global responsibilities, and received little strategic guidance and input from
its unpredictable political environment (Jreisat2009).
& Arab governance, Arab political leaders in particular, failed to nurture a civic
culture in their societies, to develop inclusive communities, and to modify
potentially menacing formation of positions in each country that could hardly
be more opposite. The ideological entrenchment of political, religious, and
economic positions has been threatening to peace and social harmony in
almost every Arab society. The tensions between religions (Sunni-Shia and
Christian-Muslim), tribal and regional rivalries, and theocratic and secular
political dissensions have endangered and continue to be potentially
menacing to political concurrence and to social harmony in many countries.
Few viable civic-minded political groups have evolved that cross the
political, ethnic, tribal, and religious boundaries and address issues that
benefit the whole community. If not checked or reversed, polarization will
continue to threaten stability and fragment communities. To gain public trust,
public managers have to be committed to social equity and impartial
enforcement of the law as well as to altering discriminatory and particularistic
public policies. Arab managers have to be the catalysts that articulate,
persuade, explain with facts, and demonstrate by example how the law is
applied fairly and equitably. Such civil society concerns are also increasingly
globalized.
Arab bureaucracies had little success so far in developing genuinely domestic
administrative concepts and practices in harmony with tradition and culture.
Replacing or supplanting the Western traditional hierarchical perspectives in Arab
systems with more appropriate practices proved to be difficult. Actually, Arab rulers
found in Western administrative models, employed in the service of colonial control,
a convenient pretext for affirming hierarchical authority and maintaining executivecentered
forms of administration (Jreisat 2001:1014). Historical legacies and
incompatible values created patterns of centralized governance that accentuate
loyalty to the ruler and rewarded public positions to “trusted” individuals,
perpetuating a dysfunctional system of cronyism and nepotism. In addition, the
crisis of leadership succession has been eroding legitimacy and representativeness of
leaders, further isolating them from their citizens. Until 2011, Arab publics have
little to say about who governs them, or how well they govern. Concentration of
power at the top of the pyramid of authority system has been total, impeding
professionalizing public management, and foiling any substantive structural change
that may threaten the monopoly of political power. After two to four decades in
power and a pattern of political and economic failure some political leaders have to
be forced out of power at a high cost in human suffering and economic disruption.
Synthesis and conclusion
Administrative capacity is fundamental for improved management performance and
for effective governance. Administrative capacity has many elements that work
together, and reinforce each other, to generate higher levels of performance. Thus, to