Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 31st NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview WG4: Politico-Administrative Relations in CEE Author(s) Bianca Radu Babes-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca Romania Title The politicization of civil service in Romania File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Bianca Radu Abstract Romanian civil service still has politicization practices from the communist regime in spite of administrative reforms to limit the influence of politically appointed officials on the activity of career civil servants. The manifestation of this phenomenon in Romania is not well enough scientifically explored and the forms of politicization are not well documented in the literature. The existing research on Romania analyzed mainly the influence of formally appointed politicians and their political advisors, and less the activity of career civil servants. The paper aims to investigate the civil servants’ perception regarding different forms of interference of politicians in the recruitment, selection, and career management of civil servants. In addition, we will investigate their roles in the decision-making process, and the degree of political influence on their daily activities. The analysis will be based on an online questionnaire distributed to institutions from different administrative levels (local, county, and central levels, both ministries, and subordinated agencies) in order to identify the prevalence of different forms of political influence. In addition, we aim to ensure the objectivity of the results by conducting additional interviews with civil servants occupying different administrative positions.
