engleski

Depoliticisation of the Civil Service: Progress and Oppositions

Civil Service reforms are not a mere technical change of an organisation or of the amount of material resources in the budget. They are not about changing regulations, illusory changes of titles of state bodies or positions. With regard to the selection of people, probably the most important and yet a delicate element of changes, they are not about the rational techniques of selection, promotion or salaries ; they are a test of the democratic quality and openness of a political system, a system of relations between politics – the master – and administration – a loyal and effective instrument. The issue of the selection of people is a framework and limitation of any systematic reform, a milestone which puts limits to changes, because without a continued rotation of people we go round in circles of accusations for errors of mentality, bureaucratic practices and bureaucratic inertia. The selection of people for key positions in the Civil Service is vital not only because of its instrumental effectiveness ; it is also the political question of a belief in its neutrality, legality (reliability and predictability, legal competence, procedural fairness, swiftness and professional integrity), openness (openness to customers and citizens), accountability (formal procedures, instantial supervision, judicial protection), effectiveness, economy and efficiency, and professional integrity (positive public image, adequate motivation and working ethics). The reform, then, is not a technical intervention, an end in itself, and cannot be successful if it is not part of a serious transformation of society, not only of the institutional frame of the state, but also of live tissue of dynamic economic reconstruction, stabilisation and progress, political democratic processes and social changes.

civil service, civil service reform, good governance, professional integrity

nije evidentirano