Abstract
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Creation or rebirth and development of democratic civil service was and still remains one of the main issues of administrative reform in transitional, post-communist countries. In practice, it appeared a difficult task. After more than one-and-half decade of transition, most of post-communist countries are still searching a model of the civil service system responding to the commonly recognized democratic values and standards and corresponding to their own traditions, political culture and institutional specificity.
Pre-communist Poland has had a successful experience of well developed career civil service system. Established already in 1918, at the very beginning of recovered independence, it was definitely abolished by the communist regime only in 1974. However, it took seven years after the fall of communist regime to create or rather restore in 1996 of a new civil service. Less then two years later (in 1998), when a new coalition won election, the new government has adopted a new civil service law, based on profoundly different approach. Actually, the first civil service law was more or less inspired by the French model and the new by the German one. Surprisingly, none of them was inspired by the Polish civil service law of 1922. Recently, only 8 years later, the new governmental coalition has forced adoption of third civil service law in the decade. The new law adopted in august 2006, generally didn’t change a lot the precedent one. However, it contains a very important and profound modification introducing a franc politicization of high ranking positions. The top managerial positions in public governmental administration do not belong any more to the civil service governed by the civil service law. Henceforth, the new Civil Service Law applies only to the middle management of state administration officials. The top managerial positions in governmental administration are placed now under the rule of a separate “Law on State Staff Supply and High State Positions” and governmental authorities can freely choose and appoint anybody selected to this staff reserve as potential candidate to occupy the high ranking positions enumerated in the law. Furthermore, the authorities can, on the base of a separate, non yet indicated legislation, appoint to these positions also other person, delegated from other (non précised) institutions, who does not belong to this official staff supply.
The intention to politicize high ranking positions in governmental administration is even more evident when we are comparing the first article of two new laws. The article 1 of new Civil Service Law repeats the same article from former legislations, which precise that the civil service is established “In view to ensure a professional, honest, impartial, and politically neutral fulfillment of the state tasks…”, while the article 1 of the Law on State Staff Supply tells that it is created “In view to ensure professional, impartial and honest fulfillment of the state tasks in high ranking state positions…” omitting to mention political neutrality.
The intention of the paper is to explain the reasons of this evolution of Polish legislation. The author is considering the problem of politicization of higher civil service as a phenomenon immanent to the transitional process in all central and east European countries. We intend to analyze the consequences of this phenomenon for efficiency and democratic values and standards of public administration in these countries and to formulate some considerations concerning the prospects of their further development.
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