Reorienting bureaucratic performance : a social learning approach to development action

This study examines the importance of bureaucratic reorientation in promoting the social learning approach. After a brief discussion of the need to empower local communities to conduct self-sustaining activities, the nature of bureaucracy, especially as applied to development agencies, is described and a set of norms based on reciprocity, flexibility, communication, and equity is suggested to help reorient bureaucracies toward a people-centered approach. Constraints to the adoption of such an approach are listed as bureacrats" perception of community and citizen power as a threat; entrenched self-interest among government leaders; the need for certainty among government planners and managers; failure of educational institutions to teach social learning and collaborative planning; and the lack of communication among diverse social and political communities. From these constraints, an agenda is outlined for a new, social approach to development management, including the need for further research and dissemination of social learning and social development concepts.