Civil service reform in Kazakhstan: The front-runner stumbles

Kazakhstan is hailed as a “front-runner in civil service reforms” in Central Asia, Saule Emrich-Bakenova says in the current issue of Governance (22.4).  Some call it a model for the developing world.  But Emrich-Bakenova argues that the main objective of new legislation — reducing political influence over the hiring and promotion of civil servants — has not really been achieved.   Although the Civil Service Law of 1999 was intended to create a depoliticized civil service, “the measures undertaken in fact established and formalized a broad range of discretionary opportunities for political influence.”  Emrich-Bakenova suggests that reformers should adjust their expectations about outcomes of reform in hostile political conditions. Read the article: Trajectory of civil service development in Kazakhstan: Nexus of politics and administration.