What drives public service reform, and who resists it? This article, published in Development and Change, identifies the leaders, supporters and resisters of public service reform, drawing principally on research from Ghana, Zimbabwe, India and Sri Lanka. It finds that reform was often constrained by a lack of political commitment and by the interests embedded in existing organisational arrangements. Some reforms in the social sectors could be introduced quickly and without real political support, as long as there was little organised political resistance. But “second generation” reforms, which involved changing attitudes towards, and the relationship with, the private sector, required long term administrative and political commitment, particularly in the case of health and education. Considering ways in which reform processes could be made more sustainable, the article notes that in some cases, the first round of reform built up momentum for a further round of change. In Sri Lanka, early encouragement of foreign direct investment created producer and consumer support for further liberalisation to encourage foreign investment and employment. In the health sector, the article suggests that reform could be phased to first build up a cadre of financial and managerial staff as a core group of advocates for further change. Organisational reform is also likely to receive more support if it is disassociated from direct threats to the status of employees. [By R. Batley, Development and Change Journal, 2004]