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80
Public Administration Issues. 2018. Special Issue
INCLUSIVE GROWTH
AND ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM
IN THE BRICS COUNTRIES
Leonid Smorgunov
Dr., Ph.D., Professor, Chair of the Political
Governance Department, Faculty of Political Science,
St. Petersburg State University
Address: 7/9 Universitetskaya Embankment,
199034 St. Petersburg, Russian Federation.
E-mail: l.smorgunov@spbu.ru
Abstract
e paper concerns administrative reform in the BRICS countries as arequirement
of inclusive economic growth. e relationship between economic growth and equity
describes the concept of inclusive development. In this respect, justice and quality of
life is becoming one of its key factors and astimulating cause of long-term economic
development. e concept of an equitable (inclusive) growth strategy is based on the
premise of the unity of governability, competitiveness and public policy through citizen
participation. An important association of governability, competitiveness and fairness is
participatory institutions. Four of these are crucial: strategic policy institutions; institu-
tions of decentralization; institutions of “open government”, and accountability institu-
tions. e paper, based on analysis of the BRICS, demonstrates that these not only create
an environment for development, but are also tools for citizens’ participation.
Ke ywords: inclusive growth; administrative reforms; political institutions; open
government; BRICS countries.
Ci tation: Smorgunov, L.V. (2018). Inclusive Growth and Administrative Reform
in the Brics Countries. Public Administration Issues, Special Issue (electronic edition),
pp. 80–95 (in English); DOI: 10.17323/1999-5431-2018-0-5-80-95.
Introduction
e member countries of the international association called BRICS are cur-
rently tackling complex tasks of domestic and international development. Pro-
claimed by the declaration of the 9th BRICS Summit in Xiamen (2017), the call
for anew world economic order based on inclusiveness and justice presupposes
anumber of steps that a ect, among other things, the internal sphere of public
81
Smorgunov L.V. Inclusive Growth and Administrative Reform in the Brics Countries
administration. In this regard, it is rightly noted that “as the BRICS partnership as-
pires to become more influential in world a airs, the internal governance systems
of its member states will be of fundamental importance in shaping their activities
elsewhere, whether individually or collectively” (Tapscott et al, 2017, p. 2). At the
same time, it is important to note that administrative reforms are not astrictly
independent activity of the modern governments of the BRICS countries. ey
are built into the complex task of ensuring sustainable and equitable economic
development in individual countries and in the world as awhole.
One of the most important factors in maintaining acertain stability or ori-
entation of economic development on justice and poverty reduction is insti-
tutional transformation. is is connected not only with the formation of the
market institutions, but also with the participatory institutional development
of public policy and administration. Some researchers have expressed doubts
about the signi cance of the administrative factor in economic growth: “e ec-
tive government is desirable, but what is not so clear is whether it is an essential
or even important antecedent of rapid economic growth” (Kurtz, Schrank, 2007,
p. 541). However, this position is overcome by the studies of modern econom-
ic growth, combined with inclusive development. P. Cerny and his colleagues
deploy the concept of the ‘competition state’– whose priority is ‘maintaining
and promoting competitiveness in aworld marketplace and multi-level politi-
cal system’– to identify national convergence but with variations in the era of
neoliberal globalization (cit. on: Neilson, Stubbs, 2016, p. 123). Inclusive Ad-
vanced Competition States are characterized by amix in which counter-capital
and counter-market regulation gure more prominently whereas the Asian Ti-
gers or Newly Advanced Competition States (India, China) which are character-
ized by ahybrid mix of relatively high pro-capital regulation and relatively high
counter-market regulation (Neilson, Stubbs, 2014, p. 133). In general it can be
argued that the concept of equitable economic growth strategy is based on the
premise of unity of public governability, competitiveness and equitability. As has
been stated, “It would require amore general design of democracy, i.e.demo-
cratic regime not only for politics but also for the eld of economy. None other
than Simon Kuznets… that for the study of the economic growth of nations
‘effective… economy’ ” (Kuznets, 1955, p. 28). Li Zhao demonstrates the role
of social economy in inclusive development: “ e outlining of the past and the
present leads to aconsideration of the social economy as an important way to
achieve abalanced economy and an inclusive society, together with the public
sector and private for-pro t sector” (Zhao, 2013, p. 1085). is democratization
and social economy means building institutions that ensure not only growth,
but also well-being. In this regard, developing ascience approach in terms of the
di erences between the extract and inclusive institutions corresponds to acom-
mon understanding of the new economic and social order: “economic growth
and prosperity are associated with inclusive economic and political institutions”
(Acemoglu, Robinson, 2012, p. 91).
