Archives

  • 19th Issue
    Vol. 8 No. 2 (2024)

    Dear Reader,

    We are pleased to present the 19th Issue of the International Journal of Civil Service Reform and Practice published by the Astana Civil Service Hub. This issue contains three articles, all focusing on human resource management in the authors’ respective countries, namely, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.  

    The first article was prepared by the Deputy Director of the Civil Service Bureau of Georgia, Maia Dvalishvili. The article presents the shift from personnel administration to people’s management in the Georgian civil service, highlighting the challenges confronted due to the existing mentality of its civil servants. However, some critical interventions that were introduced seem to bear some fruit in the effort to move from a traditional system of personnel administration to one that focuses on enhancing modern human resource management practices, such as managerial effectiveness and leadership capacity, as well as to develop a data analytics system to support evidence-based decision-making in the human resource function.

    The second article was prepared by Roza Toktomamatkyzy, a Leading Specialist of the Legal Expertise Division, Legal Support Department, Ministry of Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic. The article analyses the recruitment and selection system for the civil service in the Kyrgyz Republic, which has been improved taking into consideration the fact there is a need to improve the quality of the workforce and the effectiveness of the public service. It calls for changes in the process in order to implement merit-based recruitment procedures, focusing on the capacity of the selection committees. It draws examples from the Japanese system and puts them into perspective on how these practices could be used in the Kyrgyz Republic. It also makes some policy recommendations in order to enhance the current system in place.

    The third article in this edition of the Journal was prepared by Safarzoda Davron Jurakhon, the Rector of the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan. It focuses on the transition of the human resource management system for the civil service in Tajikistan to a new development stage. A stage at which emphasis is placed on creating a robust workforce comprising highly skilled specialists and effective managers at all levels of government, in order to assist in the realisation of the developmental goals of the country.

    We sincerely hope that you will find these articles interesting with respect to human resource management practices for the civil service in the countries of the immediate region.

    The Editorial Team

  • 18th Issue
    Vol. 8 No. 1 (2024)

    Dear Reader,

    We are pleased to present the 18th Issue of the International Journal of Civil Service Reform and Practice published by the Astana Civil Service Hub. This issue contains three articles and a book review.

    The first article is a contribution from Azerbaijan presenting the country’s journey to competency-based civil service selection processes; a system that is better aligned with the rapid changes taking place in the labour market. Maleyka Abbaszade, Head of the SEC Board of Directors and Parviz Kazimov, Leader of the Competency and Professional Potential Evaluation Unit of the SEC present in detail the changes made in assessment methods, focusing on cognitive abilities and competencies aimed at enhancing selection practices in the recruitment of civil servants.

    The next two articles focus on local government modernisation.

    The first of these two looks at the decentralisation of governance at the village level in India and its evolution over the years, as well as the challenges it still faces in practice. Specifically, the article presents the historical development of the institutions at the local level in order to form a comprehensive perspective of their evolution and it continues with the assessment of the current state of affairs and the challenges they are confronted with. It is written by Prabhat Kumar Datta, a seasoned professional in this field.

    The second constitutes a case study of the modernisation of local representative bodies using the Pavlodar Regional Maslikhat in Kazakhstan as an example, and it is written by Ilya Terenchenko, the Chairman of the Pavlodar Regional Maslikhat. The article presents the case of the Pavlodar regional maslikhat in its quest for modernisation and it puts forward some ideas for improving local governance systems.

    This Issue concludes with a book review prepared by Professor Pan Suk Kim, a distinguished scholar in public administration from the Republic of Korea. The book is titled "Public Service Evolution in the 15 Post Soviet Countries: Diversity in Transformation”. It is a collaborative product of more than two dozen experts, who were familiar with the reforms and changes in the public sector of the post-Soviet countries, and it is an attempt to analyse the processes and dynamics of the public sector and civil service reform in post-Soviet countries.

    The authors of the first chapter – Alikhan Baimenov and Panos Liverakos; also, editors of the book – provide a comprehensive overview of the reforms these countries pursued in nurturing a professional public administration and a competent public service capable of accomplishing the countries’ sustainable development objectives. The remaining fifteen chapters of the book focus on each of the fifteen countries’ experience in a broad range of areas in the process of transformation of their public administration and civil service systems over the course of a generation.

    This review sheds light on the transformational dynamics of the varying national outcomes that began to crystallise a generation after the disintegration of the Soviet Union and reveals the influence of various factors on the trajectories of these countries between 1991 and 2021.

     

    The Editorial Team

  • 17th issue
    Vol. 7 No. 1 (2022)

    Dear Reader,

    We are pleased to present the 17th issue of the International Journal of Civil Service Reform and Practice published by the Astana Civil Service Hub.

    This issue includes several articles dealing with civil service training, public services digitalisation, anti-corruption measures, and recruitment systems in the public service. This publication is also hosting an article that focuses on youth unemployment and the factors that influence its levels, focusing on Kazakhstan youth employment marker. Despite its subject, which is somewhat outside the scope of this journal, this article was chosen for publication as it employs econometric analysis, in fact correlation regression analysis, to test its hypotheses; a new approach for the region. Its publication will contribute to raising the interest of other researchers to utilise statistical analysis while dealing with issues of public administration and the civil service to test their assumptions.

    The first article is a contribution of Israilov Mederbek, Head of the International Cooperation and Training Department of the Agency for Civil Service and Local-Self Government Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic. It analyses and compares the Japanese and Kyrgyz civil service training systems, and it provides some recommendations for improvement in the Kyrgyz case.

