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The Emergence of a New Model? Trajectories of Civil Service Development in the Former Soviet Union Countries

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Public Service Excellence in the 21st Century

Abstract

This chapter provides an analysis of the main trends in the development of the civil service systems in the transitional countries of the post-Soviet region. Since gaining independence in 1991, the governments of the newly independent states began to modernise their civil service systems in a rapidly changing political, social and economic context; the rapid penetration of the Internet and information technologies; and the increasing demands of citizens. In doing so, it also pays particular attention to the important role played by international development organisations in the process of establishing and developing the civil service systems in post-Soviet countries. Furthermore, the chapter discusses the similarities in the direction and content of civil service reforms in the countries of the region, as well as the significant differences among them, in terms of the depth and breadth of reform coverage, the speed of change and the quality of governance attained. It employs a comparative perspective looking at the legislative bases of the civil service systems, selection and hiring issues, career advancement and training and ethics of civil servants, in each of the countries considered. The authors reflect on the emergence of a new model of public sector reforms specific to the post-Soviet transition countries, which embraces a peer-to-peer learning approach and exchange of knowledge.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Obolonsky (1999), Lazarev (1993), Uvarov (1996), and Atamanchuk (1997).

  2. 2.

    Barabashev and Straussman (2007), Duvanova (2008), Emrich-Bakenova (2009), Huskey and Obolonsky (2003), Janenova and Knox (2017), Khodachek and Timoshenko (2018), and Liebert (2014).

  3. 3.

    Bouckaert et al. (2008), Bouckaert, Nakrosis, and Nemec (2011), Cummings and Norgaard (2004), Liebert, Condrey, and Goncharov (2013), Knox (2017), Kotchegura (2018), Repucci (2014), and Verheijen and Dobroluybova (2007).

  4. 4.

    Belarus was the first country to adopt a law on civil service in 1993 followed by Ukraine in 1994, Moldova in 1995 and Kazakhstan in 1995 (presidential decree).

  5. 5.

    Moldova has vested the responsibility for civil service reform and development on the General Division for Policy Coordination, Foreign Aid and Central Public Administration Reform of the State Chancellery.

  6. 6.

    Some governments in the region have questioned the reliability of the methodologies used by international organisations to produce such indices and thus they have attempted to design local methodologies, but with limited success (Pelizzo et al. 2017).

  7. 7.

    Law of Georgia “On Public Service” No 4346 (27.10.2015), which came into force on 1 January 2017 (Zakon Gruzii “O publichnoy slujbe”).

  8. 8.

    The term one-stop shop is used to denote service centres for citizens and firms that offer consolidated access to multiple public and/or private sector services at a single location through one or more service delivery channels (UNDP and World Bank Group 2017: 3).

  9. 9.

    “Azerbaijan preparing strategy for civil service development”, in Azernews, 7 February 2018, https://www.azernews.az/nation/126740.html

  10. 10.

    The Federal Law “On Public Civil Service of the Russian Federation” No 79-F3 (27.07.2004), (“Federalnyi zakon O gosudarstvennoy grajdanskoy slujbe Rossiyskoy Federatsii”).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Astana Civil Service Hub, Astana, Kazakhstan

    Alikhan Baimenov

  2. Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan

    Saltanat Janenova

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  1. Alikhan Baimenov
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  2. Saltanat Janenova
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Chairman of the Steering Committee, Astana Civil Service Hub, Astana, Kazakhstan

    Alikhan Baimenov

  2. Technical Advisor, Astana Civil Service Hub, Astana, Kazakhstan

    Panos Liverakos

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Baimenov, A., Janenova, S. (2019). The Emergence of a New Model? Trajectories of Civil Service Development in the Former Soviet Union Countries. In: Baimenov, A., Liverakos, P. (eds) Public Service Excellence in the 21st Century. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3215-9_4

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