Table Of ContentGovernance and Public Management
IIAS Series: Governance and Public Management
International Institute of Administrative Sciences (IIAS) – Improving Administrative
Sciences Worldwide
The International Institute of Administrative Sciences (IIAS) is a NGO with scientific
purpose established in 1930 whose seat is still in Brussels. The Institute is a worldwide
platform providing a space for exchanges that promote knowledge and practices to
improve the organization and operation of Public Administration and to ensure that
public agencies will be in a position to better respond to the current and future expec-
tations and needs of society.
It provides thus a forum where practical experiences and theoretical analyses of
experts (academics and practitioners) in public administration worldwide and from all
cultures are presented and discussed.
To cover the diversity of its members, the IIAS has set up four sub-entities:
– The EGPA (European Group for Public Administration)
– The IASIA (International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration)
– The LAGPA (Latin American Group for Public Administration)
– The AGPA (Asian Group for Public Administration)
Website: http://www.iias-iisa.org
Governance and Public Management Series
Series edited by:
Robert Fouchet, Institute of Public Management and Territorial Governance,
Aix-Marseille University, France.
Taco Brandsen, Professor, Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen (The Netherlands).
Editorial Series Committee
Robert Fouchet, Directeur des Publications, IISA – IIAS Publications Director
Masahiro Horie, Président du Comité Scientifique et des Programmes, IISA – IIAS
Programme and Research Advisory Committee Chair
Rolet Loretan, Directeur général de l’IISA – IIAS Director General
Taco Brandsen, Membre – Member, GEAP-EGPA
Juraj Nemec, Membre-Member, AIEIA-IASIA
Rommel Rosas, Membre-Member, GLAAP-LAGPA
Zhiyong Lan, Membre-Member, GAAP-AGPA
Andrew Massey, Membre-Member, Rédacteur en Chef de la RISA-IRAS Editor in
Chief
Dr. Fabienne Maron, Conseiller scientifique de l’IISA-IIAS Scientific Administrator.
Coordinatrice des Publications – Publications Coordinator.
The Governance and Public Management series, published in conjunction with the
International Institute of Administrative Sciences (IIAS), brings the best research in
public administration and management to a global audience. Encouraging a diversity
of approach and perspective, the series reflects the Institute’s conviction for a neutral
and objective voice, grounded in the exigency of fact. How is governance conducted
now? How could it be done better? What defines the law of administration and the
management of public affairs, and can their implementation be enhanced? Such
questions lie behind the Institute’s core value of accountability: those who exercise
authority must account for its use – to those on whose behalf they act.
Titles in the series include:
Leo Huberts
THE INTEGRITY OF GOVERNANCE
What it is, What we Know, What is Done and Where to go
Taco Brandsen, Willem Trommel and Bram Verschuere (editors)
MANUFACTURING CIVIL SOCIETY
Principles, Practices and Effects
Pekka Valkama, Stephen J. Bailey and Ari-Veikko Anttiroiko (editors)
ORGANIZATIONAL INNOVATION IN PUBLIC SERVICES
Forms and Governance
Victor Bekkers, Jurian Edelenbos, Bram Steijn (editors)
INNOVATION IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR
Linking Capacity and Leadership
Montgomery Van Wart, Annie Hondeghem, Erwin Schwella and Paul Suino (editors)
LEADERSHIP AND CULTURE
Comparative Models of Top Civil Servant Training
Leadership and Culture
Comparative Models of Top Civil
Servant Training
Edited by
Montgomery Van Wart
Professor, Department of Public Administration,
California State University San Bernardino, USA
Annie Hondeghem
Professor, Public Governance Institute, KU Leuven, Belgium
Erwin Schwella
Professor of Public Leadership, School of Public Leadership,
Stellenbosch University, South Africa
with
Paul Suino
Independent scholar, USA
Selection and Editorial Matter © Montgomery Van Wart,
Annie Hondeghem and Erwin Schwella 2015
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2015 978-1-137-45412-6
All Remaining Chapters © Their Respective Authors 2015
Foreword © Christopher Pollitt 2015
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
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No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted
save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence
permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,
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Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work
in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2015 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
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registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke,
Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries
ISBN 978-1-349-49787-4 ISBN 978-1-137-45413-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137454133
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Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Foreword by Christopher Pollitt ix
Notes on Contributors xii
Introduction: Understanding the Role and Context of
Senior Civil Servant Training 1
Montgomery Van Wart and Annie Hondeghem
Part I Training Senior Civil Servants in
Anglo-American Countries
1. Australia 25
John Halligan
2. The United Kingdom 41
Sylvia Horton and Montgomery Van Wart
3. The United States of America 56
Heather Getha-Taylor
Part II Training Senior Civil Servants in
Eastern European Countries
4. Estonia 73
Külli Sarapuu, Merilin Metsma, Tiina Randma-Liiv, and
Annika Uudelepp
5. Hungary 89
Márk Gál and Márton Gellén
6. Romania 103
Cristina Hinţea and Tudor Ţiclău
Part III Training Senior Civil Servants in Germanic and
Northern European Countries
7. Austria 121
Isabell Egger-Peitler, