During the five decades of KMT rule, the government became as bloated as a hot air balloon, expanding from eight ministries and two commissions to 36 ministries and commissions. This top-heavy structure has resulted in poor efficiency and a heavy personnel burden.
The reasons for this bloated structure are many: the government has had to reorganize itself in order to handle new operations as they develop; the KMT maintained a massive civil service workforce and armed forces in order to strengthen its social control; and to make good on its election promises, the DPP government established the Hakka Commission.
The government has also set up ad hoc organizations to handle incidental matters and to meet the need for power allocation, including the National Unification Council and the president's advisory groups on cross-strait relations, human rights and technology. These extra-legal organizations have added more flab.
Meaner and leaner governments are a global trend. Here in Asia, both the Japanese and Chinese governments have been undertaking large-scale structural reforms. Taiwan has been willing to do the same -- to a certain extent -- but politics keep getting in the way.
In 1988, the draft amendments for the Executive Yuan Organization Law passed their second reading in the Legislative Yuan, but have been frozen there ever since due to concerns about the political controversy they might stir up. Ten years later the Executive Yuan set up another government reform committee and proposed a set of guidelines, which called for downsizing the government by one-third -- from 36 to 25 agencies. This is the plan that President Chen Shui-bian (
The downsizing of the provincial government was a success -- to a certain extent. Eliminating the provincial level saved a great deal of red tape between the central and local governments and improved efficiency. However, the financial savings were not that great because the entire provincial staff was simply absorbed into other agencies. The central government's personnel burden remained the same. In fact, the downsizing was far from smooth. The personnel re-allocation and re-design of government procedures were less than satisfactory, due to vehement resistance from the final provincial governor, James Soong (
In the coming wave of government reforms, the government should learn from past failures and adopt a more pragmatic attitude. Government reform is not just paperwork, but a realization of the will for innovative administration. Previous efforts floundered halfway through due to weak political will. Now Chen wants to personally direct the reforms. This is a show of determination and an important step in eliminating political obstacles.
Organizational readjustments should take into account both the horizontal and vertical distribution of labor. One key principle will be the compatibility between power and function. The readjustment of power should be fair, reasonable and compatible with social trends. Afterwards, the central government will serve as a policy-making and assessment body, while the responsibility of the county and city governments will be to implement policies. The local governments will have to rectify their over-dependence on the central government -- whether in terms of financial resources, business investments or urban planning. But they will also enjoy more independence and self-determination.
The central government should realize the idea of a small government for a big society. Many of its functions can be shared by non-governmental organizations, which reduces the needs for manpower and time, and will also increase efficiency.
Like anyone wanting to reduce flab, the key id for the government to follow Nike's popular slogan and "Just do it."
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