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Administrative reform is becoming of increasing importance as societies change at an ever increasing pace. Not all organizations or administrators are able to respond readily or to the extent demanded by new situations, and drastic action has to be taken to reduce the gap between actual performance and changing expectations. This is true of both private and public administration. Recent public inquiries in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, for example, have implied that public administration is not as responsive as it ought to be and they blame either excessive bureaucratization or the lag between the quality of public servants and public policy needs. If this is the situation in advanced countries, the need for administrative overhaul must be correspondingly greater in the underdeveloped countries, many of which have recently experienced the trauma of independence and unstable political, social and economic conditions. To meet the new situation, they have extended the range of governmental activities and transformed their administrations by multiplying governmental organs and expanding public employment. Almost without exception they have not been able to draw on a reserve pool of administrative talent and many have sought international assistance to overcome serious administrative deficiencies. Israel, one of the smallest of the newly independent states, is atypical in many ways. It does not consider itself an underdeveloped country but ranges itself amongst the European democracies. It both gives and receives technical (but not administrative) assistance. It has maintained a stable regime and until recent years it had one of the world's highest economic growth rates. Its administration has been called upon to bear the heaviest burdens to befall any country. It was born in war, and twice since it has battled with the forces of neighbouring states which have refused it recognition and which have maintained a state of war with it throug... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]