its presence in community populations. Regions vary in the degree of female and minority representation, blacks being better represented in southern police forces than elsewhere; women are better represented in the northwest. However, findings reveal that men, mostly whites, continue to hold disproportionately more sworn positions in most law-enforcement agencies. The models of female and minority representation also illustrate the degree of female and minority hiring by analyzing four major contributing factors: economic, organizational, demographic, and legal.

Public Perceptions of Privatization in Ethiopia: A Case for Public Good or Private Gain?

Abstract Ethiopia is one of the many countries in sub-Saharan Africa attempting to privatize various state-owned enterprises since 1994. This study examined public perceptions about Ethiopias privatization policy and procedures. Results support the concerns over the publics inability to know about, be involved in and comment upon public policies affecting Ethiopias future. Findings also support the literature that a privatization policy is effective only when institutional and technical capacities for proper implementation are in place. Further, findings raise questions about the efficacy of privatization in a national context where interests may be misrepresented.

Community Policing in a Multicultural Community Environment: Marketing Issues for a Police Service, with Specific Reference to South Africa

The South African Police Services (SAPS) is in the process of transformation towards a community policing model. Strategic partnerships between the community, police service, business and other stakeholders are likely to play an important role in this process. This article explores the theories of crime and responses to crime in South Africa, and the philosophy of community policing and the need for marketing skills. The need for both internal and external marketing is emphasized, and the adoption of a political-economy model to underpin a macro-marketing approach to community policing is suggested.

Theoretical Underpinnings of Bureaucratic Neutrality in an Ethnic Federalism

Throughout history, the creative nature of humankind has generated an array of political systems derived from just a few foundational political structures. As early as 350 BC, Aristotle identified four fundamental political structures in the governments of societies: tyranny, fascism, democracy, and oligarchy. Modern-day ideologies, including the various types of capitalism, socialism, and communism, are political economy interpretations of these same themes. Historical underpinnings, especially religious ones, can also provide contextual differences for these political economy structures. Regardless of the ideological orientation, however, all governing structures share a central operating element that is critical to the successful implementation of policy and the continuity of governance, namely, bureaucracy. Repeated efforts to operationalize the term bureaucracy have been made by social theorists from Hegel, Mill, Marx, Lenin, Michels, and Weber through modern-day public administration theorists. In spite of the claim that Weber was the first to popularize the concept of bureaucracy, the idea is at least as old as the biblical account of the division of labor by Moses based on the counsel of his father-in-law, suggesting that the idea of division of labor is a prerequisite to the efficient

Environmental dimensions of managing public budgets and public enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa

This study examines the nature of the environment in which public budgets and public enterprises are managed in developing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. It develops a model of the environmental dimensions in the general environment and dimensional components in the task environment of public budgeting and public enterprise management including the economic, political, socio-cultural, and technological dimension which determine public budget and public enterprise management in developing countries like those in Sub-Saharan Africa. The implications of those environmental dimensions and their components are evaluated for budgetary processes and budgetary outcomes in selected countries in Sub-Saharan Africa - Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Ethiopia. The impact of economic dimensions in inducing repetitive budgeting in the budgetary processes of developing countries was highlighted. The results of the analysis of expenditure patterns in these countries tend to support the greater strength of the economic fun...