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