Book Reviews 943

Nissim CohenUniversity of Haifa

Itzhak Galnoor, Public Management in Israel:

Development, Structure, Functions and Reforms

(London: Routledge, 2011). 191 pp. $100 (cloth), ISBN: 9780415563949.

Certain scholars in the fi eld of public policy

and administration distinguish between the

study of public administration and of public

policy as two separate disciplines or subdisciplines.

Indeed, in institutes of higher education around the

world, the two fi elds usually are taught in separate

courses. Th us, the fi eld of public policy, for the most

part, is limited to studying the outcomes of the

interactions among politicians, bureaucrats, inter-

est groups, and the general public, focusing on three

main stages: policy design, implementation, and

evaluation. Public administration, on the other hand,

concerns itself with all aspects of civil service and with

the implementation stage of public policy, looking

at the various organizations that make up the public

administration.

Although, in recent years, a relatively large number

of books focusing on public policy in Israel have

been published, there is a great lack in terms of books

dealing with Israel’s public administration, especially

ones that also could be used as textbooks by university

students. In fact, with the exception of a few collec-

tions of essays, since the publication of a textbook

in Hebrew in 1996 by the Open University of Israel

(Dery 1996), which focused specifi cally on public

administration in Israel, no comprehensive book

has been written on this subject. Moreover, for the

most part, that important text was more concerned

with public policy than with public administration.

Th erefore, for those involved in the study of public

administration in Israel, Itzhak Galnoor’s book can be

considered a real event.

Galnoor, who, after a career as a professor of politi-

cal science at Hebrew University, served as the Israeli

civil service commissioner in 1994–96 and wrote a

book based on his personal diary from this period

(Galnoor 2003), combines his academic abilities with

rich practical experience to provide readers with an

updated description of the Israeli civil service from a

broad perspective. However, as I shall detail here, the

book’s contribution goes further, and several parts of

it provide new empirical foundations. Th e fact that

the only serious attempt at fundamental reform in the

Israeli civil service was made (unsuccessfully) under

the author’s leadership also contributes to the book’s

insights regarding the nature of the changes required

in this civil service and the barriers to such changes.

An earlier Hebrew version of Galnoor’s book (2007)

was awarded the Israeli Political Science Association’s

prize for best textbook for 2008. Th e English version

will serve to enrich the knowledge of anyone who is

interested in the science of public administration and

provides an empirical basis for comparing the Israeli

case with others. In essence, Galnoor analyzes the

status of the civil service in the Israeli political system

and the changes that have taken place in its struc-

ture and function. Th e only disadvantage is that the

book hardly expands or adds details beyond what the

author already has outlined in previous publications.

Much more could be included in this short book of

11 chapters.

Th e fi rst chapter, “Civil Service: A Comparative

Perspective,” provides the reader with a comparative

basis for understanding the civil service in rela-

tion to the many changes that have occurred in the

role of the Western state. Th e second chapter, “Th e

Public Sector in Israel Broadly Defi ned,” provides an

important contribution (even to the informed reader)

in that it off ers, perhaps for the fi rst time for Israel, a

systematic map of the organizations and units related

to the public sector in its broadest defi nition. Some of

the defi nitions in the typology suggested by Galnoor

appear to be quite vague. Perhaps the reason is that,

in fact, it is impossible to come up with a clear defi ni-

tion of many institutions related to Israeli public

administration. For example, the health maintenance

organizations discussed in this chapter are defi ned

Public Administration in Israel:

Between Governability and Collapse

Nissim Cohen is a a member of the de-

partment of Public Administration & Policy,

School of Political Sciences, University of

Haifa, Israel. In 2010–11, he served as a

postdoctoral fellow in the Center for the

Study of Public Choice at George Mason

University.

E-mail: nissimcohe@gmail.com

944 Public Administration Review • November | December 2011

as “other signifi cant public institutions” and as “part

of the quasi-governmental public sector” (21–23).

Indeed, although, according to the Israeli National

Health Insurance Law (1994), the health funds are

supposed to be nonprofi t organizations that maintain

controlled competition among themselves, one cannot

ignore that most of their funding comes from govern-

ment sources, that a signifi cant part of their incomes

is collected by the Israeli National Insurance Institute,

that these funds are distributed to the health mainte-

nance organizations according to a capitation formula

calculated by the Ministry of Health, and that all of

these activities are highly centralized under the control

of the Israeli Finance Ministry. Th is chapter also

discusses the Israeli public sector’s size in relation to

its population. However, the author does not supply

to the reader a clear normative decision rule to guide

what this ratio should be.

Th e third chapter, “Th e Legal Framework of the Civil

Service,” provides an important contribution, espe-

cially in its second part. Th is section systematically

lists the laws related to the civil service. Th e author

recommends additional legislation to redefi ne the

institutional setting.

Chapter 4, “Th e Functioning of the Israeli Civil

Service,” fi rst describes the duties of the civil service

in Israel and its changing patterns. Th en it discusses

citizens’ attitudes toward the quality of service that

they receive from public sector organizations. It seems

that this section should have come after a much more

extensive discussion on New Public Management that

emphasizes the centrality of the citizen as a client. Th e

author discusses New Public Management briefl y in

the fi rst and ninth chapters.

Th e fi fth chapter on “Regulation” could have been

included under the heading of the previous chapter.

Th e author separates this discussion in order to em-

phasize the importance of regulation and deregulation

in the “skeletal state” that seems to be emerging in the

twenty-fi rst century.

