Public Management as a Building Block for Governance: Drawing on the Experiences of Hong Kong

Developing countries strive for good governance because it ensures a number of features and arrangements that contribute to an effective and equitable system for governing. Despite substantial investments in resources and reorganization, the limited capacity of developing countries hinders the achievement of governance. An alternative approach could be to aim for attaining the desired outcome of governance by carefully designing and effectively implementing programs of public management with a limited scope, and by building the framework of governance gradually. This chapter discusses the case of Hong Kong in order to demonstrate that public management programs can serve as building blocks for creating a framework of governance; over time, the integration of these efforts can help ensure the benefits of governance without undertaking enormous risks by attempting comprehensive changes that may not succeed.