Delta type senior civil service for the 21st century
- 1997
- p.7-23
- Mar
This article is devoted to the recommendation of developing a new type of senior civil service appropriate for the higher order tasks of central governments, which I shall call the `delta-type' civil service. Using a rough comparative-history classification, the alpha-type senior civil service, which was dominant during many historic periods and is still found in some countries, is based on ascribed status, mainly right of birth, or personal nearness to rulers, with much fusion between `political' and `administrative' roles. The `beta-type' is mainly based on purchase of government positions, which was often a big improvement on the alpha-type, because having money or coming from a high-income family implies at least some achievement qualifications. The `gamma-type' civil service is based on quasi-professionalism. Its antecedents include proto-professional educated slaves and freed persons fulfilling `civil service' functions in classical Rome and, in the Middle Ages, educated priests, such as Jesuits. Much more `professional' and merit-based were the classical mandarin system in China, which led to their modern versions, such as the British administrative class and the French ENA-trained state elite. Most modern senior administrative services belong to the gamma-type, with new public management constituting a sub-type in which `managerial skills' take the place of other professional requirements, such as legal training. However, when evaluated in terms of the requirements for engaging in the higher-order tasks of central governments and the potential of new types and disciplines of knowledge, the gama-type civil service in all its variations is inadequate. Hence the need and potential to move to a delta-type senior civil service focusing on higher-order tasks, while leaving managerial functions to upgraded gama-type officials and various technical services. - Reproduced