e study of administrative reforms in individual BRICS countries in re-
cent decades has attracted increasing attention from researchers. Of particular
interest are the reforms in Brazil. Here researchers analyze general administra-
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Public Administration Issues. 2018. Special Issue
tive changes (Bresser-Pereira, 2003; Pereira, Orellana, 2009; Nunberg, Pacheco,
2016), new forms of involving citizens in public policy (Souza, 2001; Rios et al,
2014; Gra , Verhulst, Young, 2016), transparency, accountability and ghting cor-
ruption (Filgueiras, 2015). Russian administrative reforms receive ageneral de-
scription (Barabashev, Straussman, 2007; Gaman-Golutvina, 2008; Goncharov,
Shirikov, 2013; Barabashev, Klimenko, 2017), although recently there are works
on certain components of administrative reform (Smorgunov, 2016). India falls
under the eld of view of researchers in connection with the e-government, ser-
vices and local government (Mathur, 2005; Nayyar, 2006). China is the object of
research in connection with active economic growth and administrative progress
(Zheng, 2004, 2007; Zhao, 2013; Hameiri, Jones, 2016, Chan, 2016). To alesser
extent, administrative reforms in South Africa are being investigated (Fryer, 2016;
Tapscott, 2017). As arule, administrative reforms in these countries are analyzed
under abroad historical background of administrative changes. An international
research project on the assessment of sustainable governance in the BRICS coun-
tries is acknowledged (Azahaf, Schraad-Tischler, 2012). In 2016, Fudan, China
hosted the rst international symposium on public administration in the BRICS
countries (Tapscott et al, 2017). At the same time, the general directions of ad-
ministrative reforms and their links with contemporary problems of economic
development are poorly analyzed in acomparative manner.
is paper aims to describe the problem regarding the choice of methods in
achieving acombination of economic growth and social development through
the formation of bodies which can mediate between the political and adminis-
trative institutions in the BRICS countries. It will focus on the following top-
ics: (1) anew type of economic development and requirements for administra-
tive reforms; (2) the general directions of administrative reforms in the BRICS
countries; (3) recent political and administrative transformations in the BRICS
countries.
Inclus ive growth: anew paradigm for development
e l ist of issues relating to the development of the BRICS countries follow
the theme of economic growth based on acombination of justice and quality of
life. Although the theory of economic growth a rmed the incompatibility of ef-
ciency and fairness, many researchers now say that, in itself, intensive econom-
ic growth without equity is not ameasure of modern development. Yes, the pace
of growth in the BRICS countries is ahead of the “old world”, but they are still
along way from that system, which provides life satisfaction for the populations
of these countries. At the same time, asimple assumption is accepted that the
policy of economic growth in these countries is not linked to the issues of equ-
ity and quality of life. Although, of course, it is assumed that without economic
growth these problems cannot be updated, but it is believed that it is di cult
or even impossible to solve problems at the same time by the combination of
growth and quality of life under the conditions of modern economic world com-
petition. e relationship between economic growth and equity is described in
the concept of inclusive development. As written by Michael Spence– the Nobel
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Smorgunov L.V. Inclusive Growth and Administrative Reform in the Brics Countries
laureate in Economics: “Inclusion has become the most essential part of sustain-
able growth. Initially, the concept of "inclusiveness" comes to economic science
from India, but now it is used very widely. It concerns the distributional aspects
of growth and expresses two basic ideas: 1) opportunities, created by growth,
should be open to people; 2) the degree of inequality of income and access to
basic services should be limited to acceptable levels” (Spence, 2011, p. 116–117).
e problem, therefore, rests on the synergy of public policy objectives and its
ability to combine economic growth and performance of vital functions. We are
talking about the state governability as asystem built on the principles of acom-
plex combination of tasks, rather than priority ranking. In this respect, equity and
quality of life, as along-term outcome of economic development, become its
(governability) main factor, stimulating cause.