    The second article is prepared by Tolkyn Omarova, Research Associate and Diana Sharipova, Digitalisation Transformation Expert, both at the Astana Civil Service Hub. Based on the results of a recent needs-assessment study it considers the progress seven countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus have made in their quest for the digital transformation of government. Its findings explicitly reveal where these countries stand across nine dimensions that are considered critical for the advancement of digitalisation transformation.

    The third article is a review of the anti-corruption legislation in the civil service system of Uzbekistan, written by Golibjon Abduazizov, Chief Inspector in the Civil Service Development Agency, and a candidate for the Higher School of Judges of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The legislation review generated several recommendations on how anti-corruption measures may be improved to more effectively counter corrupt behaviour and activities of civil servants.

    The fourth article is an analysis of the system of public sector recruitment in North Macedonia, written by Dr. Jahi Jahiya, Professor at the Tetovo University. The article focuses on the recruitment process for government positions in North Macedonia. In particular, the screening process of applications submitted for a government position, which is the first stage of the recruitment cycle. 

    The additional article is a paper using correlation and regression analysis to determine the factors that are likely to influence the levels of youth unemployment in the regions of Kazakhstan, written by Assel Bekenova, graduate student at the School of Public Policy of Nazarbayev University.

    The Editorial Team

  • 16th issue
    Vol. 6 No. 2 (2021)

    Dear Reader,

    We are pleased to present the 16th issue of the International Journal of Civil Service Reform and Practice published by the Astana Civil Service Hub twice per year. This issue includes three articles.

    The first article is a contribution of Alisher Eranov and Shokhrukh Nuraliev, both from the Agency for the Development of Public Service Under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan. It examines the pilot application of key performance indicators in 12 selected local districts throughout the country in 2020. This performance measurement system uses 73 indicators to assess district governments’ local policy implementation towards achieving their objectives. A conclusion of this article is that if concrete, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound KPIs are adequately set up, the probability of achieving the envisioned performance results is high.

    The second article is written by Omarova Kumys, Baitussupova Saule, and Omarov Meirat. It examines the effect of the COVID19 pandemic as a factor in the transition of the Kazakh Civil Service to telecommuting. The authors conducted a regulatory assessment, and a SWOT analysis and administered a survey among employees of various ministries and government department of the Republic of Kazakhstan to assess the state of affairs of remote employment regimes in Kazakhstan, from a legal point of view and gather the opinions of government employees about teleworking looking at a range of relevant factors and issues.

    The third article is written by I. I. Hancherenok and Xai Unge, the Director of the Belarusian-Uzbek Interdisciplinary Institute of Applied Technical Qualifications and an expert at the Department of European and Central Asian countries, Chinese People’s Society for Friendship with foreign countries, respectively. They are discussing science-based public governance systems from Woodrow Wilson, President of the US to Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China. The article emphasises the need for further modernisation of the public governance system and the development of managerial competencies and creativity to ensure that the innovative potential meets the requirements of high-quality development of the state and society. It suggests forming a new architecture of mutually beneficial cooperation and contributing to the achievement of harmonious synergy between man and nature within the concept of science-based development.

    The Editorial Team

  • 15th issue
    Vol. 6 No. 1 (2021)

    Dear Reader,

    We are pleased to present the 15th issue of the International Journal of Civil Service Reform and Practice published by the Astana Civil Service Hub biannually.

    This issue includes four articles.

    The first article is a contribution of Demetrios Argyriades, Professor of Public Administration at John Jay College, in New York City. In view of the recent pandemic, he poses the question what would be the new norm as we exit the pandemic? Will it be public service and democracy or warfare and empire building? Responses to these questions are provided based on past experience going as far as back as the Antiquity Era. This article argues that democracy and sound governance are suffering due to warfare and empire building tendencies in the world, creating a “Thucydides trap” situation.

    The second article has been contributed by Inji Jafarli, Chief Specialist of the International Relations Department of the State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. This article provides a comprehensive description of the public service delivery modality called “ASAN service” that has been established to provide public services effectively to the citizens and residents of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

    The third article, written by Inji Hasanova and Safura Aliyeva, both graduates of Nazarbayev University, deals with gender-equality issues in high-level positions in the government administration. It identifies the challenges that prevent women from occupying a larger share of such positions and it provides a set of recommendations on how the situation can be improved.

    The fourth article is the result of a joint effort of Tayek Toufik Dahar, Deputy Director at the Ministry of Interior in Algeria and Yu Zhangquan, Deputy Division Director of the Department of International Relations of the Chinese Academy of Governance. This article is a comparative study of the civil service training systems in Algeria and in China, seeking to explore the similarities and differences between the two systems, and provide some recommendations that may be useful for the future development of civil service training.

    Enjoy reading!

    Panos Liverakos

    Editor-in-Chief

  • 14th issue
    Vol. 5 No. 2 (2020)

    Dear Reader,

    We are pleased to present the 14th issue of the International Journal of Civil Service Reform and Practice published by the Astana Civil Service Hub.

    This issue includes four articles prepared by three scholars and a practitioner, focusing on governance, decentralisation, civic engagement and performance evaluation of public administration and civil service.

