PAD6836 Lecture 13

University of North Florida Master of Public Administration program PAD 6836 Comparative public administration , and ‘outliers’ Public administrator of the Week

photo credit Taufa'ahau Tupou I First , modern

That the world is becoming more 'globalized' is something that we all take for granted these days, and as many people point out, the cultural part of this 'globalization' has a strongly European (in which category I include the US) flavour to it. There are no isolated cultural islands in the world today, immune from what I refer to as the 'global Anglophone super culture'. Tonga has been an especially interesting example of the process of incorporation of these non-European societies into this Europe-driven globalization process.

The islands were settled by Polynesians a millennium or two ago. They were a world unto themselves for much of this period, with only tenuous links to Samoa and Fiji (the Tongans, indeed, were great imperialists, meddling in the affairs of both societies -- click link). Then came the European explorers, with an impact not unlike what the arrival of intergalactic invaders from the planet Mok would have on the US. These explorers had technologies and weapons that seemed magical, and were so far superior to that of the Tongans that the Europeans could dominate more or less at will.1 To summarize a bit of Tongan history, Taufa'ahau Tupou, one of three 'high chiefs', or 'Tui', in the islands at the time, essentially saw that these European powers were a force not to be fought, and so allied himself to them, adopted their religion, and then used European weapons to conquer the other two high chiefs (as well as a number of other lesser notables). He then remade Tonga in the image of a European monarchy (the preferred form of government of the era). He became King Taufa'ahau Tupou I, and one of his ancestors is still King, Tupou VI.2 Other lesser chiefs were bought off through the creation of a nobility, and awarding of noble titles to these. Click the links and check out the photos: note how this Polynesian man is dressed in all this European frippery. This was (it is argued) the plan of Tupou I: make Tonga into a European monarchy so that the Europeans wouldn't think the Tongans were uncivilized, and so annex it.

1 It is generally believed that Europeans did not colonize Tonga, and generally had little interest in the place, because it was heavily populated (so no ‘terra nullius’ to steal), and had little of economic value to export. I should add that Europeans ‘could dominate at will’ comment is challenged a bit by reports that there was a plan by some Tongans to attack and capture Cook’s ship. Click link, and see section on ‘The Ha’apai Group of Islands’. 2 See the link for the hootenanny for his father’s (Tupou V) coronation. MY favourite photo is this one.

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PAD6836 Lecture 13

It worked, in that Tonga avoided outright annexation by a European power, becoming instead a British 'protectorate' in 1900. But unfortunately the foresight of Tupou I hasn't passed through the bloodline. Recent (current one possibly excepted, as he is new) have been widely seen as either corrupt, or so out of touch (he is aged) that there is no control over the corruption of his family and a number of his inner circle. Tongan government remains stuck in the middle ages, with the King still very powerful, and what little power is left over lying in the hands of the nobles. The commoners (they use these terms: nobles and commoners) are all but powerless, and increasingly disenchanted.

Culture

Administrative culture. The article of mine that I’ve invited you to read seeks to make the point that, first, there is a cultural element to administration, as well.  Attitudes to government. We’ve also seen this with reference to Figure 3 in our week one, reproduced as Figure 1 below

Figure 1 – North American political parties One dimension

BQ Green NDP Lib CPC Dem Rep

The general idea is that we Americans tend to be more ‘conservative’, with this interpreted fairly narrowly as favouring a relatively small government safety net, and relatively little regulation of business.  Epistemic nationalism. As the article of mine that you were invited to read points out, countries can have a stubborn reluctance to learn from others. This, by the way, is something that we Americans certainly share (see this).

Cultural imperialism. While we Americans worry about economic nationalism, as global consumers often opt for less expensive labour than that available in the US, much of the rest of the world worries about , especially ‘American ’ (for two serviceable examples, see this, and this).  Cultural imperialism? The idea behind ‘cultural imperialism’ is that one culture dominates another. Doesn’t sound too unusual, as this has been part of the interplay of throughout human history. But some observers imply that this has been a conscious effort, with the US government trying to ‘Americanize’ the world.  Globalization ≠ cultural imperialism. Globalization does not mean that will take place, least of all on the American model.  American culture? First there is no 'American' culture. Among other things American conservatives in 'the heartland' argue that 'American culture' is dominated by leftie cultural elites on the godless coasts (click for example).  Global Anglophone superculture. Internationally there is certainly a global super-culture that is based largely (though by no means wholly) in the US. This largely US-based super-culture includes many non-Americans, albeit many are from English speaking countries. Much of it

