Civil Service Reform Is Dead: Long Live Civil Service Reform

2020 ◽  
pp. 009102602098202
Author(s):  
James R. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Civil Service ◽  
Service System ◽  
Punctuated Equilibrium ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Federal Employees ◽  
Civil Service Reform ◽  
Distinctive Features ◽  
Terrorist Incident ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Dynamic Element

The federal civil service system is widely regarded as obsolete. The pay of federal employees bears little relation to the market, narrowly defined jobs hamper the assignment of tasks, and byzantine hiring rules impede the procurement of needed skills. The theory of punctuated equilibrium holds that an episode of rapid and dramatic change portends, that the pressures for change will build and that some exogenous event will trigger a reform event similar to what happened in the mid-2000s subsequent to the 9/11 terrorist incident. Does another episode of punctuated equilibrium impend or is change more likely to occur in an incremental manner? Distinctive features of the policy subsystem make evident the improbability of another episode of “grand reform.” Recent developments further highlight a dynamic element whereby small-scale adjustments are being employed to address some of the system’s most dysfunctional aspects.

The Changing Face of Georgia's Merit System: Results from an Employee Attitude Survey in the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice

2003 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles W. Gossett
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Commitment ◽  
Juvenile Justice ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Service System ◽  
Civil Service Reform ◽  
Attitude Survey ◽  
New Employees ◽  
Merit System ◽  
The Impact ◽  
At Will

In 1996, the state of Georgia passed a radical civil service reform law that, in effect, removed all new employees from the traditional civil service system and made them “at-will” employees. Additionally, many functions, such as recruitment and classification, were decentralized to the operating agencies. This study attempts to review the impact of these changes on employees in one of the agencies, the Department of Juvenile Justice. A comparison is made of the attitudes of employees who are covered by civil service regulations and those who are not, principally with respect to organizational commitment and loyalty. The results of the survey suggest that, to date, the impact of these reforms on commitment and loyalty is not significant.

scholarly journals The Causes and Status of Civil Service Reforms in Korea

2002 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-76
Author(s):  
Geunjoo Lee
Keyword(s):  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Service System ◽  
System Reform ◽  
Civil Service Reform ◽  
New Public ◽  
The Status ◽  
Environmental Causes ◽  
Major Factors

This paper seeks to evaluate the status of civil service reform, which followed the prescription of the so-called neo-liberalism and new public management. The first part of the paper explores the environmental causes that brought about the recent civil service system reform in Korea. Major factors that shape the details of civil service reform are examined. The second part of the paper reviews the reform effort and assesses the outcomes of the reform programs. The tentative evaluation shows that some civil service reform programs produced noticeable achievement while others are in need of continouos attention.

scholarly journals Context as a Factor in Senior Civil Service Reform: Opinions and Attitudes of Senior Executives in Lithuania

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 124-152
Author(s):  
Remigijus Civinskas ◽  
Mindaugas Kaselis ◽  
Saulius Pivoras
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Research ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Service System ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Policy Formation ◽  
Civil Servants ◽  
Senior Executives ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Civil Service Reform ◽  
Role Identities

Abstract This article analyses the contextual factors and their impact on the planned creation of senior civil service (henceforth, SCS) within the Lithuanian civil service system since 2008. Based on a survey of Lithuanian senior executives’ conducted in 2014 and qualitative semi-structured interviews, the aim of this article is to reveal and explain incentives and obstacles of SCS reform in Lithuania. Empirical research data clarifies attitudes of senior civil servants and their role perceptions. Senior executives’ attitudes towards the establishment of the SCS system were clearly positive. However, the research data reveals that supportive attitudes depend on the perception of the roles of senior executives. Senior civil servants who perceived themselves firstly as actors in policy formation and policy implementers were much more favourable towards the creation of SCS than senior civil servants with other role identities.

scholarly journals Does China's Civil Service System Improve Government Performance? A Case Study of Education Bureau of Ningbo City

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 54
Author(s):  
Zhiren Zhou ◽  
Haitao Yin ◽  
Feng Wang
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Performance Measurement ◽  
Performance Improvement ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Service System ◽  
Efficiency Measurement ◽  
Measurement Tool ◽  
Government Performance ◽  
Efficiency Gain ◽  
Civil Service Reform

Performance improvement sits at the heart of the study of public administration. Performance improvement requires performance measurement and relies heavily on effective management of human capital. This paper addresses both performance measurement and management of human capital in the context of China. China introduced its civil service system in 1993 with performance improvement as its ultimate goal. After years of implementation and practices, we attempt to make an overall assessment of the reform with a straightforward question “Has the civil service system improved government performance?” Taking the Education Bureau of Ningbo City as a case, our research design begins with efficiency measurement of the bureau and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is applied as the measurement tool. A comparison of agency performance before and after the introduction of the civil service system is carried out to obtain the basic judgment on the effects of the reform. Then seven contributing factors are ranked on the basis of structured focus-group interviews with civil service reform as one of them. It is found that limited efficiency gain was achieved in the Education Bureau and civil service reform made little impact on agency performance. Some theoretical explanations to those findings are provided. We hope that the study not only provides a case for assessment of the civil service reform against its stated goals, but also sheds light on the use of DEA method in efficiency measurement.