    The first paper is written by Alikhan Baimenov, Chairperson of the ACSH Steering Committee and former Chairperson of the Agency for Civil Service Affairs in Kazakhstan. This article considers governance through a model of concentric spheres, each representing the political, administrative and operational domains, which are embedded inside the other, like “nesting dolls and where each outer sphere is the environment within which the immediate inner sphere operates. It concludes that the rules, traditions and values of the surrounding environment creates – or inhibits – opportunities for unlocking the potential of the inner spheres.

    The second article is written by Jowanka Jakubek-Lalik who works at the Faculty of Law and Administration in the University of Warsaw. This article analyses the concept of decentralisation and provides a description of the legislative framework and features of the Polish self-government institution in the context of transition from an authoritarian to a democratic regime. It argues that local self-government proved to be one of the main important factors in establishing a functional democracy by radically changing the system of governance. The changes made by substantial decentralisation modernised and improved the effectiveness of the state. Poland was able to implement a series of significant reforms, which equipped local communities with an independent legal position and substantial control over their functioning.

    The third article is written by Professor Dr. Henadzi Palchyk, PhD in Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Doctor of Pedagogics, and former Rector of the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Belarus. This article deals with performance evaluation in the public administration system aiming at not only measuring the values of certain indicators, but also at building a common policy of human resources management, designed to ensure the coordination of activities of each civil servant at different levels with the overall management strategy.

    The fourth and last article is written by Safura Aliyeva, a graduate of public policy from Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan. The article discusses civic engagement in Azerbaijan and its benefits in terms of governance. It concludes that civil engagement is beneficial for governance as it helps to keep government more accountable and transparent. Therefore, civil engagement should be improved in Azerbaijan through the effective involvement of public councils and the use of collaborative technological platforms.

    Enjoy reading!

    Panos Liverakos

    Editor-in-Chief

  • 13th issue
    Vol. 5 No. 1 (2020)

    Dear Visitor,

    We are pleased to present the 13th issue of the International Journal of Civil Service Reform and Practice published by the Astana Civil Service Hub. This issue includes 4 articles prepared by scholars, focusing on governance, public administration and civil service development. It also includes 1 feature written by a practitioner, who is currently active in the private sector.

    The first article is written by Professor Emeritus Chester Newland, a seasoned professional in public administration. This article considers major policies, practices and concerns, which, at various times – during the period of Reconstruction after the Civil War, after the Great Depression of 1929 and after the end of the Second World War in 1945 - have served as catalysts of change, at each of the three tiers of the American government system – federal, state and local. Such policies and practices have been instrumental in changing and expanding the scope of government and public administration, effectively reflecting the values of merit and expertise that came clearly into their own during these periods. However, the article goes beyond such periods by looking at current trends which have substantially affected the way public service works. These trends are the Digital Era Automation, whose effects are yet to be fully felt and powerful societal forces combating discrimination and exclusion, thus favouring diversity in both the composition and several facets of civil service structures and policies, along with the effects of privatisation, contracting-out, unionisation and politicisation of collective bargaining processes.

    The second article is written by Professor Ali Farazmand of the School of Public Administration at the Florida Atlantic University. This article addresses four major questions and tries to answer them based on evidence and experience of the last three decades around the world, although the analysis is of limited scope. First, what trends have characterised the public administration reforms of the last three or four decades worldwide? Second, what are the rationales, nature and purposes of these reforms? Third, what have been the consequences or legacies of these major reforms? And fourth, what does the future hold and in what directions will public administration reforms be moving into the future? In doing this, the article presents the rationale for and approaches to public administration reforms followed by the theoretical grounding explaining or providing the intellectual foundations for reforms. it continues with a brief discussion of globalisation and public administration reforms and its meaning and consequences. It then presents a fairly extensive discussion of the major trends in public administration reforms with a focus on civil service reforms over a long period of time. This discussion focuses particularly on four decades of civil service and administrative reform in the United States and around the world – from Carter, to Reagan, the Bushes, Clinton, Obama and now Trump. It covers the rush to sweeping privatisation and the dismantling of the administrative state and the attempt to change the culture, as well as the structure of public administration with a market-based ideology and practice virtually everywhere in the world. The discussion focuses on these market-based ideologies, reforms and their impact and links them to the theoretical background as well as the rationales and approaches covered earlier in the article. The article closes with a few concluding remarks and points as food for thought. 

    The third article in this issue is written by Ganna Gerasymenko, an economist and a Leading Researcher at the National Academy of Science of Ukraine. It examines the relationship between gender and corruption, and it proposes ways to effectively promote gender equality, women empowerment and corruption prevention. It also deals with the impact of corruption on men and women and it argues that the impact of corruption affects women and men differently, as they perceive corruption in different ways and have different personal experiences of everyday corruption. Hence, the analysis focuses on the different impact of corruption on men and women, taking into consideration demographic variables  such as age, rural/urban, geographic region, etc as well as secondary analysis of various international surveys, e.g. the Global Corruption Barometer, etc. The article concludes with recommendations on how to address this issue and include it into gender and corruption-related awareness raising campaign. 

    The fourth article is prepared by Panos Liverakos, Editor-in-Chief of this Journal and Technical Advisor for the Astana Civil Service Hub. The article considers the role and contribution of the governance systems and institutional structures in four EU member states and how these systems and structures responded to the most recent economic and financial crisis. First, it briefly presents the type and mix of policies these countries adopted and implemented in their attempt to alleviate the adverse effects of the economic and financial crisis of 2008. It then assesses whether the quality of governance systems and institutional structures played a role in the degree to which the mix of policies adopted and implemented were successful. It appears that the policy responses to crisis may have been strongly influenced by the state of sophistication of institutional structures and quality of governance systems in place at the start and throughout the crisis. 