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PAD6836 Lecture 13

is British (The Beatles, U2, Monty Python, Hugh Grant, Sherlock Homes), Canadian (Neil Young, Michael J. Fox, Margaret Atwood), Australian (Midnight Oil, Olivia Neutron Bomb, Steve Irwin), but also French (Juliet Binoche), Spanish (Julio Iglesias), Japanese (Pokemon!), Guyanese (Eddy Grant), even Tongans have contributed to this (The Jets, their major contribution to global culture: Crush on You). Others are of indeterminate, truly global origin: Sri Lankan born Canadian Michael Ondatje, for instance, or the South African influences in Paul Simon's Graceland.  Avoid neocolonialism: anti-globalizationistas can be seen as trying to deny others the right to make their own free choices about how to enjoy their leisure time. Just as many of we modern, young hipster North Americans reject quaint old cultural artifacts like square dances and find classical music to be a bore; so Javanese youths may have tired of the charms of Javanese puppet plays, young Fijians may prefer a bar to the kava circle, and young Tuvans might prefer Brazilian Jorge Ben to Tuvan throat singing.

Vibrant cultures thrive. Further, there is great evidence of the existence of vibrant cultures even after close contact with 'the global super-culture'. , Canada and Brazil, for instance, have vibrant, self-contained national popular cultures about which Americans know nothing.  In Canada, as perhaps the best example given its proximity to the US, Tim Horton's coffee is a local icon, started by and named after a former hockey player (of course). For clothing, my choice for haute couture is Mark's Work Wearhouse, which also sells Stanfield's underwear (although disturbingly, I stopped in at a Mark's Work Wearhouse in December 2006, on my way back from a short trip to Vermont, and had a hard time finding Canadian made goods!). The Bay is the successor to the Hudson's Bay Company, of fur trading and exploration fame. For general gee gaws Canadian Tire (a hardware cum sporting goods store cum five and dime) can't be beat, and Zeller's is the local champion, fighting off the dreaded imperialists Wal Mart, for the discount department store market. I could go on, the point is that the country has a large number of shops that are as iconic in Canada as Fruit of the Loom, Dunkin Donuts and such are in the US. The picture isn't all rosy, as I believe The Bay is in trouble, while Eaton's, another iconic, more upmarket retailer recent went bankrupt. But the point here is that the Canadian and US economies are very similar in terms of material standard of living, but there are numerous cultural differences, and so homogenization is not inevitable.  Québec! Within Canada the existence of a robust French speaking culture in Quebec, nearly 250 years after le conquete, also belies fears of the inevitability of cultural homogenization. My favourite example of the uniqueness of Quebecois is la Fureur (click for an example), which to the best of my knowledge makes absolutely no sense, and demonstrates that fun inanity is no special preserve of 'the global super-culture'.  Australia. One word: Vegemite. But then, American cultural imperialism rears its head.

Outliers

Despite the comments above, all is certainly not hunky dory in terms of center-periphery relations. Fears of rich world exploitation of poor countries notwithstanding, the issue I’d like to focus on here was described by Fernando Henrique Cardoso as: "Therefore, we all are no longer talking about the South that was on the periphery of the capitalist core and was tied to it in a classical relationship of dependence. Nor are we

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speaking of the phenomenon, described some twenty-five years ago by Enzo Faletto and myself in our book Dependency and Development in Latin America, whereby multinational companies transfer parts of the productive system and the local producers are tied to foreign capital in the 'dependant-associated' development model. We are dealing, in truth, with a crueler phenomenon: either the South (or a portion of it) enters the democratic-technological- scientific race, invests heavily in R&D, and endures the ‘information technology’ metamorphosis, or it becomes unimportant, unexploited, and unexploitable" (2001, p. 276).

So why Tonga? Most ‘comparative’ books, as well as my own professional interests (as opposed to personal interests, which have always featured a fascination for small countries), tend to focus on a narrow range of countries, and so on their governments, with these generally being large and influential. This would be fine, except that most of the world (by definition) is not composed of large countries. As well, as I indicate in my usual schtick about globalization: Regions matter, not nations. This is a point that was perhaps best made by Kenichi Ohmae, a Japanese management consultant, in The End of the Nation-State: The Rise of the Regional Economies. See also an article on this theme in the journal Foreign Affairs, if you're interested:  Kenichi Ohmae (1993). The rise of the region state. Foreign Affairs 72(2), p. 78- 87. EBSCO link. Ohmae’s point broadly was that the US has 'won' the globalization game (we’re globalized, and we’re rich = #winning!) is incorrect, as the US is not a coherent unit of analysis in this discussion. Some Americans have done well as a result of globalization, others have done less well. Think of the IT industry in Silicon Valley, California, versus the textile industry in North Carolina. The same applies to the world on the whole, between fortunate areas of countries and those not so lucky (São and Santa Catarina versus Sergipe in Brazil), and between fortunate nations and, again, those not so fortunate.

