Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 14th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview II. Working Group on Public Sector Quality Author(s) Dinazat Kassymova Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Astana Kazakhstan Meirzhan Mashan, Deputy Head of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Title Country public management profile: Kazakhstan File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Abstract On the 16 of December 1991 Kazakhstan proclaimed its independence. Since then it has embarked upon a modernizing agenda to improve its public service provision. Central to this is an emphasis on quality improvements. The third century challenges public administration – its structures must increase competitiveness and effectiveness, simultaneously demonstrating professionalism and the pursuit of legitimacy. Appreciable results can be achieved only by state-of-the art training of the governing personnel and willful modernization of all levels of government. Calls for modernization of public administration arise, to improve efficiency and effectiveness in the operation of governmental structures. At the same time there is a need to strengthen accountability for the provision of public services to the citizens. This challenges the basic model of management in the civil service charged with executing the main goals of public administration. Тo address the structural weakness of existing bureaucratic systems, new public management aimed to increase efficiency in the public sector with managerial practices and technologies borrowed from the private sector. Many methods and techniques of management established in private sector are gradually shifting into practice in the public sector. At the same time state organizations are characterized by features differentiating them from private organizations. Public sector organizations have multiple responsibilities and accountabilities (voters, citizens, politicians, service users) and different ways of appraising the results of their activity. Hence not all the private sector managerial methods and techniques provide useful results in public sector. All over the world changes in the model of public service management are evident. One cannot say that there is a definitive model of public service management as changes continue to evolve but there have been key changes for some time. This transition can be witnessed by the gradual departure from bureaucratic structures characterized by a hierarchical system, autocracy, strict division of functions and responsibilities. The center of gravity of administrative functions has shifted to a more flexible allocation of functions and responsibilities, and changes to use of personnel. Nowadays in the Republic of Kazakhstan a complex process of transformation of the role of the State is taking place alongside changes in social and economic relations. Reforms in the civil service have become a Presidential imperative and hence accorded significant priority. For Kazakhstan the ability of state authorities to respond adequately to the expectations of citizens has become central to their modus operandi. This paper will therefore consider public sector reforms in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Specifically it will focus on measures which the government has taken to improve public sector quality. These include the adoption of quality assurance approaches (ISO and Charter Mark) and user-centred structural changes in the form of one-stop shops. Although still at the early stages of development, this paper will provide a formative assessment of their introduction and the extent to which the quality agenda has been embraced by the Kazakhstan Civil Service.