With regard to the BRICS countries, none of these factors are obvious. If the
“Asian Tigers” have demonstrated economic growth as awhole by the market
centralization and sustainable management of the project, the BRICS countries
are demonstrating adi erent strategy. Almost all of them are trying to connect
the problem of economic growth with asolution to problems of social exclu-
sion, by trying to raise the level of social policy at the same time as the human
capital for the development and quality of life. Brazil also shows amore intensive
policy of equitable economic growth. In this respect, it is interesting to compare
the Russian experience of the patrimonial state, where the balance of economic
growth problems rests on the need to strengthen the justice and quality of life,
with the experience of Brazil and China, demonstrating the di erent models of
public policy governance, but with areduction of poverty as social exclusion.
Social-democratic policy over the last decade in Brazil demonstrates the success
of the ght against poverty on the basis of equity and growth. Social policy in
China is based on economic growth with ademonstration of the prestige of the
new quality of life. India is trying to solve the problem of poverty through enor-
mous investments in education and science.
Although there is the correct understanding that “a growing body of work in
economic growth theory argues that the growth process is not universal” (Han-
son, 2013, p. 241), we can talk about three main paradigms of economic growth.
One of these is the model of “an investment-based growth”. In an investment-
based growth paradigm, growth is driven by ‘‘implementation innovations’’ and
consists of sustained, high levels of capital investment and the local adoption of
technologies developed elsewhere. e second is the model of “an innovation-
based growth”. In an innovation-based growth paradigm, by contrast, growth
consists of ‘‘leading-edge innovations’’ that develop new technologies and push
the frontier outward (Aghion, Howitt, 2006). Now we could mention the new
developing paradigm of economic growth and development. It’s based on inten-
sive use of human capital. As Hanson writes, “driving up rates of capital invest-
ment and sheltering rms from competition become increasingly ine cient as
growth depends more on leading-edge innovation. Instead, growth is founded
on high levels of human capital and inventive activity” (Hanson, 2013, p. 241).
is third paradigm could be named as “a human-based growth”. All aspects and
forms of human capital development are not only well-being indicators, but also
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Public Administration Issues. 2018. Special Issue
e ective drivers of economic growth. is growth ensures inclusiveness, which
is expressed in the formation of inclusive institutions and broad social inclusion.
We could adopt the de nition of social inclusion: it “has highlighted important
concepts that are central to the notion of social inclusion such as equality, rights
and social cohesion and draws attention to barriers or inequalities that prevent
individuals or groups from taking afull role in society” (Warburton, Sik Hung,
Shardlow, 2013, p. 4). In this respect, the growth paradigm, based on human
capital development, can be considered as inclusive growth. en “by inclusive
growth, we mean that growth process which bene ts all sections and all regions
of the economy, though not in auniform manner. In other words, the growth
of acountry would be considered to be inclusive growth if along with the in-
crease in the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of acountry, the HDI (Human
Development Index) also increases” (Roy, 2011, p. 47). Although the state has
an important role in investment policy and the national innovation system, its
role increases in respect of inclusive development. e role increases not in the
sense that the state assumes the main function of redistribution of the fruits of
economic growth. e state has an important role in building the institutions be-
tween economy and society, between economic and social development. And here
we can talk about two important processes and structures related to public gov-
ernance. e rst is the governance of public policies. Secondly, is the introduc-
tion of new institutions for the implementation of political and administrative
decisions. Together they “create institutional mechanisms that mediate between
economic and social development” (Nayyar, 2006, p. 825).
Public administration reforms in the BRICS countries: ageneral outline
e BRICS countries, in the last three decades, in the course of administra-
tive reforms, laid the foundations of anew public administration system, which
as awhole has demonstrated its e ectiveness by high rates of economic growth
and more or less successful social achievements. Of course, there are the old and
new diseases (corruption, nepotism, “manual control”, disrespect for the law, and
others.), but step by step with the introduction of new institutions and mecha-
nisms, that are demanded by the real problems, the situation changes. ere is
agradual process of learning what the content of good governance is. Since 1982,
China's seven rounds of institutional reforms have led to the reorganization of
the central governmental bodies, accompanied by areduction in their number,
increasing the strategic role of macro-control, and the formation of anew civil
service system. In the course of these reforms, there is considerable decentrali-
zation of administration and the quality of relations between central and local
government. Signi cant rights were delegated to governance in municipalities.
