Institutional Reforms, Governance, and Services Delivery in the Global South. By Hamid E.Ali and ShahjahanBhuiyan (eds.), Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2022. 301 pp. $139.99 (hardback). ISBN: 978‐3‐030‐82256‐9

A timely addition to the comparative public administration literature, this collection of essays brings together a diverse group of researchers to investigate the interplay of institutional reforms, governance quality, and public service delivery in various Global South countries—settings where governments face resource constraints, fragile institutions, and mounting citizen demands. The editors rightly note that mainstream public administration research has traditionally been dominated by Global North cases, while most of the world's population lives in Global South settings, where institutional fragility and instability are the norm and not the exception (also see Bhuiyan and Perry 2024). By focusing on the Global South and especially the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, this book helps correct that imbalance and highlights cases where governance challenges are acute and reforms are essential. Roberts' foreword frames the book within a global conversation about governance under stress, commending the book's editors and contributors for avoiding “one-size-fits-all” solutions and for acknowledging the historical contingencies that shaped different reform outcomes in different settings. As a researcher who has also endeavored to bring overlooked Global South settings to the mainstream scholarly attention (e.g., AbouAssi et al. 2024; Tran and AbouAssi 2021), I highly appreciate this book. The volume comprises 13 chapters thoughtfully divided into three thematic parts. Together, they provide a multi-level perspective on institutional reforms, governance, and service delivery. Part I, entitled “Institutional Reforms and Policy Design,” explores how institutional structures and policy frameworks shape reform trajectories. Qarmout and D'Angelo use inductive thematic coding to analyze policymaking in MENA, highlighting both the possibilities and limits of governance reforms in politically volatile contexts. Rashdan examines the role of the middle class in some Arab countries, arguing that it is both a driver and beneficiary of institutional changes. Aziz provides a poignant case study of deinstitutionalization in Egypt, focusing on children without parental care and alternative care systems. Finally, Chowdhury and Tasnima analyze Bangladesh's Parents Maintenance Act of 2013, illuminating how legal reforms confront social and cultural implementation barriers. Together, these chapters underscore a central argument: while institutional reforms in the Global South are often symbolic, they can succeed when grounded in the local context and designed to meet specific implementation challenges. Part II, entitled “Governance Reform,” shifts focus to governance dynamics. Jamil, Baniamin, and Askvik investigate citizen trust in political leadership across Africa, going beyond performance metrics to examine social and cultural explanatory factors. Haykal analyzes Lebanon's e-governance initiatives as anti-corruption tools. Lastly, Khodary assesses social accountability and local governance interventions during Egypt's political transition after the 2011 revolution. This section illustrates how governance reforms—whether digital innovations or participatory mechanisms—must be evaluated not only in technical terms but also in their ability to generate citizen trust, curb corruption, and stabilize fragile institutions. Part III, entitled “Service Delivery,” brings the discussion to the practical level of how public services are delivered to citizens. Mistarihi presents a two-factor model for evaluating public-private partnerships, drawing on experiences from various Global South countries. Siddiquee examines Malaysia's National Blue Ocean Strategy as a case of inter-agency collaboration and innovation, offering lessons for breaking bureaucratic silos. Baradei assesses Egypt's pre-university education reforms, with particular attention to how the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated change. Lastly, Youssef evaluates poverty alleviation policies in Egypt's Assiut Governorate, linking service delivery outcomes to institutional and governance reforms. These chapters all demonstrate a central point: service delivery cannot be separated from governance and institutional considerations. The primary strength of this edited volume lies in its rich collection of cases that offer valuable insights into the on-the-ground realities of public administration across the developing world. The diversity of topics covered makes the book a versatile resource for a wide audience. Another noteworthy strength of this volume is its interdisciplinary approach, drawing on insights from public administration, political science, economics, and sociology. The third major strength is the book's emphasis on the interconnectedness of institutional reforms, governance, and service delivery. By treating these as mutually reinforcing components of a larger system, the editors and contributors provide a more nuanced picture of the challenges of development. Fourthly, echoing Roberts's foreword, the book repeatedly emphasizes that reforms should not be “cut-and-paste” exercises but, instead, must be embedded in the local context—an influential idea reflected by growing “localization” efforts in international development (e.g., Schmitz and Mitchell 2025). In terms of limitations, like many edited volumes, this book suffers from some unevenness. Some chapters are rich in empirical evidence and theoretical engagement, while the others are a bit too descriptive or speculative. Next, the book's geographic scope is narrower than the title suggests: Latin America and the Pacific Islands are largely absent, while there is a clear concentration of chapters on the MENA region. Third, instead of primarily summarizing the chapters, the volume's concluding note could have been strengthened by an overarching theoretical framework that synthesizes cross-cutting insights and links them more explicitly to broader debates in public administration (e.g., see Bryson et al. 2014). This edited volume holds significant implications for both scholars and practitioners of public administration. For researchers, it underlines the need for more Global-South-based theory-building and not just theory testing. The book also identifies many areas where further research is needed, such as the long-term impacts of e-governance initiatives and the effectiveness of different accountability mechanisms in varying Global South contexts. For public administration as a field, this book also contributes to a more inclusive and representative discipline by reminding scholars that governance challenges may be global but manifest differently depending on specific institutional histories and resource constraints. For practitioners, the book provides a range of useful lessons. The case studies illustrate both pitfalls and successes of reforms. Policymakers can learn from examples such as Malaysia's collaborative innovation, Egypt's education restructurings, and Bangladesh's legal amendments about the importance of tailoring reforms to local capacities and cultures. The book's overarching message about the need for a holistic and participatory approach to reforms is a crucial one for anyone involved in the design and implementation of public administration and development policies. For instance, the book frequently demonstrates that governance reforms must be coupled with efforts to build trust and accountability. Technical fixes are insufficient without attention to legitimacy. This book adds to the revival of comparative public administration, a field once in decline but now regaining prominence (Kaiser 2025). The book's greatest value lies in its centering of Global South cases. While somewhat uneven in depth and coverage, the book should be read by scholars and practitioners seeking to understand how reforms unfold in fragile and resource-constrained contexts. In sum, Ali and Bhuiyan have curated a collection that pushes the field toward a more balanced and inclusive understanding of public administration. As the Global South continues to rise in importance while facing complex challenges, the lessons distilled in this book will remain highly relevant. The author declares no conflicts of interest.