Rethinking Civil Service Reform

A gnawing critique of civil service reform efforts persists, intimating that these civil service reform operations of the World Bank have boosted neither efficiency nor effectiveness. The outlines of the problem are fairly clear: civil service pay...

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Main Author: Nunberg, Barbara
Format: Brief
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/1999/10/828312/rethinking-civil-service-reform
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/11457
id okr-10986-11457
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-114572021-06-14T11:00:53Z Rethinking Civil Service Reform Nunberg, Barbara ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM BUREAUCRACIES CENTRAL GOVERNMENT CIVIL SERVICE CIVIL SERVICE REFORM CIVIL SOCIETY COUNTRY CONDITIONS DECENTRALIZATION DECONCENTRATION DEVOLUTION ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT NETWORK EMPLOYMENT FISCAL FISCAL IMPACT GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP GOVERNMENT REFORM HUMAN RESOURCE HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS POLITICAL ECONOMY POVERTY REDUCTION PRESIDENCY PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION PUBLIC MANAGEMENT PUBLIC SECTOR REDUCTIONS IN EMPLOYMENT REFORM EFFORTS REFORM PROCESS REFORM PROGRAMS REFORMS REGULATORY FRAMEWORK REVOLUTIONS SAVINGS SERVICE IMPROVEMENTS SERVICE MANAGEMENT SOCIAL OBJECTIVES TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CIVIL SERVICE REFORMS HUMAN RESOURCES POLICIES LEGAL REFORM REGULATORY REFORM PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION GOVERNMENTAL REFORM DECENTRALIZATION WAGE ADJUSTMENTS WAGE POLICY DOWNSIZING PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT INSTITUTIONAL REFORM FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT GOVERNMENT ROLE GOVERNANCE GOVERNMENT COMMITMENTS A gnawing critique of civil service reform efforts persists, intimating that these civil service reform operations of the World Bank have boosted neither efficiency nor effectiveness. The outlines of the problem are fairly clear: civil service pay and employment reforms have had only limited achievements, and there have been difficulties with government ownership and oversight--especially in Africa. At the same time, an emerging agenda for government reform includes standard personnel management and pay and employment reforms, but also tries to link these activities with fundamental tasks of transforming the state. The main problem with the Bank's conventional approach to civil service reform is that it has tried to use palliative measures to solve problems that require major surgery. Technical administrative fixes have been applied to fundamental problems of political economy. And even the technical side of the focus has been narrow, ignoring crucial links with other parts of the larger system. Overcoming the limitiations of this approach will require a more comprehensive and realistic framework for reform--as well as new instruments of support. 2012-08-13T15:07:26Z 2012-08-13T15:07:26Z 1999-10 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/1999/10/828312/rethinking-civil-service-reform http://hdl.handle.net/10986/11457 English PREM Notes; No. 31 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Brief Publications & Research
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM
BUREAUCRACIES
CENTRAL GOVERNMENT
CIVIL SERVICE
CIVIL SERVICE REFORM
CIVIL SOCIETY
COUNTRY CONDITIONS
DECENTRALIZATION
DECONCENTRATION
DEVOLUTION
ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT
ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT NETWORK
EMPLOYMENT
FISCAL
FISCAL IMPACT
GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT
GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP
GOVERNMENT REFORM
HUMAN RESOURCE
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY
INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS
POLITICAL ECONOMY
POVERTY REDUCTION
PRESIDENCY
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
PUBLIC MANAGEMENT
PUBLIC SECTOR
REDUCTIONS IN EMPLOYMENT
REFORM EFFORTS
REFORM PROCESS
REFORM PROGRAMS
REFORMS
REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
REVOLUTIONS
SAVINGS
SERVICE IMPROVEMENTS
SERVICE MANAGEMENT
SOCIAL OBJECTIVES
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CIVIL SERVICE REFORMS
HUMAN RESOURCES POLICIES
LEGAL REFORM
REGULATORY REFORM
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
GOVERNMENTAL REFORM
DECENTRALIZATION
WAGE ADJUSTMENTS
WAGE POLICY
DOWNSIZING
PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT
INSTITUTIONAL REFORM
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
GOVERNMENT ROLE
GOVERNANCE
GOVERNMENT COMMITMENTS
spellingShingle ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM
BUREAUCRACIES
CENTRAL GOVERNMENT
CIVIL SERVICE
CIVIL SERVICE REFORM
CIVIL SOCIETY
COUNTRY CONDITIONS
DECENTRALIZATION
DECONCENTRATION
DEVOLUTION
ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT
ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT NETWORK
EMPLOYMENT
FISCAL
FISCAL IMPACT
GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT
GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP
GOVERNMENT REFORM
HUMAN RESOURCE
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY
INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS
POLITICAL ECONOMY
POVERTY REDUCTION
PRESIDENCY
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
PUBLIC MANAGEMENT
PUBLIC SECTOR
REDUCTIONS IN EMPLOYMENT
REFORM EFFORTS
REFORM PROCESS
REFORM PROGRAMS
REFORMS
REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
REVOLUTIONS
SAVINGS
SERVICE IMPROVEMENTS
SERVICE MANAGEMENT
SOCIAL OBJECTIVES
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CIVIL SERVICE REFORMS
HUMAN RESOURCES POLICIES
LEGAL REFORM
REGULATORY REFORM
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
GOVERNMENTAL REFORM
DECENTRALIZATION
WAGE ADJUSTMENTS
WAGE POLICY
DOWNSIZING
PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT
INSTITUTIONAL REFORM
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
GOVERNMENT ROLE
GOVERNANCE
GOVERNMENT COMMITMENTS
Nunberg, Barbara
Rethinking Civil Service Reform
relation PREM Notes; No. 31
description A gnawing critique of civil service reform efforts persists, intimating that these civil service reform operations of the World Bank have boosted neither efficiency nor effectiveness. The outlines of the problem are fairly clear: civil service pay and employment reforms have had only limited achievements, and there have been difficulties with government ownership and oversight--especially in Africa. At the same time, an emerging agenda for government reform includes standard personnel management and pay and employment reforms, but also tries to link these activities with fundamental tasks of transforming the state. The main problem with the Bank's conventional approach to civil service reform is that it has tried to use palliative measures to solve problems that require major surgery. Technical administrative fixes have been applied to fundamental problems of political economy. And even the technical side of the focus has been narrow, ignoring crucial links with other parts of the larger system. Overcoming the limitiations of this approach will require a more comprehensive and realistic framework for reform--as well as new instruments of support.
format Publications & Research :: Brief
author Nunberg, Barbara
author_facet Nunberg, Barbara
author_sort Nunberg, Barbara
title Rethinking Civil Service Reform
title_short Rethinking Civil Service Reform
title_full Rethinking Civil Service Reform
title_fullStr Rethinking Civil Service Reform
title_full_unstemmed Rethinking Civil Service Reform
title_sort rethinking civil service reform
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2012
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/1999/10/828312/rethinking-civil-service-reform
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/11457
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