e 18th Congress of the CPC in October-November 2012 set the targets of the
new administrative reform, which included the construction of apublic admini-
stration on the basis of law, improving the system of public services, separation
of functions of administrative bodies from the state-owned enterprises man-
agement functions, state assets management authorities, and others (Kirillov,
2013; Troshchinskiy, 2014). However, it should be noted that the state in China
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Smorgunov L.V. Inclusive Growth and Administrative Reform in the Brics Countries
was transformed under the in uence of the market economy, while maintain-
ing leading positions in the public administration system. As Yong Zeng writes,
“globalization has weakened the power of the Chinese state in some areas, and
the state has responded to its declining power consciously in some cases and
unconsciously in others. e Chinese state has not merely played the role of
the re brigade, reacting passively to the negative consequences of economic
transformation and globalization. Instead, the state has adopted aproactive ap-
proach to re-make the state system. ese conscious actions has not only mod-
ernized the Chinese state but also strengthened the power of the state in many
aspects” (Zheng, 2004, p. 2). e second administrative reform in India in 2005
(the rst was held in 1966) contributed to the introduction of new public man-
agement, the development of e-government and e-services, crisis management,
administrative ethics, aperformance evaluation system at all levels of public
administration, and others. In 1995, in Brazil the President, Fernando Cardoso,
launched apolicy plan of state apparatus reform, aimed at nding away out of
the scal crisis, the collapse of the public administration in the global economy
and the inability of bureaucracy to deal with the provision of public services. e
reorganization a ected all levels of public administration, and came under the
general ideological aspirations of social liberalism, which would ensure the pro-
tection of social and economic rights, creating amore competitive environment
for the implementation of public services. In Russia, the administrative reform
2003-10 made signi cant structural, functional and motivational changes to the
system, although it has not been implemented in accordance with the original
plans. Augmented by further formation of e-government and e-services system
as awhole, it has enabled arise in the level of e ciency of public administration
and its consistency with the objectives of economic stabilization and develop-
ment. Since 1994, with the adoption of the Public Service Act, administrative
reform has been ongoing in South Africa, aimed at enhancing the abilities of
o cials and the public administration system as awhole. is reform was car-
ried out along the way, especially the rationalization of management, increasing
the role of law and the coordination of central and local management systems.
For example, in 1995, South Africa adopted alaw on labor relations which was
“aimed at economic development, social justice and the democratization of the
workplace” (Schulz, 2015, p. 268). All these public-administrative transforma-
tions contributed to the stabilization of the public governance systems in the
BRICS countries, their focus on e ciency and quality of public services, eco-
nomic development and social rights. It should be noted that the impact of the
reforms in the countries was di erent, as well as their social and economic ef-
fects. However, the overall handling was provided with regard to the solution
of contextual tasks corresponding periods. In recent years, the BRICS countries
have been faced with contemporary challenges and risks choosing new measures
for the public administration and putting them on the current political agenda.
New challenges to the systems of public administration are determined by
external and internal factors and conditions. Governability today requires sensi-
tivity to the risks and terms of instability and uncertainty, generated by the new
economic, social and political reality. A modern public administration system
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Public Administration Issues. 2018. Special Issue
should not only meet the new challenges, but also promote innovations, encou-
rage their, give priority to institutions that have become the need of sustainable
and competitive development. Although there is abelief that the quality of pub-
lic governance is not directly linked to economic growth and that it is associated
more with certain contextual conditions but not the cause of it (Kurtz & Schrank,
2007, pp. 538–539), many gradually come to the realization that e cient and
innovative public administration is avery important institutional factor of eq-
uitable development. ere are di erent conceptual approaches to the relations
of political regime and economic growth (from optimistic to skeptical); yet the
question of the new nature of the development takes acloser look at the role not
only of the political regime, but also the public policy and administration. Willeco-
nomic growth be accompanied by positive e ects in principle, independent of
the political regime? Could the modern modes of democracy and authoritari-
anism with the same success contribute can contribute to economic growth?
Whether or not the economic growth is based on social factors (equity, poverty
reduction, employment, education and so on) largely depends on the political
economy of development, de ning public policy and democratic governance as
asystem element of equitable development. Modern “inclusive development of
competitive state” (as well as new competitive states such as China and India) is
based on amixed strategy with respect to economic growth and its mechanisms:
on the one hand, there is the strategy of capital development and control of the
market (Neilson, Stubbs, 2016, p. 133), on the other hand, the public investment
policies and programs become afactor for growth and development. In this re-
spect, economic development cannot be measured without awelfare state and
without public production of services (Stiglitz et al., 2016). e following main
challenges currently facing public administration may be noted.