    The feature included in this issue is prepared by Virgo Riispapp, managing director of Thorgate, an IT and innovation company based in Estonia. Its principal premise is that the challenges of managing people remain the same and so do the principles, whether it is a public or a  private organisation. it also takes the view that that quantity of information available determines the quality of decision making at any organisation. Thus, the company equips its team with information and knowledge in order to inspire them and keep everyone aligned with the organisational, team and personal goals. Exercising practices that contribute to people’s development is an investment in terms of time, planning and money. However, as the results which come in the form of an extremely talented team, improved work efficiency and great feedback make it worth it. All of it.

    Enjoy reading!

    Panos Liverakos
    Editor-in-Chief

  • 12th issue
    Vol. 4 No. 2 (2019)

    Dear Reader,

    We are pleased to present you with the 12th issue of the International Journal of Civil Service Reform and Practice published by the Astana Civil Service Hub.

    This issue opens with the article of Dr Mergen Dyussenov, Head of the Research Centre for Studies on Anti-Corruption issues and lecturer at the Academy of Public Administration in Kazakhstan. The paper, using an actor-centric approach to study agenda-setting interactions, seeks to fill a gap in the existing policy research by introducing a new concept of government resilience. This new concept is based on the assumption that governments have sufficient capacity and motivation to withstand external pressures in the context of highly contested agenda-setting interactions among advocacy groups or ‘policy entrepreneurs’. Furthermore, the new framework is applied to assess the degree of government resilience across two Central Asian nations – Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan – with regard to economic diversification policies.

    The next paper – prepared by Mohammad Sahadat Hossain and his colleagues at the UNDP implemented Access to Information (a2i) Programme in Bangladesh – presents the results of using a new online and off-line based application named as Krisoker Digital Thikana (Farmer’s Digital Platform). This application aims to provide different agriculture-related services to farmers. In their paper the authors use quantitative and qualitative methods to evaluate the newly introduced application from the Time, Cost and Visit (TCV) perspective and compare it to the conventional agriculture-related services modality providing similar services to farmers.

    This issue concludes with a book review prepared by Dr Colin Knox, Professor at Nazarbayev and Ulster Universities, on the book titled “Public Service Excellence in the 21st Century”, edited by Alikhan Baimenov and Panos Liverakos and published recently by the Palgrave Macmillan Publishing House. In his review Dr Colin Knox is of the opinion that this book is bridging a divide between academia and practitioners through a series of chapters dealing with several topics that are pertinent to public service development in the 21st Century. Furthermore, he suggests that the country focused chapters on China, South Korea, Japan and some of the post-Soviet Republics offer some interesting knowledge to Western readers, who cannot always access such work due to the language barrier.

    We hope that the content of this issue of the Journal will be of value to scholars, practitioners and other readers interested in acquiring a deeper understanding of the topics considered by the above authors.

    Yours sincerely,

    The Editorial Team

  • 11th issue
    Vol. 4 No. 1 (2019)

    Dear Reader,

    We are delighted to present you with the 11th edition of the International Journal of Civil Service Reform and Practice published by the Astana Civil Service Hub.

    The current issue begins with an article written by Maria Faina Diola and Rita Gallardo. The authors explore the role of the non-governmental sector in the development of social innovation in health and in the formation of social capital in selected Philippine provinces. They also provide some answers to the question of what enabling mechanisms facilitate the processes of social innovation and social capital formation, aiming at providing some ideas for post-Soviet Eurasia.

    The next article - prepared by Md. Mustafizur Rahman and his colleagues at the Access to Information (a2i) Programme in Bangladesh – presents the results of an analysis that attempted to highlight the monetary and non-monetary benefits of the on-line fertiliser recommendation system implemented by the Bangladesh Soil Research Development Institute; followed by some recommendations for improving further this newly introduced on-line service.

    This edition concludes with the article of Lukas Brun from Duke University and Aida Urazaliyeva, former Senior Research Analyst at the National Analytical Centre in Kazakhstan, which examines the role of workforce skills in developing further Kazakhstan’s most important industries; oil & gas production. This study reports on the findings related to the nature and challenges of workforce development in the country and provides a comparative case of successful workforce development practices in the industry.

    We hope that the content of this issue of the Journal will be of value to scholars, practitioners and other readers interested in acquiring a deeper understanding of the topics considered by the above authors.

    Yours sincerely,

    The Editorial Team

  • 10th issue
    Vol. 3 No. 2 (2018)

    Dear Reader,

    We are pleased to present you with the 10th issue of the International Journal of Civil Service Reform and Practice published by the Astana Civil Service Hub.

    The current edition begins with the article of Professor Akira Nakamura and Assistant Professor Wataru Nishimura, both at Meiji University in Tokyo, Japan. The authors explore and provide some answers to the troublesome question of why Japanese governments have often failed to produce effective and enduring leadership in government affairs and policy making.

    The next article is written by Max Everest-Phillips and Samuel Henry from UNDP's Global Centre for Public Service Excellence in Singapore examines the question whether the capacity of public administration differs according to a country’s size by looking at the governance capacity constraints of small and very small states, concluding that even in small states achieving the SDGs is primarily a political and not a capacity challenge, like it is in other states.

