Understanding of how best to promote civil service reform has been hindered by the complexity of the subject, disagreement on objectives, and lack of reflection on experiences and of dissemination of results. Based on a literature review, this paper suggests principles for the design of more effective CSR programmes. These principles include: adaptation to the local context, appreciation of the long-term nature of CSR, conducting research and analysis before and during a reform process, attention to the sequencing and timing of reform activities, government ownership, participatory processes, and donor co-ordination. Recommendations are provided for reform designers and funders.
Civil service reform is one of the most intractable yet important challenges for governments and their supporters today. However, civil service reform thus far has largely failed.
Lack of political commitment is the most common explanation for reform failures (Scott 2011). Political leadership is key to providing encouragement, especially over the long length of the process; exerting pressure where necessary; and being a final force for accountability. In addition, CSR involves considerable political costs up front, with the benefits only appearing much later. This leaves leaders vulnerable to criticism. Ways of addressing a lack of political will could include: an incremental approach; engaging with leaders just after a strong election victory; or supporting civil society.
Among other challenges for CSR are: patronage systems in the civil service; weak governance in the country as a whole; the impact of reform costs on the programme’s sustainability; and the obstacles created by donors’ organisational processes. Examples of the latter are staff rotation and short budget cycles, changes in priorities that affect funding, and inconsistent messaging.
Recommendations for the design of civil service reforms are to:
- Take the long-term view, prepare for slow progress, and manage expectations.
- Be flexible, leaving space for changes along the way.
- Promote government ownership by building on existing country strategies and domestic demand.
- Keep the public engaged through public opinion surveys or collaboration with journalists or civil society.
- Strengthen governance if necessary before embarking on difficult reforms.
- Make reforms sustainable through relevant and practical training and incentives for retaining qualified employees, and by keeping an eye on fiscal constraints.
Recommendations for funders include the following:
- Manage domestic constituencies by clearly communicating the realities on the ground and reducing expectations. In particular, timelines may need to be stretched, funding modalities may need to be altered, or priorities realigned.
- Adapt funding systems to make them more conducive to a longer-term approach to funding, project design, and staffing, and to more readily engage in pooled funding.
- Co-ordinate among donors to reduce reporting and missions, eliminate parallel implementation units, and to spread money across all needy areas. When possible, pool resources in a fund that is co-ordinated by the local authorities.
- Evaluate and disseminate results from civil service reform programmes to refine the lessons learned. More research is necessary in particular on why some reforms have worked when others fail, as well as the aid modalities that donors use and how they impact results.
- Implement recommendations from previous donor evaluations on how to make civil service reform more effective, especially adapting to the country context.