The Process and Analysis of the National Civil Service Reform in Japan

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-73
Author(s):  
Yaskuyuki Watanabe
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Service System ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Japanese Government ◽  
Civil Service Reform ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
New Process ◽  
The Relationship

The Japanese civil service system was reformed in 2014 by the amendment of the National Public Service Act. The amended act covers a wide range of areas, but the key point is the new appointment process for executive officials. The introduction of this new process changed the relationship between the Prime Minister and executive officials drastically. This article first describe the reason why the Japanese government had to undertake the civil service reform. This article will then analyze the content and process of this reform in two dimensions (i.e., transformational factors and transactional factors) by applying Burke-Litwin Model, after which it will explain how the reform changed the relationship between the Prime Minister and executive officials.

scholarly journals Protection Versus Flexibility: The Civil Service Reform Act, Competing Administrative Doctrines, and the Roots of Contemporary Public Management Debate

2004 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald P. Moynihan
Keyword(s):  
Federal Government ◽  
Public Management ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Service System ◽  
Administrative State ◽  
Civil Service Reform ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Beliefs And Attitudes ◽  
Important Shift ◽  
Civil Service Reform Act

The year 2003 marks the twentieth-fifth anniversary of the Civil Service Reform Act (CSRA) of 1978, a late chapter in the development of the American administrative state and the most significant reform of the civil service system since its creation through the Pendleton Act of 1883. The Act made a number of enduring contributions to the personnel system of the federal government. Given the recursive nature of public management debate, there is considerable policy importance in trying to understand the original basis of decisions on legislation that have shaped the federal government over the last twenty-five years, and the CSRA has recently been the subject of renewed interest. More important, the CSRA was a rare and relatively important shift in the beliefs and attitudes—the administrative doctrine—that shape the evolution of the administrative state. Significantly, the debate during the CSRA saw the emergence of deep divisions within administrative doctrine, divisions that continue to shape public management policymaking.

scholarly journals Comparison of Civil Service Reform in the United States and Korea: Central Personnel Agencies and Senior Civil Service Systems

2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 101-123
Author(s):  
Choi Soon Young
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Service System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Context ◽  
Service Systems ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
The Political ◽  
Civil Service Reform ◽  
Service Commission

Recent changes to the Korean civil service system, such as the introductionof the Senior Civil Service system in 2006 and the elimination of theCivil Service Commission in 2008, superficially resemble changes introduced bythe Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 in the United States. This study comparesthe structures and characteristics of the two countries` civil service systems, theirreforms, and the political context and processes by which reform legislationcame to pass. Based on this comparison, policy implications are drawn forimproving the Korean civil service system.

scholarly journals Civil Service Reform in Participatory Government: Civil Service System in Transition

2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-45
Author(s):  
Keun Nam Koong
Keyword(s):  
Civil Service ◽  
Service System ◽  
Economic Recession ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Reform Initiatives ◽  
Civil Service Reform ◽  
Decentralized System ◽  
Centralized Management ◽  
Recent Reform ◽  
Career Performance

This paper analyzes the recent reform initiatives of the civil service system in Korea. The modern civil service system was founded during the Park Jung-Hee Administration. The major characteristics of the system can be summarized as a merit-based, rank-oriented, closed career, and centralized managemetn system. The Korean civil service system was instrumental during the period of government-led growth. However, the 1997 financial crisis and the ensuring economic recession instigated the Korean government reform program, including civil service reform. As the package of civil service reform policies has been formulated and implemented during the Kim Dae-Jung and Roh Moo-Hyun administrations, the Korean civil service system is experiencing a paradigm shift from a rank-oriented, closed career, seniority-based, and centralized management system to a job-oriented, open-career, performance-based, and decentralized system. This article outlines three factors explaining the transformation. For Korean civil service reform to be successful, implementation is required for a certain period of time. The article discusses several tasks that are necessary for fully achieving the reform goals of the participatory government.

Another Chapter in Michigan Civil Service Reform

1941 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-82
Author(s):  
Edward H. Litchfield
Keyword(s):  
Civil Service ◽  
Service System ◽  
Constitutional Amendment ◽  
Public Employment ◽  
Civil Service Reform ◽  
State Constitution ◽  
Democratic Administration ◽  
Complete Reversal ◽  
History Of ◽  
Merit System

The civil service scene in Michigan has changed so rapidly in the last few years that it has been difficult for persons in other areas to keep abreast of developments. Thus, while in 1936 Michigan knew little of merit in public employment, 1937 found her in the vanguard of the reform movement. In that year, the recommendations of a study commission were embodied in a comprehensive civil service system by a Democratic administration. The year 1939 brought an almost complete reversal of policy with the passage of a Republican “ripper” act. Today another development is in the process of maturing. A civil service amendment to the state constitution was adopted in the November election of 1940.It is not the purpose of this article to review the details of the history of Michigan's civil service movement, for this has been done elsewhere. Suffice it to say that Michigan's experience with spoils politics was neither better nor worse than that of other jurisdictions; the recommendations of the Civil Service Study Commission, of which Dr. James K. Pollock was chairman, are now well known; the excellence of the state's merit system under William Brownrigg has also been generally recognised.However, three developments remain to be discussed: first, the contents of the “ripper” legislation; second, the effects of that legislation upon the present personnel situation; third, the proposed constitutional amendment.

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