Chapter 10: Governance Failures as Uncertainties: Risk Management in the Administrative Reform Era

Over the past three decades, the issue of administrative reform has dominated the field of public administration. Reasons for pursuing administrative reform include the rise of globalization, the emerging knowledge economy, and the advances made in information and communication technology (Sun, 2003), but the ultimate objective of government reform remains to improve public services, and to better protect citizens from risk in an increasingly complex environment. Events such as global climate change, the vulnerability of terrorist attacks (e.g., the “911” incident), and the potential widespread of bird flu and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) have made risk prevention one of the most challenging tasks for every government.