Political institutions for inclusive growth
It is clear that the modern public administration cannot simply create exter-
nal conditions for economic development (such as security) or to carry out adif-
ferent range of regulations in the economy; it is faced with the need to stimulate
this development and innovation, creating the appropriative institutions and
practices. In this respect, the modern transformation of public administration
in the BRICS countries are not only aimed at creating investment regimes, but
also the formation of acomprehensive policy of equitable economic develop-
ment, which would have linked structural, institutional, functional justice and
e ciency.
Political strategy and administrative tactics. Public administration was
faced with the problem of acombination of political strategy and administrative
tactics. eir inconsistency is not just the mismatch that creates extra costs and
ine ciencies, but it becomes ahindrance for dynamism and competitiveness.
On the one hand, focus on the primacy of politics in relation to the administra-
tion is determined by the criticism of New Public Management, in which the
cost-e ectiveness of spending budget or estimation of public personnel doesn’t
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Smorgunov L.V. Inclusive Growth and Administrative Reform in the Brics Countries
put any dependency on the quality of public policy implementation. Political
contexts and questions are le by the wayside, especially relations between pub-
lic policy and citizens. On the other hand, the complexity and uncertainty of the
conditions of state activity exacerbated the problem of choosing the right public
strategy for inclusion, and subsequently its e ective implementation. Integrity
and conjugation of government functions, expressed in public policy, are op-
posed to anon-integrated approach to competing agencies. In addition, e cien-
cy assessment of public administration may not be complete and consistent, if it
does not include an assessment of participatory public policy-making. As Lau-
rence Lynn and Robbie Robichau write, “the formation of structures of public
policy leads to further structural re nements of the administrative system. In-
tuitively, the policy is primarily due to the construction and design (directly and
through management agents) administrative capacities and the division of labor
“(Linn, Robichau, 2013, p. 218–219). is problem is acombination of policies
and administrative practices of the country and take into account their speci c
character and experience. In this respect, for example, in Russia the task to build
asystem of balanced decision-making based on the principles of the Federal Law
“On the strategic planning in the Russian Federation” (adopted June 28, 2014),
and the political debate on the new administrative reform directly declares the
problem of transition from amanual to aprogrammed method. By this law the
state system of strategic planning is de ned as the sum of the following sub-
systems: “interrelated strategic planning documents describing the priorities of
socio-economic development of the Russian Federation; elements of regulatory,
scienti c and methodical, information, nancial and other support strategic
planning processes; members of the state strategic planning, implementing and
directing the practical activities in this area” (Normativnoe…, 2014). e recent
decision on the formation of the Presidential Council on strategic development
and priority projects (Ukaz…, 2016) is another step in the creation of organiza-
tional conditions for coordination between state authorities, local government
bodies, and public associations, and scienti c and other organizations in ad-
dressing issues of strategic development of the country.
Modern administrative transformations in China fall under the banner of
the idea of “governance in accordance with the policy”, or “governance in accord-
ance with the party directives and documents”. As Yijia Jing points: “ eleader-
ship of the CPC over bureaucracy denies the politics–administration dichotomy
that is supported by Weberian bureaucracy” (Jing, 2017, p. 63). On the one hand,
this demand was the result of acertain increase in independence of governance
structures. However, in connection with the identi ed degradation under anew
government system (localism, corruption), there was aneed for greater coor-
dination of public administration in the country. Many experts consider this
requirement as astep towards re-centralization. On the other hand, if you do
not consider the contextual reasons then demand for communication policy and
governance is aresponse to the growing complexity of public policy objectives
in the face of uncertainty. Improving the coordination of values is due not only
to asingle political line, but also the formation of joint knowledge in the imple-
mentation of auni ed policy in di erent local environments. At the end of the
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Public Administration Issues. 2018. Special Issue
1990s in China the agencies, planners and direct economic management were
abolished and the number of ministries was reduced by 28%. According to Shaun
Breslin, China's central government has moved away from direct control over
production and distribution, it has adopted the model of “regulatory state”, leav-
ing the possibility of abroad macroeconomic policy to other public and private
actors (Breslin, 2013, p. 64, 72). What outside observers can consider as “clearly
the central government and powerful uni ed management system”, says another
researcher, in fact, is a“fragmented and chaotic structure, over which the central
government has little control”. e result is no centralized power solutions, but
“horizontal negotiations between the government ministries, agencies and state-
owned enterprises, as well as vertical negotiations between di erent levels of
government that are involved in the implementation of the [policy]” (Hameiri,
Jones, 2016, p. 84). In general, the Chinese state today is amulti-layered form
of governance. In these circumstances, the central political leadership is con-
cerned about delegating authority to lower levels of governance, but at the same
time maintaining the unity of the political line in the form of merging party and
government. Xi Jinping said at the 19th National Congress of the Communist
Party of China in October 2017: “ More decision making power should be given
to governments at and below the provincial level, and ways should be explored
to merge Party and government bodies with similar functions at the provincial,
prefectural, and county levels or for them to work together as one o ce while
keeping separate identities” (Xi Jinping, 2017, p. 35). is line of policy and
administration unity we can also see in the CPC personnel policy, as well as in
the formation of di erent coordinating political structures, such as the “leading
small group” of the Politburo.
