A big challenge to wise administrative reform is to ensure that reform does not threaten the organizational stability needed to ensure effective policy implementation and service delivery. There are of course many challenges, but this a vitally important one, and it is a main aim of this article to emphasize it. The article first presents a brief survey of the rise over the past 40 years of what is here called the “administrative reform industry”. It then looks at several recent contributions to the discourse about administrative reform, and in that connection notes some worthwhile suggestions about reform strategies, and some warnings about things to avoid. While the treatment is primarily reflective, a few practical illustrations are included.
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