Civil Service Development in Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS: Swimming with the Tide?

The Effectiveness of Administrative Reform in New Democracies

“…The Czech Republic was not only the last country in CEE to adopt a civil service law, but also the only one that has not enforced it, except for several provisions 7 . Yet, on average, the countries in our sample have moved in a positive direction, and “the general trend has been encouraging” (Verheijen and Rabrenovic 2007).…”

“…The threat that politicization of the bureaucracy might continue was real in the context of a peaceful transition and a surviving nomenklatura (a select class of people from which top‐level government appointees were drawn). Parties of all stripes have tried to maximize their access to state resources, for example, by staffing administrations with politically loyal people (Verheijen and Rabrenovic 2007). To curb politicization, almost all countries adopted legal constraints on politicians’ freedom to make discretionary appointments.…”

“…To curb politicization, almost all countries adopted legal constraints on politicians’ freedom to make discretionary appointments. The policies varied from full depoliticization of top‐level civil servants, as in Poland (relaxed later), to the designation of a political layer in the administration, as in Hungary and Bulgaria (Verheijen and Rabrenovic 2007). In the countries that were most successful in limiting politicization (Latvia and Lithuania ), politicians saw administrators as collaborators in the reform instead of subjects to it (World Bank 2006).…”

Reforming post‐Communist bureaucracies: The effect of transitional justice

“…Such patronage practices are associated with high levels of turnover and loss of institutional memory, and the Central East European (CEE) countries have made no exception in this regard (Gajduschek, ; Meyer‐Sahling, ). Although the level of politicization in the 1990s was much higher in governments formed by the ex‐Communists, parties of all stripes attempted to staff the administration with politically reliable individuals in order to maximize their access to state resources (Verheijen & Rabrenovic, ). Therefore, laws that curb political hiring were to affect all parties, not just the former Communists.…”

Modelos Administrativos, Tradiciones y Reforma. ¿ Último Recurso Explicativo? .

“…En la década de 1960, se creía que el Westminster era un modelo superior para la reforma, el mejor que podría establecer la democracia. Actualmente son redescubiertas las virtudes del modelo más alemán de Rechtsstaat, no solo en Europa (Verheijen y Rabrenovic, 2007). Incluso en la administración pública estadounidense, se han tomado pasos dubitativos, no sólo para reencontrarse con el 'Estado' sino que también para revaluar la importancia del estudio del derecho administrativo para el estudio de la administración pública (Rosenbloom, 2004).…”