    This issue concludes with the article of Alisher Suyunov, Bakhrom Mirkasimov and Komiljon Karimov from the Westminster International University in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, which focuses on Research and Development (R&D) in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. By using evidence from both countries, the article demonstrates that despite the higher R&D capacity Uzbekistan possesses compared to Kazakhstan, scientists of the latter are significantly ahead in the number of publications they produce and patents they register. The authors also argue that the low productivity of researchers in Uzbekistan is due to low incentives provided for R&D, lack of private investments and inefficiency of research processes, relative to Kazakhstan. They conclude by proposing three policy options to improve the quality of R&D in Uzbekistan.

    We hope that the content of this issue of the Journal will be of value to scholars, practitioners and other readers interested in acquiring a deeper understanding of the topics considered by the above authors.

    Yours sincerely,

    The Editorial Team

  • Vol. 3 No. 1 (2018)

    We are pleased to present you with the ninth issue of the International Journal of Civil Service Reform and Practice published by the Astana Civil Service Hub.

    This issue opens with the article of Dr Colin Knox, Professor at Nazarbayev and Ulster Universities. This article considers existing research on the impact of public sector reform in developing countries and offers an alternative approach, through case studies of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kazakhstan. His approach is based on two keys elements: an agenda which attempts to shift developing countries to an outcomes-based approach operationalized through a “quality of life” framework; and, peer-to-peer learning, which acknowledges the importance of such a variable in governance reforms – country-specific context.

    The next paper was prepared by a team at the National Centre for E-services based in Minsk, Belarus. In their article, the authors present a comprehensive analysis of the electronic government system evolution in Belarus. The paper reviews the legal framework, infrastructure-related solutions, as well as different stages of the e-government system transformation in the country.

    Dr Nguyen Viet Hung, Dr Phan Van Hung and Professor Be Trung Anh’s article follows. The design framework of e-Local Governance in Vietnam is discussed as an integrated ICT system that includes a Geographical Information System (GIS). The database system aims at enhancing the Committee for Ethnic Minorities Affairs capabilities in the planning and decision making process by providing data, internet based GIS, internet communication and some ecological models to disseminate analysis results to the ethnic minorities concerned.

    Last, but not least, Sunil Thawani, a member of the Board of Directors of the American Society for Quality Management, reviews examples and success stories of how Quality Management strategies, standards and tools can help achieve SDGs with lesser costs while enhancing citizen satisfaction.

    We hope that the content of this edition of the Journal will be of value to anyone interested in the issues of public administration reforms, e-government and quality management systems.

  • Vol. 2 No. 2 (2017)

    Dear Reader,

    We are pleased to present you with the 8th issue of the International Journal of Civil Service Reform and Practice published by the Regional Hub of Civil Service in Astana.

    This issue opens with the article of Dr. Yoon, Professor at the National Human Resource Development Institute in South Korea. The author presents a brief historical account of COTI’s contribution to public servants’ training followed by suggesting some new strategies for further development of training for the human resources in the country’s public sector.

    The next article is written by Naomi Caiden, Professor Emeritus at the Department of Political Science of the California State University in Los Angeles. This paper discusses the importance and necessity of including courses on administrative law in the curriculum of the Master’s Degree in Public Administration.

    Jahi Jahija, State Secretary of the Ministry of Information of the FYR of Macedonia and Marija Nikoloska Arsovska, Associate National CAF Coordinator at the Ministry of Information Society and Administration present their findings of the Common Assessment Framework model implementation in public institutions of the FYR of Macedonia.

    Last, but not least, Konstantin Belyaev, a lawyer and senior consultant for Korn Ferry/Hay Group in Kazakhstan, examines the benefits of introducing job evaluation methodologies in setting the remuneration levels for civil service jobs with a view to improve civil servants’ performance and human resources management in the public sector.

    We hope that the content of this edition of the Journal will be of value to anyone interested in the issues addressed by the above scholars.

  • Vol. 2 No. 1 (2017)

    Dear Reader,

    The seventh issue of the International Journal of Civil Service Reform and Practice presents articles and papers of scholars and practitioners for your potential interest.

    The issue starts with the paper of Gerald Caiden, Professor Emeritus at the Price School of Public Policy of the University of Southern California. It analyses the negative impact of maladministration, bureau-pathology and corruption on public administration.

    The second paper, written by Saltanat Janenova, Professor at the Graduate School of Public Policy of Nazarbayev University and Iliyas Yesdauletov from the Economic Research Institute of the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The paper presents a comparative perspective of the reforms that have taken in public service delivery, in Canada and Kazakhstan.

    This issue concludes with the article of Jahi Jahija, State Secretary, Ministry of Information Society and Administration of the FY Republic of Macedonia. This article examines the role of functional analysis, as a human resources management tool in the FYROM. It also presents findings of functional analysis conducted in the Ministries of Information Society and Administration and of Local Self-Government, as well as in two municipalities in the country.

    We hope these papers and articles will be of value to anyone interested in the issues addressed in this edition of the Journal.

     

    Yours Sincerely,

    Editorial Team

  • Special Edition on Public Administration Reform in China

    Dear Reader,

    We are delighted to present you this special edition of the International Journal of Civil Service Reform and Practice on China published by the Regional Hub of Civil Service in Astana (ACSH). This issue contains articles analysing public administration reforms in China.

