This essay begins with a comparison of Mumbai and Shanghai, using the recent 2012 book on slum conditions in Mumbai by Katherine Boo, but suggesting that an analysis of public administration (PA) in essential in this regard. Unfortunately, PA is a neglected field in the social sciences. Partly this may be due to doubts about the usefulness of PA, along the lines suggested by a 2004 book by Francis Fukuyama: why, for example, what works in one place and time does not work in another. Political Elasticity (PE) theory is put forward as a way of overcoming these doubts. In so doing, the author attempts to do for the political science what Darwin did for the biology. Case studies (e.g., solid waste management failure in Lagos, as against achievement in Tokyo; the inability of Ghana to improve agricultural outputs, despite its progressive and democratic government) are used to illustrate PE theory. At the conclusion, the impor-tance of motivation is emphasized, using Vietnam (in comparison to Bangladesh) as an example of a country that has been able to link PA to economic development.
Acemoglu, D., & Robinson, J. A. (2012). Why national fail: The origins of power, prosperity, and poverty. New York: Crown Publishers.
Adelegan, J. A. (2007). The history of environmental policy and pollution of water sources in Nigeria (1960-2004). Oyo State: University of Ibadan.
Africa Development Bank (2006). Ghana: Country assistance evaluation. Abidjan: AFDB.
Amponsah, N. (2007). Institutions and economic performance: Ghana’s experience under the Fourth Republic, 1992-2002. In K. Boafo-Arthur (ed.), Ghana: One decade of the liberal state, New York: Zed Books.
Ayee, J. R. A. (2007). A decade of political leadership in Ghana, 1993-2004. In K. Buafo-Arthur (ed.), Ghana: One decade of the liberal state. New York: Zed Books.
Baldwin, D. A. (1989). Paradoxes of power. New York and Oxford: Blackwell.
Boo, K. (2012). Behind the beautiful forevers. New York: Random House.
Brooks, J., Croppenstedt, A., & Aggrey-Flynn, E. (2007). Distortions to agricultural incentives in Ghana. Working Paper 47, Washington DC: World Bank.
Choi, K. (1991). Introduction to the value-added tax. In L. J. Cho, & Y. H. Kim (eds.), Economic development in the Republic of Korea: A Policy Perspective. Honolulu, HA: East-West Center.
Crump, J. (1996). Environmental politics in Japan. Environmental Politics, 5, 115-121. doi:10.1080/09644019608414252
Dahl, R. A. (1964). Modern political analysis. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Denmark (2008). Vietnam country profile. Copenhagen: Global Advice Network.
Economist (2008). Vietnam: Revealing its hidden charm. April 26, 3.
Economist (2011). The Hindu rate of self-depreciation. April 20, 47.
Ferguson, N. (2011). The revolution blows up. Newsweek, June 13-20, 7-9.
Fukuyama, F. (2004). State-building: Governance and world order in the 21st century. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Gechlik, M. Y. (2005). Judicial reform in China: Lessons from Shanghai. Columbia Journal of Asian Law, 97-110.
George, R. (2008). The big necessity: The unmentionable world of human waste. New York: Metropolitan Books.
Gould, S. J. (1977). Ever since Darwin: Reflections in natural history. New York: Norton.
Gyan-Baffour, G. (2003). Decentralization as a means to improve governance and poverty reduction: Experience from Ghana. Accra: Government of Ghana.
Herskowitz, A., & Salerni, E. (1987). Garbage management in Japan. New York: INFORM.
Hung, V. M. Y. (2005). Judicial Reform in China: Lessons from Shanghai. Carnegie endowment for international peace. Washington DC.
International Development Bank (2010). Country assistance strategy progress report for the Republic of Ghana. Washington DC: World Bank.
Katumanga, M., & Cliffe, L. (2005). Nairobi—A city besieged: The impact of armed violence on poverty and development. Bradford, England: Department of Peace Studies.
Kenney, M., & Florida, R. (1993). Beyond mass production: The Japanese system and its transfer to the U.S. New York: Oxford University Press.
MacDougall, T. F. (1989). Democracy and local government in postwar Japan. In I. Takeshi, & E. S. Krauss (eds.), Democracy in Japan. University of Pittsburgh Press.
Mathur, H. (2006). Administrative development in the Third World. New Delhi: Sage.
Ninsin, K. A. (2007). Markets and liberal democracy. In K. Boafo-Arthur (ed.), Ghana: One decade of the liberal state. New York: Zed Books.
Osborne, D., & Gaebler, T. (1992). Reinventing government. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Peil, M. (1996). Lagos: The city is the people. Boston, MA: G. H. Hall.
Rapley, J. (2006). The new middle ages. Foreign Affairs, 85, 95-104. doi:10.2307/20031970
Ratliff, W. (2004). Getting down to business in Vietnam. Oakland, CA: Independent Institute.
Sakaiya, T. (1995). What is Japan? Contradictions and transformations. New York: Kodansha America.
Smith, D. J. (2007). A critique of corruption: Everyday deception and popular discontent in Nigeria. Princeton, NJ and Oxford: Princeton University Press.
Smoke, P. (2005). The Rules of the Intergovernmental game in East Asia: Decentralization Frameworks and Processes. In World Bank Staff (eds.), East Asia decentralization: Making local government work (pp. 25-52). Washington DC: World Bank.
Tsikata, G. K. (2007). Challenges of economic growth in a liberal economy. In K. Boafo-Arthur (ed.), Ghana: One decade of the liberal State. New York: Zed Books.
USAID (2005). USAID’s Strategy in Kenya. Washington DC: USAID.
Van Arkadie, B., & Dinh, D. D. (2004). Economic reform in Tanzania and Vietnam: A comparative commentary. Working Paper Series No. 12, Bagamoyo: Economic and Social Research Foundation, Tanzania.
Van Wolferen, K. (1989). The enigma of Japanese power, people and power in a stateless society. New York: Alfred A. Knoph.
Waldo, D. (1980). The enterprise of public administration. Novato, CA: Chandler & Sharp.
Walling, E., et al. (2007). Municipal solid waste management in developing countries: Nigeria: A case study. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Western Africa Department (1994). Project completion report, Nigeria: Lagos solid waste and storm drainage project. Washington DC: World Bank Internal Document.
Welden, T. D. (1953). The vocabulary of politics. Harmonsworth: Penguin.
Werlin, H. H. (1974). Governing an African city: A study of Nairobi. New York: Africana.
Werlin, H. H. (2001). The mysteries of development: Studies using political elasticity theory. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America.
Werlin, H. H. (2001). Bureaucracy and democracy: An essay in memory of Dwight Waldo. Public Administration Quarterly, 25, 290-315.
White, L. (1955). Introduction to the study of public administration. New York: Macmillan.
White, R., & Smoke, P. (2005). East Asia decentralization. In World Bank Staff (eds.), East Asia decentralizes: Making local government work. Washington DC: World Bank.
Wolin, S. S. (2004). Politics and vision: Continuity and innovation in western political thought. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
World Bank (2000/2001). World development report. Washington DC: World Bank.
World Bank (2004). Doing business in 2004. Washington DC: World Bank.
World Bank (2005). East Asia decentralization: Making local government work. Washington DC: World Bank.
World Bank (2006). Bangladesh country overview. Washington DC: World Bank.
World Bank (2007). Ghana: Country environmental analysis. Washington DC: World Bank.