Representative Bureaucracy in the Public Service? A Critical Analysis of the Challenges Confronting Women in the Civil Service of Ghana

2014 ◽  
Vol 37 (9) ◽  
pp. 568-580 ◽  
Author(s):  
Augustina Adusah-Karikari ◽  
Frank Louis Kwaku Ohemeng
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Representative Bureaucracy ◽  
The Public

scholarly journals Professionalization and Innovations in Nigerian Public Service: How far the Dream of Success?

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 104
Author(s):  
Salami Issa Afegbua
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Economic Activity ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
The State ◽  
First Century ◽  
The Public ◽  
Effectiveness And Efficiency ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Made In

Public service accounts for a substantial share of a country’s economic activity. It is designed as an agent of fruitful change and development in the state. The transformation of any society or system depends on the effectiveness and efficiency of its civil service. The article examines the nature of professionalization and innovation in Nigerian public service. It argues that professionalization in the public service is an overarching value that determines how its activities will be carried out. The article note that various attempts have been made in Nigeria to professionalised and encourage innovation in the public service, but these have not bring about the expected changes in the public service. It therefore advocates for professionalization and innovations as panacea to the ills of public service in Nigeria. The article concludes that no public service can meet the challenges of the twenty first century without a stronger commitment to the professionalization of its workforce.

scholarly journals IMPROVING THE EFFICIENCY OF CANADA’S PUBLIC SERVICE

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 67-73
Author(s):  
Наталья Касаткина ◽  
Natalya Kasatkina
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Monitoring And Evaluation ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
The Public ◽  
Level Of Training ◽  
Resources Planning ◽  
Made In

Improving the efficiency of public service is an important area for overcoming the crisis in relations between the state, society and a citizen. Modernization of civil service of Canada is carried out in a number of ways. Changes were made in a recruitment order for civil service by means of expansion of the powers of persons competent to solve these issues in ministries and government departments. One of the directions for improving the quality of the civil service was an increase in the level of training of public servants. Coordination of the educational process in various government departments is carried out by the Canadian School of Public Service. The system of human resources planning has been introduced. The quality of public services provided is improved with help of timely providing them in compliance with all requirements of a particular government department, and taking into account the rights of citizens by achieving a balance between the services provided and the money spent for this purpose and regular monitoring and evaluation of the dynamics of the providing process of services. One of the areas of modernization of the public service is the introduction of strict control over of public servants’ ethical standards. Actions that lead to a conflict of interest are legislatively prohibited. Strict bans in Canada are implied regarding the employment of persons who replace public office after the end of their career. As a result of the measures taken to fight corruption, including a sphere that is largely susceptible to corruption risks, Canada is among top ten countries with the least corruption. Achievement of positive results in the activities of civil servants became possible due to the state’s special attention to the issues of its modernization.

scholarly journals Towards a Representative Bureaucracy: Promoting Linguistic Representation and Diversity in the Swiss and Canadian Federal Public Services

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Kübler ◽  
Émilienne Kobelt ◽  
Stephanie Andrey
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Equal Treatment ◽  
Representative Bureaucracy ◽  
Consociational Democracy ◽  
The Public ◽  
Adequate Representation ◽  
Administrative Units ◽  
Federal Public Service ◽  
Linguistic Communities

AbstractDrawing on the concept of representative bureaucracy, this article examines how two multilingual states – Canada and Switzerland – deal with issues related to the participation of different linguistic communities in the federal public service. Following a political mobilization of the linguistic cleavage, strategies to promote multilingualism in the public service have been adopted in both countries. The Canadian strategy focuses on equal treatment of Anglophones and Francophones in the public service. In Switzerland, adequate representation of the linguistic communities is the primary goal. These differences are explained by the characteristics of the linguistic regimes in each of the two countries as well as by the peculiarities of consociational democracy in Switzerland. In both countries, the linguistic origins of public administration staff, overall, mirrors the proportions of the linguistic communities in the wider society. Within administrative units, however, linguistic diversity is hampered by the logics of language rationalization, where minorities are under pressure to communicate in the language of the majority.

“Representative bureaucracy as a leadership issue: the Canadian case”

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 393-410
Author(s):  
Tim A. Mau
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Representative Bureaucracy ◽  
Gender Representation ◽  
Administrative Leadership ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Sector Leadership ◽  
Federal Public Service

PurposeThe public administration literature on representative bureaucracy identifies several advantages from having a diverse public service workforce, but it has not explicitly focused on leadership. For its part, the public sector leadership literature has largely ignored the issue of gender. The purpose of this paper is to rectify these limitations by advancing the argument that having a representative bureaucracy is fundamentally a leadership issue. Moreover, it assesses the extent to which representativeness has been achieved in the Canadian federal public service.Design/methodology/approachThe paper begins with a discussion of the importance of a representative bureaucracy for democratic governance. In the next section, the case is made that representativeness is fundamentally intertwined with the concept of administrative leadership. Then, the article provides an interpretive case study analysis of the federal public service in Canada, which is the global leader in terms of women's representation in public service leadership positions.FindingsThe initial breakthrough for gender representation in the Canadian federal public service was 1995. From that point onward, the proportion of women in the core public administration exceeded workforce availability. However, women continued to be modestly under-represented among the senior leadership cadre throughout the early 2000s. The watershed moment for gender representation in the federal public service was 2011 when the number of women in the executive group exceeded workforce availability for the first time. Significant progress toward greater representativeness in the other target groups has also been made but ongoing vigilance is required.Research limitations/implicationsThe study only determines the passive representation of women in the Public Service of Canada and is not able to comment on the extent to which women are substantively represented in federal policy outcomes.Originality/valueThe paper traces the Canadian federal government's progress toward achieving gender representation over time, while commenting on the extent to which the public service reflects broader diversity. In doing so, it explicitly links representation to leadership, which the existing literature fails to do, by arguing that effective administrative leadership is contingent upon having a diverse public service. Moreover, it highlights the importance of gender for public sector leadership, which hitherto has been neglected.

