Comparison of the higher civil service in Western Europe, Canada and USA - examines the situation in the UK (incl. Recruitment, training and promotion practices), Canada (incl. Educational level and background), Germany, Federal Republic, France (incl. In service training, career patterns); describes the US Service, its historical background, the Civil Service Reform Act (administrative reform) of 1978, and future perspectives. References. List of participants. Conference held in Washington 1983 Jun 23 and 24.

Every time control of the U.S. presidency is passed from one party to another, the entire top layer of the executive branch changes. Thousands of men and women take down their pictures, pack up their desks, and move back into private life, just as others dust off their pictures and move in. The U.S. stands alone in this respect. Nearly every other advanced democracy is managed-save for elected officials and a few top aides-by an elite cadre of top civil servants selected by highly competitive examinations. Hudleston and Boyer tell the story of U.S. efforts to develop higher civil service, beginning with the Eisenhower administration and culminating in the passage of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. Arguing that the highly-politicized U.S. system simply hasn't worked, they examine why and how reform efforts have failed and offer a series of recommendations for the future.

Contains fourteen essays that examine, through a public policy focus, the 1978 civil service reform and its aftermath. The essays view policy design, implementation, and evaluation, as well as the overall politics of administration and institutional change. An indispensible tool for students of public administration, bureaucratic politics, and personnel policy. Contributors: Carolyn Ban; John Halligan; Kirke Harper; Mark Huddleston; J. Edward Kellough; Larry M. Lane; Chester A. Newland; James L. Perry; Beryl A. Radin; Robert Vaughn; and the editors.

Centralized civil service management models provide the best starting point for most developing countries because decentralized agency systems require technological and human resources beyond their capabilities. Some better-endowed countries could use certain agency-type features selectively, moving toward an agency system as their institutional capabilities increase.

This report looks at the capacity and capabilities of civil servants of OECD countries and suggests approaches for addressing skills gaps through recruitment, development and workforce management

The call to "reinvent government"—to reform the government bureaucracy of the United States—resonates as loudly from elected officials as from the public. Examining the political and economic forces that have shaped the American civil service system from its beginnings in 1883 through today, the authors of this volume explain why, despite attempts at an overhaul, significant change in the bureaucracy remains a formidable challenge.

Comparing Public Bureaucracies: Problems of Theory and Method is based on the Coleman B. Ransone, Jr. Lectures delivered by the author in 1986 at The University of Alabama.