Public Administration Reform

Abstract

The significance of public administration cannot be overemphasized. Two basic systems of civil service have taken shape today. The most traditional is the career system of state service, which is characterized by a strict hierarchy of categories, groups, and qualifications grades, and an extensive list of social benefits and privileges. The other, alternative system is the position system of civil service. Its principal feature is the existence of state positions with explicitly defined duties and terms for employment. It is primarily the career civil service system that exists in Germany, Japan, Italy, and Russia, and primarily the positional one in Sweden, the US, Australia, and Great Britain. The regulatory and statutory bases for the functioning of the civil service in the Russian Federation are integrated. Public opinion polls testify to the extremely low level of quality of public services. There are many reasons for the deplorable state of the civil service. An attempt is made to systematize them according to three basic criteria - historical, economic, and social.