Administration is needed to define and achieve goals, and to empower the forces that make them happen. Even when the necessary materials, funds, and personnel are in place, poor administration can still result in goals not being achieved. In the context of Syria’s monumental task of rebuilding the state, therefore, administration is crucial.
Administrative theories fill books. That level of knowledge is unnecessary, but an awareness of its key principles is important. Theory will only take you so far, however. The decisive factor lies in its practical application.
What works in some countries may not work in others, because administration is as much a social behaviour as a skill. Administration in a broader sense regulates almost everything: family, society, education, and employment, to name just a few. The form and level of administration can depend on a state’s political, social, and cultural systems.
Take the administration of primary schools as an example. Administration governs the implementation of the curricula, the conduct of principals and teachers toward students, and the educational and developmental processes, to name but a few aspects.
In business, administration provides a structure for leadership, participation, responsibility, the selection and allocation of employees to jobs, workforce involvement, communication, documentation, knowledge management, record-keeping, project monitoring, standard setting, incident reporting, investigations, and auditing.
Establishing a structure
Administration at the state level leads to a hierarchical structure involving thousands, or even millions, of government workers. The structure extends horizontally and vertically across all governmental functions nationwide, encompassing all sectoral and institutional levels, up to the Council of Ministers.
In a presidential system, the chief administrator is the president of the republic, who the presidential institution supports. This sits at the top of the pyramid. From base to summit, roles come with job descriptions and specifications, legally codified so that the skills and criteria are objective, not subjective, with qualifications and specialisations clearly defined for the role (not the role-holder).
Civil service laws, such as the Basic Law on State Employees, Labour Law, or Social Security Law, must govern this. Regulating employment and administration in this way allows for a transition away from tyranny, favouritism, and preferential treatment based on kinship, friendship, or other societal considerations.
To form and build a successful state, the general concepts of administration must be unified across all levels of the civil service. This requires flexible, non-rigid legislation. It is crucial to adopt administrative models that are unbiased and not parasitic to the positions they manage (through nepotistic affiliation or backdoor entry methods).
In the past, an administration that prioritised loyalty over expertise and learning has yielded negative results. Public service is not for experimentation or favouritism. If efforts and resources are to be provided, they must be well-managed by dedicated professionals who adhere to standards.
How can an administration succeed if its manager lacks knowledge, ethics, and competence? All he has is a closeness to the person who appointed him. Experience suggests that such role-holders often flounder, lacking oversight and behaving recklessly. When they fail in one position, they are simply transferred to another.
