No. 1 (2015): 5th Issue

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.