Context as a Factor in Senior Civil Service Reform: Opinions and Attitudes of Senior Executives in Lithuania

Abstract

This article analyses the contextual factors and their impact on the planned creation of senior civil service (henceforth, SCS) within the Lithuanian civil service system since 2008. Based on a survey of Lithuanian senior executives' conducted in 2014 and qualitative semi-structured interviews, the aim of this article is to reveal and explain incentives and obstacles of SCS reform in Lithuania. Empirical research data clarifies attitudes of senior civil servants and their role perceptions. Senior executives' attitudes towards the establishment of the SCS system were clearly positive. However, the research data reveals that supportive attitudes depend on the perception of the roles of senior executives. Senior civil servants who perceived themselves firstly as actors in policy formation and policy implementers were much more favourable towards the creation of SCS than senior civil servants with other role identities.