The Past and Present of Public Sector Reforms in Eastern Africa

Abstract

This chapter discusses the public sector reforms (PSRs) in Eastern Africa since the 1960s, focusing on Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Ethiopia. We mainly identify constitutional reforms as the primary explanatory variable that underpins the structural transformation of the state and its politics, leading to the introduction and implementation of PSRs in different sectors: decentralisation, fiscal reforms, and civil service reforms. We conduct a historical context analysis to discern the essence of recent governance reforms that have characterised the public sector reforms in the last two decades. The chapter also sheds insights into the rationale behind these reforms from historical and theoretical perspectives. It further explores factors that influenced the choice of form of government in different states. Furthermore, the chapter deals with issues of why these governments and reforms have performed the way they have. The discussion generates either analytical or empirical generalisation based on different country examples.