Socio-histoire de la réforme administrative au Cameroun : de la proto-bureaucratie au Nouveau Management Public (1960-2013)

This dissertation provides an analysis of administrative reform policies implemented in Cameroon between 1960 and 2013. Using a sociohistorical framework, it explains the multiplicity of issues, processes and mechanisms that participate in the genesis of reforms, as well as their stabilization and replacement over specific periods of time. On the empirical level, the main contribution of the research—which provides a systematic inventory of administrative reforms over several decades—is historiographic. A careful examination of the transformation of ideas into concrete administrative organization and of the nature of actors involved— along with their positions, resources, interests and interactions—highlights the many facets of state action and its evolution since Cameroon’s independence in 1960. Even though it focuses on Cameroon, the dissertation has an important underlying comparative dimension. Indeed, given that the selection or replacement of reform models is often based at the confluence of knowledge, people, and varying norms—both across national and international settings as well as over time—the research draws heavily from the comparative literature on reform processes observed in other societies, such as in Western, Asian or African societies. The research therefore highlights how similar themes of change take meaning and form in different settings, but also the ways in which relationships between knowledge, people and norms are structured in order to create reforms. From the theoretical and methodological point of view, the thesis adopts a novel perspective on administrative reform policies. The approach is multidimensional, as it focuses on the organizational, institutional, sociological and historical perspectives at the analytical level. At the iv theoretical level, the reflection is based on a vast review of the fields of administration and public policy, organizational theory, political sociology and historical sociology. Finally, the methodology brings together diverse sources of information and makes extensive use of primary data, (such as many archival and bureaucratic documents, semi-structured interviews) many of which have never before been featured in analyses. Far from leading to a conceptual mishmash, this pooling of data and methods allows a rich analysis of the phenomena studied. First, in addition to confirming the decisive impact of variables raised by the literature, such as the influence of international actors or the instrumentalization of local political elites, the thesis sheds light on the conditions surrounding the effects of these variables. Finally, three specific causal influences are highlighted: the interdependencies of actors, the structuring tensions of their actions, and the diffusion of reform knowledge. The explanatory framework built around this set integrates the constraints of the rules of governance, the importance of past actions, the supply of the reform market, the sense of political expediency, institutional arrangements and organizational resources. In the end, the dissertation invites a debate on state formation and transformation in African countries. Although it does not deal specifically with the success or failure of administrative reforms, it offers, through its implications, avenues of interest for public decision-makers.

Keyphrases: Socio-histoire, Bureaucratie, Nouveau Management Public, Administrative reform, Social history, Cameroon, State, Bureaucracy, New Public Management, Governance, Public policies, Organizations