Skip to content

Guiding Questions:

  • What is the civil service? What is its scope? How should the public-sector HR system be structured? Are teachers part of the public sector? Should We Structure HR Branches - By Role's?

  • How to think about the civil service? The civil service is an embedded, semi-autonomous socio-technical system that can be analytically decoupled from the administrative configuration in which it operates.

  • How should the civil service be conceptualized as a system, and how does it interact with the government and the broader state institutional architecture?

  • How should the civil service manage its personnel lifecycle? How are individuals recruited, promoted, evaluated, sanctioned, and dismissed, and according to which institutional rules and performance signals? How is the payment - decited?

Note: That the Civil is only a part of the State Human Resources.

Formulation

The civil service constitutes a defined subset of state roles. The civil service system exists to recruit, allocate, and reproduce the human capacity required to occupy these roles over time.

Design

Principle

Which principles guide a sophisticated civil service?

Principle Description
Separation (Role Layering): Representation, Strategy, Operation Representation Layer: Defines political goals, priorities, and legitimacy claims.
Strategy Layer: Translates political intent into feasible programs, architectures, and coordinated action.
Operation Layer: Executes services, manages processes, and preserves technical expertise and institutional memory.
Meritocratic Insulation Protects the civil service from arbitrary political interference through merit-based recruitment, promotion, and disciplinary systems.
Capability Continuity & Institutional Memory Preserves accumulated expertise across cycles through stable careers, documentation, and knowledge systems.
Accountability as a Recursive Architecture Accountability embedded at every level: upward (to leadership), downward (to citizens), lateral (across agencies), and internal (within teams).
Processability & Standardization Standard workflows, data schemas, and procedures enable clarity, scalability, and reduced corruption.
Professional Identity & Ethical Foundations A shared ethos of impartiality, integrity, and public service fosters trust and coherence in administration.
Strategic Capacity (Intelligence, Foresight, Integration) Uses foresight, monitoring, diagnostics, and cross-sector integration to anticipate trends and guide long-term planning.
Data-Driven Governance & Cognitive Infrastructure High-quality data, analytics, and decision-support systems enable evidence-based policy and adaptive learning.
Digital Platformization & Modularity Shared digital platforms—identity, registries, payments, workflows—create interoperable, reusable, and efficient services.
Transparency, Auditability, and Public Visibility Open processes, audit trails, accessible data, and documentation strengthen legitimacy and internal controls.
Anti-Corruption by Process Design Reducing discretion through standardization, digital tracking, and segregation of duties minimizes corruption opportunities.
Adaptive Learning & Continuous Improvement Feedback loops, evaluation, pilot testing, and iterative refinement ensure evolving administrative capacity.
Coordination Architecture (System-of-Systems) Horizontal (inter-agency) and vertical (national–local) coordination supported by shared platforms and governance mechanisms.
Resilience & Redundancy Backup systems, distributed authority, and continuity plans ensure functionality during crises and disruptions.
Citizen-Centered Design Services built around user needs with accessible, inclusive, and human-centered design across all channels.
Career Architecture That Mirrors Capability Requirements Personnel structures aligned with real capability demands: generalist tracks, specialist tracks, and technical expert ladders.
Fair Compensation & Competitive Talent Markets Compensation systems that attract, retain, and motivate skilled professionals by reflecting market realities.
Mixed Strategist: Generalist & Technical A strategic core that combines coordination-oriented generalists with domain-deep technical experts to produce a balanced, high-capacity state.
Efficiency Ensures administrative processes achieve maximum output with minimum resource waste, optimizing workflows, time, and operational effort.
Legality and Rule of Law All actions conform to legal frameworks, ensuring predictability, fairness, and constitutional alignment in administrative practice.
Non-Partisanship and Impartiality Civil servants operate without political bias, ensuring equal treatment, fairness, and trust in state institutions.

Evaluation

...

Role Space

  • Oficiario — Career Civil Service Member.
  • Politarca — Political Appointee.

Case Study

How to Characterize a Civl Service?

...

