Committee of Experts on Public Administration: Definition of basic concepts and terminologies in governance and public administration -- Note by the Secretariat

At its fourth session, the United Nations Committee of Experts on Public Administration recognized that there are some fundamental concepts and terminologies of governance and public administration that need to be defined in order that there can be a common understanding of them throughout the United Nations system. It is acknowledged that often these concepts and terminologies are not applied in a uniform way. The discussions of the Committee on this subject will be the beginning of a participatory process in identifying and defining the major concepts and terminologies at the core of governance and public administration. The terminologies that are presented in the present paper are not exhaustive; developed through a brief desk research, they are intended to provide an initial springboard for the Committee to initiate discussions on these and related terms. Following the Committee’s comments and guidance, the research will be extended to expand the inventory and the definitions of the concepts and terminologies in governance and public administration.