Doing Complex Reform Through PDIA: Judicial Sector Change in Mozambique

Summary Many public sector reforms change governmental forms without improving functionality. Recent work suggests this is because countries adopt mechanisms that do not fit their contexts, without an effective adaptation strategy. The work posits that reforms could be more effective if they were in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Public administration and development 2015-10, Vol.35 (4), p.288-300
Main Author: Andrews, Matt
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Action research
Adaptation
capability traps
Change agents
Contextual factors
iterative adaptation
Judicial process
judicial sector
Mozambique
problem-driven
Public sector
Reforms
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Summary:Summary Many public sector reforms change governmental forms without improving functionality. Recent work suggests this is because countries adopt mechanisms that do not fit their contexts, without an effective adaptation strategy. The work posits that reforms could be more effective if they were introduced through more adaptive processes, like problem‐driven iterative adaptation (PDIA). This approach has deep roots in various literatures but many observers still ask how it actually works in practice. This paper responds to such question by describing an action research study where PDIA was used to facilitate process reform in Mozambique's judicial sector. It shows how the approach (i) revealed contextual factors that often limit reform success and (ii) fostered adaptive progress around these factors, towards a functional solution. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
ISSN:0271-2075
1099-162X
DOI:10.1002/pad.1740