Civil Service

The Permanent Secretary is the professional head of a ministry, ensuring continuity, professionalism, and effectiveness in public administration, bridging political leadership and career civil servants.

How to make the civil service as smaller as possible? How to move as much worker as possible to private law?

  • Training
  • State HR
  • Selection
  • Devinculacion
  • Work Though the State
  • Promotion and Carrier Path

State HR:

  • Civil Service → What is the Civil Service?
  • …
  • Constitutional/Legal Mandate: Ensure the civil service is protected and guided by law.
  • Independent Oversight Bodies: Establish commissions (e.g., civil service commissions, ombudsman) to enforce neutrality and fairness.
  • Merit-Based Recruitment and Promotion
    • Competitive Exams & Assessments: Transparent, skill-based entry mechanisms.
    • Clear Career Pathways: Structured roles, responsibilities, and promotion criteria.
    • Continuous Training: Mandatory and optional training for skill updates and specialization.
  • Professionalization and Accountability
    • Code of Ethics: Clearly defined rules of conduct, integrity, and neutrality.
    • Performance Appraisal Systems: Regular, objective evaluation tied to service goals.
    • Protection for Whistleblowers: Encourage accountability and reporting of wrongdoing.
  • Good Working Conditions & Incentives
    • Competitive Salaries and Benefits: Prevent brain drain and reduce corruption temptation.
    • Work-Life Balance & Mental Health Support: Keep morale and productivity high.
    • Pension & Security: Retain long-term talent through reliable retirement systems.
  • Political Insulation with Democratic Accountability
    • Non-Partisan Roles: Clear distinction between political leadership and administrative roles.
    • Fixed Tenures for Key Roles: Reduce arbitrary transfers and political pressure.
    • Regular Audits and Parliamentary Review: Ensure checks and balances.
  • Public Management Model (Doctrina Administrativa)
    • Weberian Model (State → Public Service) aka Traditional Public Administration (TPA)
    • New Public Management (NPM)
    • New Public Governance (NPG)
    • Digital Era Governance (DEG)
    • Public Value Management
    • Results-Based Management (RBM)
    • Agile Public Management / Adaptive Governance
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_service
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inspector_general
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_civil_service
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_service_of_Japan
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore_Civil_Service
  • https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/15406210
  • https://www.academia.edu/23472562/The_Structural_Anatomy_of_the_Norwegian_State_1985_2007_Increased_Specialization_or_a_Pendulum_Shift
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Accountability_Office

“Tribunal de Oposición” System

Un "Tribunal de Oposición" se utiliza comúnmente en sistemas judiciales y administrativos para seleccionar a candidatos que aspiran a ocupar cargos en el sector público. Este tribunal es especialmente relevante para los cargos que requieren pruebas de conocimientos y méritos previos, y su función es asegurar que los seleccionados sean los más cualificados para el puesto.

Los cargos que generalmente se eligen o se accede mediante un tribunal de oposición incluyen:

  1. Jueces y Magistrados: En muchos países, como España y varios países latinoamericanos, los jueces y magistrados son seleccionados mediante oposiciones que evalúan su conocimiento del derecho y su capacidad para ejercer funciones judiciales.
  2. Abogados del Estado: En algunas jurisdicciones, los abogados del estado, que representan al gobierno en cuestiones legales, también son seleccionados por medio de tribunales de oposición.
  3. Funcionarios Públicos: En el ámbito administrativo, muchos cargos dentro de las instituciones públicas, como inspectores, auditores, y otros empleados estatales, se obtienen a través de oposiciones.
  4. Profesionales en el ámbito educativo: Como los profesores o catedráticos universitarios, quienes deben aprobar oposiciones para acceder a cargos permanentes en instituciones educativas públicas.
  5. Otros cargos especializados: Dependiendo del país y la estructura administrativa, también pueden existir tribunales de oposición para seleccionar técnicos especializados, como economistas, ingenieros o científicos en organismos públicos.
Modelo Origen dominante
Cuerpos y Escalas (España) Derecho público + estabilidad
Grands corps (Francia) Elite tecnocrática estatal
Hong Kong grades Neutralidad colonial
Singapore elite service Desarrollo económico dirigido

