Abstract
Civil service reforms implemented over the past 35 years in many countries around
the world have relaxed traditional merit system rules, decentralized the personnel
function, and augmented agency and managerial discretion. One objective of these
reforms has been to boost government productivity and increase the efficiency
of core personnel management functions such as hiring and firing employees, but
much of the available evidence suggests that reforms commonly implemented may
serve political or ideological objectives better than performance-related goals. We
argue for a fuller appreciation of the political motivations for reforms and a broader
understanding of their implications.