Citizens p articipation in policy-making. Imperative to the administrative
reforms of the last decade is aresponse to the challenge of expanding the actors
of policy making to include in this process the citizens and their associations. Trust,
openness and cooperation are the terms and conditions of building amodern
public administration. All of the BRICS countries respond by forming condi-
tions that would include new political and expert discussion platforms, such as
councils, public chambers, forums, etc., as well as the formation of “open gov-
ernment” systems or “open data”, extending the possibility of government-socie-
ty cooperation. While in India, for example, the problem of the formation of an
“open government” system as an institution of public administration is adiscus-
sion, but creation of aplatform of “open government data” and the adoption of
several laws on information create conditions for closer cooperation between
the citizens and the state, having, of course, their di erences and inconsisten-
cies. In 2005, the Indian Congress passed anew law on the right to information.
is law removed anumber of restrictions on the right to information, which
the Supreme Court of India found impeding the constitutional right of citizens
to freedom of expression. e adopted law allows Indian citizens a er anominal
payment and certain procedures to obtain information from the governmental
structures of di erent levels. e law increases the level of transparency of the
government and provides tools to protect citizens’ rights and to ght against cor-
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Smorgunov L.V. Inclusive Growth and Administrative Reform in the Brics Countries
ruption. e researchers emphasize that, of course, the implementation of this
law, especially in rural areas, is prone to all sorts of obstacles and constraints,
but its progressive role is not denied by anyone in the community (Schulz, 2015,
p.268). In China, the modern administrative transformation is carried out on
the basis of the idea of “promoting plural governance” as opposed to principles
such as social control and unitary. To agreater extent this applies to the assump-
tion of public services on the part of civil associations rather than direct partici-
pation by them in public administration. e expansion of the NGO functional
boundaries, recognized by law, is the condition of “plural governance”. In Rus-
sia in 2011, the idea of “open government” was not only developed, but also
considerable resources for its functioning were created. ere are anumber of
problems and contradictions: the structure itself is not homogeneous “open gov-
ernment”, it is o en used for mobilization, rather than stimulation, the culture
of cooperation was not formed, and there is alarge proportion of distrust by
citizens, public o cials and politicians (Smorgunov, 2016). However, the posi-
tive e ects are also evident in solving anumber of social and economic issues
at the regional and local levels. In 2004, in Brazil the portal of transparency
was established by the Comptroller General of the Federation, which allowed
citizens to obtain information on the expenditure of budgetary funds. In 2009,
the law ordered these portals to be opened in the federal states and some cities.
Atpresent, the transparency portal is visited monthly by more than nine hun-
dred thousand unique users (Gra , Verhulst, Young, 2016). In September 2011
alaw was passed, which institutionalized the National Action Plan for the deve-
lopment of open government in the country, the Inter-Ministerial Committee
on Open Government and the Executive Committee of the groups. It is coor-
dinated by the General Controller of the federation. As aresult, Brazil adopted
several laws regulating access to information (2011), Freedom of Information
(2012); the open data portal was also created (2012). However, there is aweak
role of civil society in the movement for open government in Brazil.