    Considering the scale and outreach of reform that takes place in China, a deeper understanding of the transformations in this country is important to any practitioner or scholar. With this in view and the cooperation agreement between the ACSH Steering Committee and the Chinese Academy of Governance, a founding participant of the ACSH, this special issue of the Journal was produced on public administration reform in China.

    The special issue begins with an article by Wei Liqun, who presents the evolution of the administrative power structure, organisation and management systems in China concluding that the administrative reform in the country has accomplished significant achievements. Chen Baosheng, that follows considers that political structural reform in China, based on the political theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics, will guide the country to the next stage of its development. Next, Xue Gang, Bo Guili, Liu Xiaokang and Yin Yanhong discuss the application of performance evaluation results for China’s service-oriented government by looking closely at the present situation, issues, and propose solutions. Yi Lili’s analysis portrays the major administrative reforms in China should be the transformation of public service units in order to transform government functionality and build a service-oriented government. Last but not least, Ma Jiantang examines the benefits of using big data to modernize government in order to enhance economic growth prospects, social governance and public services delivery.

    We hope that the content of this special edition will be of value to those interested in deeper understanding of the peculiarities of China’s public administration transformation and future development. We, once again, would like to thank those who have provided their invaluable advice and guidance in publishing this issue.

    We would also like to use this opportunity to renew the invitation to our readers and potential authors to actively participate in the dialogue facilitated through the Regional Hub discussion platforms.

    Yours sincerely,

    Editorial Team

  • Vol. 1 No. 1 (2016)

    Dear Reader,

    We are pleased to present you with the sixth issue of the International Journal of Civil Service Reform and Practice published by the Regional Hub of Civil Service in Astana.

    This edition begins with the article of Demetrios Argyriades and Pan Suk Kim, both professors of public administration and ethics in government, which look at the issue of how the “market model” of governance has failed to meet its objectives and produce the desired results, using the case of Greece as an example to illustrate their points presented in this paper.

    The next article, by Samra Ljuca, Head of Training Department of the Civil Service Agency in Bosnia and Herzegovina, deals with the “return on investment” technique used to evaluate the mid- and long-term benefits and costs of training and capacity development programmes, and it presents examples from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

    The importance of regulatory policy improvement is the subject of an article by Saltanat Akhmetzanova and Karina Kopeshova, both from the Institute of Economic Studies in Kazakhstan, who review global trends and international practices in regulatory policy-making aiming at improving the quality of regulatory decisions. This article also presents some efficient instruments and processes towards improving the quality of regulatory decisions in Kazakhstan, as well as it provides recommendations on how to improve the process of evaluating their impact.

    The last article in this edition, by Nadezhda Bogdan, Eugene Boyko and Irina Bushuyeva from the Siberian Management Institute in Russia, is a comprehensive analysis of the evolution and implementation of the concept of professionalism in the public human resources management in Russia. It reviews legal regulations and human resources management practices in the civil service and it identifies trends in the development of professionalism in public human resources management.

    This edition closes with the review prepared by the Editor-in-Chief of this Journal, on the book titled “Democratic Governance, Public Administration and Poverty Alleviation: Thematic Discourse and Geographical Cases” and published recently by the International Institute of Administrative Sciences.

    We hope that the content of this edition of the Journal will be of value to anyone interested in the topics of models of governance and capacity building in the civil service.

    Yours Sincerely,

    Editorial Team

     

     

  • 5th Issue
    No. 1R (2015)

    Уважаемый читатель,

    Представляем Вашему вниманию пятый номер Международного журнала реформы и практики государственной службы, издаваемого Региональным Хабом в сфере государственной службы в Астане. Данный номер содержит статьи ученых и практиков в сфере государственной службы, а также комментарии спикеров Глобальной конференции «Меритократия и профессиональная этика как ключевые факторы эффективной государственной службы» и панельной дискуссии Хаба «Международное сотрудничество по совершенствованию государственной службы: мост для достижения целей».

    Наш пятый номер открывает статья Макса Эверест-Филлипса, в которой автор рассматривает древнекитайскую концепцию ‘преднамеренного недеяния' в качестве этического принципа эффективной государственной службы в 21 веке. Игорь  Ганчерёнок и Борис Новыш знакомят читателей с количественной моделью компетентностной оценки выпускников управленческого вуза. В работе Бауыржана Жаубасова анализируются вопросы повышения эффективности и оценки деятельности государственных служащих на примере деятельности Администрации Президента Республики Казахстан. Ю Янг Джи делится опытом обучения южнокорейских государственных служащих, сфокусированного на выработке критического мышления и творческого подхода. Наконец, правовому регулированию антикоррупционной оценки деятельности госслужащих в российской практике посвящена статья Динары Миннигуловой.

    Второй раздел журнала представляет комментарии спикеров Глобальной конференции и начинается с ключевого выступления Администратора ПРООН Хелен Кларк, посвященного вопросам меритократии и этики как ключевых факторов эффективности государственной службы и их важности для достижения целей устойчивого развития. В докладе Алихана Байменова отмечены важность и необходимость интенсивного обмена знаниями и опытом для качественной и эффективной модернизации государственной службы, а также намечены перспективные направления для исследований и обмена опытом в рамках Регионального хаба в сфере государственной службы в Астане.