scholarly journals Reducing Corruption through Enhancing Public Service Ethics in Bangladesh

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fakhrul Islam ◽  
Anindyta Deb Ananya
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Civil Servants ◽  
Ethical Code ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
The Public ◽  
Government Organizations ◽  
People’S Perception

Corruption exists within and between government organizations as the form of bribing, swindling, favoritism and many other forms which destroys the public morale. It spreads its greedy clutches all over the country; Government officials are engaged in corruption for greed for power, selfishness, wealth and money. This paper is an attempt to identify the forms of corruption in civil service and how ethical code of behavior to reduce the level of malfunctions. Social survey method has been followed for this study where the factor has been explained to know the perception of general people. The study finds that lack of accountability and transparency, dishonesty, nepotism and favoritism are also responsible for corruption and made suggestions to combat corruption in Bangladesh based on the perception of civil servants and the general people.Keywords: corruption, public service, ethics, people’s perception

Overcoming the tensions between values: a challenge for French public service managers and their training schools

2015 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. 463-480 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabrice Larat ◽  
Christian Chauvigné
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Public Management ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Critical Distance ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
The Public ◽  
Training Schools ◽  
Supervisory Staff ◽  
Service Managers

While there is universal recognition of their important role in the functioning of administrations and for the motivation of public officials, the values that serve as a reference for the public service are witnessing a change in the way they are understood and implemented in practice, particularly with regard to the new requirements of public management. The analysis developed in this article centres on the interplay between various dimensions relating to the perception and use of the key values of the French civil service and highlights the tensions that prevail despite the apparent preservation of the axiological reference universe of those concerned. It raises the question of the role of schools in the training of values management. It draws on the results of a survey conducted in France by the network of civil service schools (Réseau des écoles de service public; RESP) among managers undergoing training and their teachers and supervisory staff. Points for practitioners The study shows that organizations that are responsible for the initial or continuing training of civil servants offer a breeding ground for the (re)production of public service values. However, for civil service managers to be able to deal with the potential tensions between values (no clear hierarchy, apparent contradictions) it is necessary to develop their capacities for reflective analysis and practical application that will allow a critical distance and promote a contextualized ethical approach.

The Impact of Differentiation and Differential on Hong Kong's Career Public Service

2003 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-233
Author(s):  
Brian Brewer
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
The Public ◽  
Documentary Sources ◽  
One Country Two Systems ◽  
The One ◽  
Career Employment ◽  
The Impact

The public administration principles characteristic of many Commonwealth countries served as the foundations for building the Hong Kong civil service. These have continued to operate in line with the `one country two systems' concept under which Hong Kong has been administered, since 1997, as a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China. Career employment, hierarchy and public service values combined to provide an overarching unity to a system that nevertheless has developed considerable differentiation over time. This article examines the developments that are currently modifying Hong Kong's public sector. The discussion draws on documentary sources and a recently completed qualitative study on the experiences and perspectives of senior Hong Kong managers working in a dozen government departments and agencies. The discussion addresses questions about whether greater differentiation across government departments, in combination with increasing differential within these organizations, will ultimately bring about the demise of the traditional civil service system.

The East African Staff College

1967 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 559-561
Author(s):  
H. Millar-Craig
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Public Affairs ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
East African ◽  
The Public ◽  
College Type ◽  
Considerable Experience ◽  
Administrative Skills

When Tanzania and Uganda had gained their independence and Kenya was about to gain hers, it was clear that a large number of Africans would be finding themselves placed in positions of considerable responsibility in the public service before they had had the opportunity to acquire any substantial amount of experience in the management of public affairs. Among those who played a prominent part in considering how this problem could best be tackled was the Secretary-General of the East African Common Services Organisation. A. L. Adu had previously served as Commissioner for Africanisation in Ghana and had later been head of the civil service in that country, and he had considerable experience of similar problems in West Africa. He had also been one of the first Africans to attend the Imperial Defence College in the U.K., and had been impressed by the contribution which training of the staff college type could make to the development of administrative skills in those whose experience at the lower levels of the administrative ladder had necessarily been limited.

Career Mobility and Branding in the Civil Service: An Empirical Study

2003 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack K. Ito
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Voluntary Turnover ◽  
Career Mobility ◽  
New Age ◽  
Transition Management ◽  
Supervisory Support ◽  
Mobility Patterns ◽  
The Public

This paper investigates recruitment and mobility patterns, and builds and tests a model that predicts voluntary turnover. The findings include why current employees joined, their motivations and problems in seeking positions once in the public service, and issues in transition management. The model found that promotion stress and commitment were primary causes for seeking new positions. However, this search favored remaining in the civil service. The model also suggested the importance of supervisory support in addressing a number of career issues. Implications are drawn for meeting challenges including recruiting and retaining the “new age” employee, and managing the more calculative relationship between employee and organization.

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