Debate: Advancing decolonization of public administration—Experiences and lessons from East Asia

The call for decolonising public administration (PA) is hardly new. Yet, it remains a challenging pursuit as long as the stereotypical assumption that global = Western = good = modern PA still prevails. This article revisits the experiences of East Asia and explores what the region has to offer in breaking such stereotypes. It focuses on the decades after World War II until 1997-98 Asian Financial Crisis—a not-so-distant episode of good PA that delivered performance with equity, yet through an approach that deviated from the usual prescriptions by advanced Western economies. An analysis of the underlying administrative philosophy and practice reveals how such deviation reflects the countries’ autonomous and deliberate choice that is aligned with their contexts. These historical lessons highlight the value of leveraging indigenous wisdom and furnishing foundational state and policy capacity, which has important implications for addressing the ongoing challenges in decolonising PA scholarship and practice.