Chapter 6, “Civil Servants,” fi rst presents qualitative

and quantitative diff erences between various minis-

tries and then off ers an updated profi le of the average

Israeli civil servant. Th en the author briefl y describes

the method of recruitment and promotion of civil ser-

vants, their wages, their education and training, and

the nature of labor relations in this context. Finally,

the chapter points to the lack of systematic, long-

term, and rational planning in these important areas.

Th e next chapter, “Th e Senior Echelons,” concentrates

on the senior echelons of the central government.

At the end of this chapter, the author recommends

affi rmative action—especially for women and Israeli

Arabs, as already recommended by investigation

committee that examined this issue in the past

(Koverski Committee 1989).

Chapter 8, “Th e Budget Process,” describes this

important issue as one of the fundamental activities

of the various public administration organizations.

Based on his practical experience, Galnoor provides

the reader with an additional confi rmation that Israeli

Finance Ministry bureaucrats dominate the shaping of

the state budget in a nondemocratic way, mainly using

tools such as the Economic Arrangements Law.

Ostensibly meant to reconcile various legislative

provisions with the annual budget bill, the Economic

Arrangements Law actually is used to make signifi cant

changes in many policy areas in Israel. Since its pas-

sage as emergency legislation, the law has become an

accepted practice, brought before the Knesset (Israeli

parliament) for approval alongside the debate over the

Budget Law (at least 60 days before the end of the fi s-

cal year) or as part of the government’s economic plan.

Because the failure to approve the Budget Law within

three months of the start of the fi scal year would

amount to a decision to dissolve the Knesset, passing

the law is guaranteed. To pass the Economic Arrange-

ments Law, diverse legislative changes are rushed

through, their social considerations are not given

suffi cient attention, and no public debate is held. In

the main, the Knesset Finance Committee discusses

the bill as part of its state budget debates and under

time pressure to pass the budget before the deadline.

Under these circumstances, legislators cannot give due

consideration to the social implications of economic

measures that aff ect public policy. At the end of the

chapter, Galnoor presents normative recommenda-

tions for reforms that he believes are necessary in this

area.

Chapter 9, “Oversight and Control of the Civil

Service,” is devoted to the institutions that control

the civil service, renewing the discussion regarding

the new public supervision developing in recent years

in Israel. Hence, Galnoor discusses the role of the

Knesset, as political oversight and control, the unique

standing of the Israeli state comptroller, as an impor-

tant institution controlling the civil service, elected

by and accountable to the Knesset, judicial review by

the Israeli courts (especially the high court of justice),

internal control, scrutiny, and auditing and public

accountability.

Th e next chapter, “Th e Culture of Administration in

Israel,” is the longest chapter in the book. It deals with

the phenomenon of political appointments, integrity

and corruption, public administration’s image, and

public trust in the Israeli civil service. Th e author

does well by choosing to debate the issue of political

appointments in this chapter as a part of a broader

discussion of the political and organizational culture

Book Reviews 945

from state government to the local authorities, reduc-

ing the number of government ministries and cancel-

ling various political appointments permitted by law.

Th ere is no doubt that the powerful bureaucrats at

the Israeli Ministry of Finance, as well as politicians

and bureaucrats of various ministries whose interests

would be harmed as a result of these changes, will

pose many diffi culties for such an initiative. Galnoor’s

proposed solution for these external and internal bar-

riers is to create a Ministry of Public Administration.

Th e minister of this offi ce would be directly subordi-

nate to the Israeli prime minister in order to achieve

strong political backing for the reform.

Finally, it is very hard to ignore the book’s pessimism

regarding the ability of Israeli society to improve

the state of its public administration. Th is is mainly

attributable to structural conditions of nonpolitical

stability, social cleavages, and security problems. One

can only hope for the appearance of a policy entre-

preneur with both motivation and ability who will

try again to correct the many problems of the public

administration in Israel.

ReferencesDavid, Dery. 1996. Fundamentals of Public Administration [in

Hebrew]. Tel Aviv: Open University of Israel.

Itzhak, Galnoor. 2003. No, Mr. Commissioner: Behind the Scenes

of Politics and Administration in Israel [in Hebrew] . Tel Aviv:

Yediot Ahronot.

———. 2007. Public Management in Israel: Development, Structure,

Functions and Reforms [in Hebrew]. Jerusalem: Akademon.

Koverski Committee. 1989. A Public Report on the State Services [in

Hebrew]. Jerusalem: Government Publishing.

of the civil service. Th is placement diff ers from the

classic presentation of the civil service in an insti-

tutional setting. Th e reason apparently stems from

the great importance that the author attributes to a

society’s political culture and its impact on the exist-

ing institutional structure. Indeed, political culture

is an important independent variable that too often

does not get proper attention in public policy and

administration studies. Th is chapter includes the main

developments that aff ect the political appointments

permitted by law in Israel and analyzes several recent

case studies. Th e author uses this discussion to voice

his opinion that Israel should not adopt the American

model, which advocates political appointments in the

senior echelons of the civil service. Galnoor’s stand

is traditionally identifi ed with many senior Israeli

judiciaries. Th e discussion continues with the issue of

corruption in the public administration and provides

descriptions of a number of prominent Israeli cases.

Th e fi nal chapter, “Public Management Reforms,”

describes the attempts at reform, development, and

change in public administration, as Galnoor high-

lights the issue of privatization policy in Israel. In

the end of this chapter, the author off ers 11 recom-

mendations for long-term reform of the Israeli public

administration. Th e fact that almost all of these

recommendations are normative raises a question: Is

it possible, given the existing institutional setting in

Israel, to implement them from theory to practice?

For example, one of the changes recommended by the

author is to eliminate the monopoly of the Budget

Division in the Israeli Finance Ministry and to cancel

the Economic Arrangements Law, transferring power