Decentralization of po licy processes. e public administration system
is facing the challenges of self-government and creativity, which are an integral
part of innovation and development. In this respect, the administrative trans-
formations involve some decentralization, reduction of excessive regulation
and the inclusion of the subsidiary arrangements. Although all these measures
are related to the di erent areas of administrative improvements, on the whole
they contribute to creating the conditions for self-governance in the broadest
sense, including the conditions for business development, resource allocation,
delegation of authority, and the development of local initiatives. e literature
emphasizes that “decentralization can have avery positive e ect on the deve-
lopment, because it improves government e ciency, sensitivity, accountability
and the impact of the citizens'” (Earle, Scott, 2010, p. 27). In China in 2013
the priority of administrative reform was to reduce the administrative practice
of examination and approval of the activity by the state authorities. In Rus-
sia, the problem of excessive administrative regulatory activity was the sub-
ject of administrative reform from 2003-10 and remains relevant today. At the
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Public Administration Issues. 2018. Special Issue
same time the central area of improving governance is areduction of excess go-
vernment regulation; improving the quality of public services; improving the
e ciency of public authorities; and increasing transparency. In the aspect of
self-governance and subsidiarity an important aim is the improvement of re-
gional and especially local authorities. In China, for example, decentralization
has brought many changes in the center of the relationship with the regions.
Although in the recent years in connection with the ght against corruption the
trend is bucking, however, scal decentralization, which changed the way of the
formation of local taxes and revenues, maintained anew direction in relations
between central and local authorities. e new separate tax system, introduced
in 1994, allowed for the local authorities to collect taxes, fees and spending at
the expense of the various projects. e second element of decentralization was
the formation of the special administrative regions based on the decentraliza-
tion of provincial governance structures. All of these innovations have allowed
local capitalism to develop and o en lead to the delimitation of the territory
into separate “ efdoms”, however, as noted by observers, scal decentralization
has established anew character of relations between the center and local areas
and established in China “federalism de facto” (Zheng, 2007, p. 31, 73, 115).
Fiscal federalism established in China in the mid-1980s, made her the most
decentralized country in the world, despite the formal unitary character of the
state government. e political institutions, namely, the personnel evaluation
system and the system of dual accountability made it mandatory for local of-
cials to increase tax revenues, allowing them to focus resources in the local
credit institutions (Ong, 2012, p. 456).
In Brazil in the 1990s and 2000s the “government based on participation”
is an important area of the administrative reforms. It lls avacuum of citizens’
in uence on policy, formed due to the weakness of the party system and the ab-
sence of parliamentary developed traditions (Wampler, 2012, p. 344). Here, there
is the “participatory budgeting”, where citizens are mobilized to participate in the
discussion of municipal budgets, as well as to create anumber of administrative
councils in municipalities (conselhos) which are involved in education policy,
health care, transport, etc. An important place in the political and administrative
in uence is lled by the civil society associations, whose activities in cooperation
with the state are conceptually described by the concepts of “right to have rights”
and “participatory public”. In India, 73 and 74 amendments to the Constitution in
1992 led to the formation of local self-government as the constitutional system,
which includes the traditional councils of villages (the Panchayat Raj) and the city
government, which expanded their powers to address political issues of local im-
portance. To increase the representation of women in the villages, in August 2009,
the boards of the central government of India decided to reserve to the Board 50%
of the seats for the female population.
Rising Accountability and Anticorruption Policy. A de ciency in respon-
sibility and accountability is o en referred to in the new governance system.
“State institutions that are accountable to their people will use their resources
constructively rather than misspend or steal them” (Gaventa, McGee, 2013, p.5).
91
Smorgunov L.V. Inclusive Growth and Administrative Reform in the Brics Countries
is is of particular importance in the ght against corruption in the designated
countries. In the past two decades, Brazil has been taking anumber of anti-
corruption measures that increase openness and accountability in the public
administration system. Among them are the opening of public budgets, the
increase in the role of special nancial control bodies, the development of asys-
tem of public audit organizations, the involvement of civil society in the control
of public nances and other measures (Puppim de Oliveira, 2017, p. 12). How-
ever, as some scholars stress, in Brazil public control of corruption was cen-
tered on bureaucratic–administrative innovations, with few changes in judicial
control and non–state public control (Filgueiras, 2015, p. 120). In Russia there
is aNational Anti-Corruption Plan (2016–2017), introduced by the President
of the Russian Federation in 2016. According to this plan we could see some
reformations: anticorruption examination of legal norms; openness of public
authorities; regulating the activities of public authorities (laws and standards);
informing citizens about the activities of the authorities and on civil rights;
perfection of the judicial system; the irrevocability of punishment for corrup-
tion; increase in the social status of civil servants; introducing ethical stan-
dards; and competitive forms of recruitment to the civil service. In India, the
phenomenon of corruption is no less signi cant than in other BRICS countries.
