Administrative development stages and the environment in a country with sudden wealth: The case of Kuwait.

This thesis is concerned with bureaucracy and how it develops in relation with its environment in Kuwait, identifying the factors behind its development as well as predicting the future stages of development. The empirical survey includes regression and statistical analysis, nine detailed interviews and a questionnaire administered to 72 top officials. The dissertation is divided into three parts. Part 1 examines in five chapters: introduction, the literature review, methodology, data analysis and historical and socio-economic background. Part II contains five chapters, in which four stages of administrative development are examined and a summary of outcomes presented. Part III indicates, in Chapter Eleven, the evolving of bureaucracy rationalization stage, while Chapter Twelve evaluates the research hypothesis. The findings indicate that: 1. The bureaucracy in Kuwait developed in four distinct progressive stages (imported bureaucracy, nationalization of bureaucracy, inflated bureaucracy, and administrative reform). 2. Environment has a significant impact on the initiation, span and outcome of each stage as well as on the interdependence among patterns of behaviour, structure and process. Economic and political factors are leading forces of change while social and cultural variables have a lesser impact. Demographic factors acted as constraints in most stages. 3. Bureaucracy rationalization will be the future stage of administrative development. Such a stage will include rationalization of the scope of bureaucracy and its financing system, rationalization of structure and process and rationalization of behaviour. 4. Similarity in problems facing countries with sudden wealth indicate the need for a model to explain administrative development in such countries. Changes in the model are a function of environmental intervention (resources slack and environment impact) and internal interaction. The research demonstrates that the bureaucracy in countries with sudden wealth, such as Kuwait, developed in a different pattern from other developing countries and this enhanced the need for the suggested model.