The value of comparative analysis

Critical questions in both theory and practice can only be answered through comparative analysis whose value increases with the growing internationalization of public administration. Theoretically, it has long been assumed that public administration has to be a discipline reaching beyond one country and any specific culture, but the practical benefits derived from comparative analysis, such as more effetive policy making, better administrative arrangements and enhanced development prospects need also t o be stressed. Comparative bureaucratic corruption illustrates both the benefits and t h e difficult methodological problems encountered, in this case revealing why rich and stable polities can depend on legal-rational norms while poor and unstable polities a r e more susceptible t o systemic deviant conduct by public officials.