As the researchers emphasize, corruption here is based on the closure of the
bureaucratic apparatus from society. Hence, the policy of openness is the key
to greater accountability and reducing corruption. e Chinese anti-corruption
policy of the last decade has acquired new conceptual and institutional out-
lines (see: Manion, 2016). ere is an important conceptual shi from targeting
tougher punishment for corruption to preventative work against corruption-
related behavior. In this regard, strengthening the institution of party control,
open budget expenditures and declarations become the center of anti-corrup-
tion policy in modern China.
e formation of aresponsibility and accountability system, the di erent
institutions of accountability (monitoring, for example), the introduction of
ethical codes of conduct, and citizens controlling institutions based on the law
and open government are the signs of this general development. An important
role is played by relatively independent and responsible institutions for monitor-
ing and control, such as the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, the
Brazilian Federation of Accounts Tribunal, the National Audit O ce of China,
the Institute of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, and the Auditor-
General of South Africa. e National Audit Institutions of these countries have
the function of an independent external audit of the public sector, established
by the constitution or parliament. ese institutions are responsible for control
over the spending of public resources by the government, which they carry out
in cooperation with parliaments and other regulatory and supervisory struc-
tures. ey are responsible to the parliament, government or head of the state.
Compared with other state organizations of audit, the national audit institu-
tions have strict constitutional guarantees of independence. eir impact on the
quality of public administration has increased in terms of nancial management
reforms and decentralization of the system.
92
Public Administration Issues. 2018. Special Issue
Other control institutions are related to the participatory mechanism of ac-
countability. e movement for Transparency and Accountability Initiatives
stresses the di erent modes of such mechanism, including the Public Expenditure
Tracking Surveys, citizen report cards, score cards, social audits and community
monitoring, participatory budgeting, sector-speci c budget monitoring and par-
ticipatory audits (Carothers, Brechenmacher, 2014). Brazil was the rst country
which implemented participatory budgeting. In Brazil, at the moment, the most
e ective way of directly including the citizens in policy-making is not political
parties, and not representative authorities, but participatory budgeting. ere are
numerous complex social problems– the legal inequality of the black popula-
tion, the marginalized population of the ‘favelas’, exacerbating the problems of
drug tra cking and crime, etc. To address these problems the main emphasis was
placed on increasing social inclusiveness through aspecial institution of participa-
tory budgeting at the level of municipalities. e cycle of participatory budgeting
lasts one year, during which citizens, through public meetings and negotiations
between themselves and the local government, decide how to spend money on
new projects for urban infrastructure, for example, healthcare, schools, and public
roads. Participatory budgeting combines two models of democracy– direct de-
mocracy at the level of district assemblies and representative democracy at the le-
vel of the Council of Delegates and the Council for Participatory Budgeting. InRus-
sia, participatory budgeting is expressed in the “Open Government” project of the
“Budget for Citizens”. is project was implemented at the federal and regional
levels in 2013. e main directions of the project in Russia were the openness of
the federal and regional budgets, the adaptation of budget data to citizens' percep-
tions, and the formation of an education system on the budget problem. Every
Russian region has an open budget, and 47 regions of the Russian Federation im-
plement the practice of initiative budgeting. e openness of regional budgets and
their ranking are monitored. In 2017, the Ministry of Finance has prepared adra
program for the development of initiative budgeting in Russia.
Conclusion
e formation of public administration which meets the challenges of equ-
itable development and improvement of social welfare level requires not only
participatory institutions, but also participatory culture. e formation of insti-
tutions simultaneously transforms the consciousness and activity of participants
in public administration. ere is aperiod of searching for new principles and
approaches that can later be transformed into policy and administrative reform
under anew name. In the BRICS countries, administrative transformations take
the form of permanent changes in public administration. e main directions
of the current changes concern the enhancement of the strategic role of govern-
ment policy, the development of civic engagement, the use of open government
and open data for public administration and policy, and increasing the level of
accountability and responsibility of the public administration system. Of course,
all these changes are aimed at making the economic and social policies of states
more e cient and inclusive.
93
Smorgunov L.V. Inclusive Growth and Administrative Reform in the Brics Countries
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