ABSTRACT
A well-struc tured and effi cient public admin is tra tion is a funda mental attrib ute of civil ised society and essen tial for the state-build ing process, which also means that it has infl u enced prosper ity over the centur ies (Fukuyama 2011; Mann 1986, 1993; Tilly 1985). An ‘impar tial’ (Rothstein and Teorell 2008) or ‘imper sonal’ (North et al. 2009) treat ment of citizens by the public admin is tra tion is a basic quality in well-func tion ing states, and, corrup tion being the oppos ite of impar ti al ity, the role of public admin is tra tion is import ant to under stand – for its own sake and also because the fl aws of the admin is tra tion are likely to spread to the society at large, with crip pling, long-term effects.