Hence Tonga: a very small, isolated country with a decidedly non-European history. As a small, isolated place it has occurred to me that Tonga is not dissimilar to similar regions in the US. Think of the depopulation of the (especially upper) Great Plains (source, as well as this source, the latter especially emphasizes isolation as a reason for decline). The hinterlands of Brazil face similar problems, even coastal communities suffer if they don’t generate enough stuff to produce the sorts of economies of scale needed to compete in global markets. I doubt if Tonga, for instance, generates enough exports to fill a moderate-sized container ship on a regular basis. It will therefore be outcompeted by larger regional economies.

Small states matter. One can't, however, understand the world only through this lens. It is true that in simple human terms large states matter, and the of the world are irrelevant. The ten most populous countries in the world, for instance, make up about 5% of the world's nations, but include close to 60% of the world's population. On the other hand, the 100 least populous countries in the world make up over 50% of the world's countries, but only about 4% of the world's population.

Put differently:  If Florida were a country, its population would be larger than ¾ of the world’s countries, and its land area would be larger than that of about half of the world.

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PAD6836 Lecture 13

 If Duval County were a country, its population would be larger than nearly a quarter of the world, and its land area would be larger than that of 25 countries. In both cases Duval County would be larger than the Kingdom of Tonga, with three times the land area, and nine times the population.  If the Beaches (Jacksonville, Neptune and Atlantic) were a country, their population would still be larger than that of six countries (Vatican City, Nauru, Tuvalu, San Marino, Monaco and Liechtenstein), and their land area would be larger than five countries (the previous, except for Liechtenstein).

So why care about these micro-states? Answer: at least three reasons:  . Tuvaluans represent a distinct culture, and as such are part of the intricate tapestry that is human life on earth. Just as most people agree that, all things being equal, we should avoid the extinction of a species of animal, so we should try to avoid the extinction of a human culture. o But what of neo-colonialism? Note that I can be seen as being inconsistent here. Above I argue that we should "Avoid neocolonialism: anti-globalizationistas can be seen as trying to deny others the right to make their own free choices…" o What if everyone checks out of a culture? So what happens if all Tuvaluans reject Tuvaluan culture, and groove to Britney Spears? Well then Tuvalu becomes culturally extinct, or at least elements of Tuvaluan culture become extinct (click for some examples). o Cultural extinction. It wouldn’t be the first time (some examples), and won’t be the last (some possible examples). Still, it isn’t clear to me that the rest of us should or can deny others the choice to live as they choose.  Global security. The tiniest country in the world can harbour anti-systemic terrorists (by which I mean groups that oppose the international status quo and want to destroy it), and/or provide them with financial or other cover. This also applies to international crime, and even simple tax avoidance, as many mini-states have become tax havens and offshore banking centers, with the anonymity afforded by their sovereignty their key attraction. Some examples:  The Tongan (flagged) arms ship (source).  Turks & Caicos government and drug smuggling (source).  Bahamian government and drug smuggling (source).  Tax heavens, in Europe (e.g. Liechtenstein), the Caribbean (e.g. most of it), the South Pacific (e.g. Tonga, where you can also buy citizenship and so a passport!)  Voting weight. Good or bad, 4% of the world's population live in over half of the world's governments. This means they make up half of the votes in the General Assembly of the United Nations.

Public administration in small island states3. We will spend a bit of time talking about some of the special problems faced by governments of these tiny societies, and close with a discussion of whether these countries should be allowed to exist. Most are historical accidents. Issues:  Inevitable conflicts of interest: the Weberian model of detached management free of personal concerns is difficult.

3 To paraphrase the title of a book that resulted in my doing a PhD at Indiana University: Public Administration in Small and Island States, edited by Randall Baker.

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 Career paths can be blocked, not least for returning foreign-educated professionals.  There is often, even in places like Brazil, a degree of jealousy towards those who earn credentials overseas.  Small local economies of scale, especially if the economy is poorly developed.  Small reserve capacity.  High transport costs.  Few educational opportunities, so those who go overseas to study often fail to return.  Tonga did not have a functioning university when I was there, though I see now that it has a branch campus in the Fiji-based University of the South Pacific. I see that Samoa has opted out of the USP system, and now has its own National University. Samoa does have a bit less than twice Tonga’s population.   Few amenities for sophisticated, often foreign-educated citizens (and so attracting and keeping good people is that much more difficult).

References

Cardoso, Fernando Henrique (2001). Charting a New Course.

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