References

  • Public Administration
  • Civil Service
  • An Essay on 'Burrocracia'
  • A Guide to Profile State Personnel Systems
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Public_Management
  • https://oxfordre.com/politics/politics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228637-e-1436
  • https://muse.jhu.edu/article/640275
  • Institut National du Service Public
  • Australia and New Zealand School of Government
  • State Capacity
  • European Institute of Public Administration
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestiarion
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merit_pay
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logothete
  • https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/civil-service
  • https://www.psd.gov.sg/
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_service
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoils_system
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civic_technology
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cursus_honorum
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Civil_Service
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_system
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Civil_Service
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_examination
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_service_of_Japan
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vizier_(Ancient_Egypt)
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore_Civil_Service
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_Civil_Service
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Service_of_Canada
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permanent_secretary_(UK)
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_India_Company_College
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Service_(United_Kingdom)
  • https://www.mspb.gov/msp/meritsystemsprinciples.htm
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_service_entrance_examination
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendleton_Civil_Service_Reform_Act
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_bureaucracy_and_aristocracy
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay-for-Performance_(Federal_Government)
  • https://funcionpublica.digital.gob.es/index.html
  • https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/permanent-secretaries
  • https://www.argentina.gob.ar/sistema-de-evaluacion-publica
  • Bagües, M. F. (2007). Las oposiciones: análisis estadístico. Jueces para la democracia, 59, 25-35.
  • https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oposici%C3%B3n_(examen)
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_civil_service
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89cole_nationale_d%27administration
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Study_of_Administration
  • Wright, V. (1976). L'École nationale d'administration de 1848-1849: un échec révélateur. Revue historique, 255(Fasc. 1 (517), 21-42.
  • Dorn, W. L. (1931). The Prussian bureaucracy in the eighteenth century. Political Science Quarterly, 46(3), 403-423.
  • Henry, N. (2017). Paradigms of public administration. In Public Administration and Public Affairs (pp. 35-53). Routledge.
  • Xu, R., Sun, Q., & Si, W. (2015). The third wave of public administration: The new public governance. Canadian Social Science, 11(7), 11-21.
  • Civil Service Reform Building a Government that Works
  • https://www.inap.es/es/seleccion/procesos-selectivos-de-cuerposescalas-generales/cuerpo-superior-de-administradores-civiles-del-estado
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beamter
  • Woodrow Wilson — The Study of Administration (1887)
  • Max Weber — Economy and Society (Bureaucracy chapters)
  • Dwight Waldo — The Administrative State
  • Herbert A. Simon — Administrative Behavior
  • James G. March & Herbert A. Simon — Organizations
  • James Q. Wilson — Bureaucracy
  • Bureaucracy
  • James G. March & Johan P. Olsen — Rediscovering Institutions
  • Chester I. Barnard — The Functions of the Executive
  • Michel Crozier — The Bureaucratic Phenomenon
  • Charles Perrow — Complex Organizations
  • Henry Mintzberg — Structure in Fives
  • Peter Evans — Embedded Autonomy
  • Joel S. Migdal — Strong Societies and Weak States
  • Martin Painter & Jon Pierre (eds.) — Traditions of Public Administration
  • Christopher Hood — The Art of the State
  • Merilee Grindle — Jobs for the Boys
  • Susan Rose-Ackerman — Corruption and Government
  • Lant Pritchett, Woolcock, Andrews — Building State Capability
  • Dwight Waldo — The Administrative State
  • Mordecai Lee — A History of Public Administration in the United States: The Rise of American Bureaucracy
  • Carlos Carrasco Canals — La burocracia en la España del siglo XIX
  • James C. Scott — Seeing Like a State
  • Handbook of Comparative and Development Public Administration
  • https://archive.org/details/publicadministra0000head/mode/2up
  • The Rise of Managerial Bureaucracy: Reforming the British Civil Service
  • Hood & Dixon’s A Government That Worked Better and Cost Less?