    Следующие два доклада затрагивают такой аспект, как меритократия. Макс Эверест-Филлипс рассуждает о том, как успешный опыт Сингапура может выступить катализатором для реформирования государственных служб в других странах. Ольга Савран предлагает рекомендации для повышения интегративности на государственной службе и снижения коррупционных рисков в Восточной Европе и Центральной Азии. Вопросам противодействия коррупции посвящены доклады Аннели Теммес (опыт Финляндии) и Асылбека Болотбаева (развитие антикоррупционной политики Кыргызстана на основе бенчмаркинга).

    Номер завершают комментарии Патрика Кеулирса о формах регионального и глобального сотрудничества по совершенствованию государственной службы в целях устойчивого развития.

    Подводя итог нашему обзору пятого номера журнала, мы надеемся, что он будет полезен всем интересующимся вопросами служебной этики, меритократии, противодействия коррупции на государственной службе и иными аспектами её совершенствования. Благодарим каждого, кто участвует в развитии данного журнала, за их советы и рекомендации и приглашаем читателей и авторов к диалогу на дискуссионных площадках Регионального хаба.

  • 5th Issue
    No. 1 (2015)

    We are delighted to present you with the fifth issue of the International Journal of Civil Service Reform and Practice published by the Regional Hub of Civil Service in Astana (ACSH).

    This issue contains articles of scholars and practitioners in the area of civil service and commentaries of speakers at the Global conference "Meritocracy and Professional Ethics as Key Factors for Civil Service Effectiveness" and of the discussion panel of the ACSH "International Cooperation on Civil Service Excellence: A Bridge to Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals".

    The issue begins with the article of Max Everest-Phillips, who considers the ancient Chinese concept of "wu-wei" (purposeful ‘non-action’) as the professional ethos for public service of the 21st century. Ihar Hancharonak and Boris Novysh introduce a quantitative model of evaluating the maturity of managerial competencies of graduate students in a public management university. Baurzhan Zhaubasov’s work provides an analysis of the aspects of increasing effi ciency and evaluating performance of civil servants, based on the case of the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Young Je Yoo shares his experience and ideas on educating and training South Korean civil servants with a focus on developing critical thinking and creativity. Dinara Minnigulova’s article presents the legal aspects of regulating the anticorruption assessment framework of the performance of civil servants in the Russian Federation.

    This issue also features the commentaries of the speakers of the Global conference and of the discussion panel starting with the keynote speech of the UNDP Administrator Helen Clark on meritocracy and ethics as the critical factors for an eff ective civil service and their importance in achieving the sustainable development goals. It is followed by the speech of Alikhan Baimenov, who highlights the significance of, and the need for, exchange of information and experience between countries for effective civil service modernisation, as well as research perspectives and experience exchange within the framework of the Regional Hub of Civil Service in Astana. The next two commentaries also investigate the meritocracy concept and principle: Max Everest-Phillips discusses how Singapore’s successful experience of civil service reform can serve as a catalyst for reforming civil service in other countries and Olga Savran provides her recommendations for increasing civil servants’ integrity and reducing corruption risks in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Country specific anti-corruption measures are well presented in the commentaries of Annelli Temmes from Finland and Asylbek Bolotbayev from the Kyrgyz Republic. Patrick Keuleers’s commentary on the modalities for regional and global cooperation on civil service development towards the sustainable development goals is the last piece in this issue of the Journal.

    We hope that the content of this issue of the Journal will be of value to anyone interested in the topics of professional ethics, meritocracy and anti-corruption in civil service, as well as other aspects of civil service development.

  • 4th Issue
    No. 2 (2014)

    The fourth issue of the Journal of the Regional Hub of Civil Service in Astana begins with the article of a widely known and distinguished scholar, Pan Suk Kim, who analyzes the performance-based pay system in the OECD countries as opposed to seniority-based pay for civil servants elsewhere, and considers a case-study of Korea. In the example of Kyrgyzstan, D. Bakchiyev investigates one of the instruments of raising the quality of public service delivery which is introduction of performance appraisal of civil servants. The article of A. Morozevich investigates various aspects and issues of personnel policy in public administration and provides recommendations for handling the managerial level. Y. Styrin in his article sheds light on to the features and ways for improving the register of public services of Russia as part of e-government. J. Nemec provides in his article an analysis of administrative reforms in Central and Eastern Europe and draws attention to how widespread the principles of New Public Management still are as well as to decreasing public trust in public institutions and politicians in many countries. Y. Zharkeshov provides analogues analysis of PA reforms in Central Asia and Caucasus and concludes that a key factor of national development is quality of public institutions and governance. The analysis demonstrates that post-Soviet countries appear to be interesting and under researched cases of transformation efforts to market which were heavily influenced by such global trends of the 1980s and 1990s as notorious Washington consensus. In his article, a distinguished practitioner and life-long international career civil servant, Chet Newland analyses the development of the US Federal Executive Institute in light of the shift of the American society from elitism towards inclusive growth, emphasizing the remaining challenges ahead and potential solutions to them.

    This issue also features recommendations of the participants of the Global conference on civil service held within the framework of the 7th Astana Economic Forum in 2014.

    We hope this fourth issue of the Journal will be of interest to you and that it will spark policy debates on the issues addressed by the above mentioned scholars and practitioners.

