How “Place” Shapes the Public Servant: Papua New Guinea’s Public Administration Within the Contexts of “Big Man” and “Wantok” Systems

Reform agendas that include bureaucratic and market characteristics have shaped the form and characteristics of public servants. These experiences are mostly relevant to Western developed countries, and the experience outside these nations, however, has been quite different. Reforms in developing countries have had quite different trajectories and impacted on public servants in unique ways. Through the examination of the trajectory of reform in Papua New Guinea (PNG), this chapter demonstrates how “place” shapes notions of the public servant, where place refers to the political and cultural context. In PNG’s case, modern forms of public administration have been layered over its traditional institutions and culture: big man and wantok systems. Exploring the example of PNG demonstrates how place shapes the public servant through its administrative and sociocultural contexts providing some insight into this relationship.