  • 3rd Issue
    No. 1 (2014)

    The third issue of the Journal of the Regional Hub of Civil Service in Astana contains commentaries and papers presented during the Global conference on civil service within the 7th Astana Economic Forum. It begins with an article by Chet Newland who discusses how the Government of Kazakhstan managed to lead the nation from a transition economy to a rapidly growing market economy by means of a thought through policy of interdependence of countries, constitutional governance and non-ideological growth strategies. Joachim Vollmuth provides a comparative analysis of instruments of civil servants’ performance appraisal in European countries and points to the different approaches practiced in position-based and career-based civil service systems. Manvel Badalyan draws the reader’s attention to the history of formation and institutionalization of civil service in Armenia with an emphasis on the importance of recruiting and attestation. Bolatbek Abdrassilov, in his article, discusses innovative methods of professional development of civil servants in Kazakhstan where competence-based approaches are being widely practiced. Whereas Afag Hussein presents different methods and approaches to civil servants’ performance appraisal. Dinara Minnigulova, in her article, investigates the problem of the legal status of a civil servant in Russia. Yang Shiqiu discusses the features of civil service of China with an emphasis on reform efforts. Rauf Aliyev describes the modern civil service development in Azerbaijan with a particular attention to issues of admission and filling of positions in civil service, performance appraisal and others. A. Morozevich et al stress the key elements of the civil servants’ education model in Belarus and characterize the leading role of the Academy of Administration in professional and personal development of civil servants.

    We hope this third issue of the Jorunal will be of interest to you and that it will spark policy debates on the issues addressed by the above mentioned scholars and practitioners.

  • 2nd Issue
    No. 2 (2013)

    The second issue of the Journal of the Regional Hub of civil service in Astana presents a range of articles on civil service and public administration reform in member-countries and beyond.

    It begins with the article by Art Daniels who discusses how the Government of Ontario in Canada has utilized a Quality Service System conducted through a customer survey called "Citizens first" and improved its service delivery. Sadygul Alymkulova analyses the activities of the Testing Centre of the Kyrgyz Republic, the use of polygraph and computer testing upon admission into civil service. Yuna Potemkina describes the transformation of types of civil servants’ responsibilities stemming from their professional activities and addresses the issues of holistic performance appraisal of civil service executives. Whereas Armen Yezekyan investigates the concept of civil service and describes various associated models. Dinara Minnigulova in her article analyses the potential of the ‘strike’ sub-institution in civil service and considers this sub-institution as a last resort for resolving collective disputes. Yernar Zharkeshov discusses the conceptual reasoning behind the introduction of senior civil service in Kazakhstan and describes certain measures taken to develop it further, whereas Rodney Dormer discusses recent research into performance measurement and management practices within a range of New Zealand’s public service agencies that has revealed six criteria by which organisational performance is defined and directed, namely: economy, efficiency, effectiveness, equity, organisational capital and public capital. Svetlana Gaiduchenko draws attention to the inter-cultural relations in public administration, whereas Ihar Hancharonak in his article emphasizes synergetic potential in public administration with the dual notion of state and society, and the role of social media. Yuliya Glushenko describes the implementation of administrative-territorial reforms in Ukraine based on the research of financial provisions of local self-government. Valentina Gurievskaya discusses socio-psychological approaches on various levels of public administration, whereas Sergey Tsiganenko proposes "cost-efficient management".

    In addition, the second issue contains information about the National Academy of Governance of Mongolia, provided by Enkhbayar Ganbold, and a review of the book "The health of the executive: formula of success" in which Ihar Hancharonak describes how a collective image of a modern healthy executive is presented.

    We hope this second issue of the Journal will be of interest to you and that it will spark policy debates on the issues addressed by the above mentioned scholars and practitioners.

  • 1st Issue
    No. 1 (2013)

    The first issue of the Journal of the Regional Hub of Civil Service presents commentaries and papers presented during the Global conference on civil service within the 6th Astana Economic Forum.

    The first issue begins with Alikhan Baimenov’s speech where he draws attention to the historical milestones of civil service development in Kazakhstan and associated challenges at each stage of development and innovative solutions found. Professor Rolet Loretan explains how the IIAS serves as a worldwide platform for administration and identifies the main trends in public sector and administration. In the long run, Professor Loretan sees Kazakhstan as a hub for establishing the Central Asian and Caucasus group of Public Administration. Irakli Kotetishvili provides rather interesting insights into the recent transformation of public governance in Georgia. Alexander Turchinov highlights the stages of civil service development in Russia and current challenges. Aaly Karashev provides insights into the experience and innovations of Kyrgyz Republic on civil service reform through 11 steps of modernization. Caspar F. van den Berg, Frits M. van der Meer and Gerrit S. A. Dijkstra stress the recent movement towards equalizing civil service personnel policies and practices with those in the private sector. They argue that there is a trend towards managerial bargains. Dr. Matthew Stafford gives valuable insights into the United States executive civil servants training system by discussing executive core qualifications and competencies such as communications and problem-solving. Dr. Bolatbek Abdrassilov draws attention to the role and achievements of Kazakhtan’s Public Administration Academy on civil service training and its priorities according to the Strategy of "Kazakhstan 2050". Professor Yelena Kalyuzhnova focuses on the main areas of public administration research. Deniz Susar highlights the role of the important programme entitled United Nations Public Administration Network (UNPAN) designed to help countries, especially in developing countries and those in economic transition, to respond to modern challenges. Professor Urkhan Alakbarov emphasizes the importance of human capacity building for sustainable development and security. Professor V. A. Shamahov emphasizes the modern requirements and success criteria of civil service training institutions in Russia while professor Tyurin E. A. discuss the topic of Eurasian state building.

    We hope this first issue of the Journal will be of interest to you and that it will spark policy debates on the issues addressed by the above scholars.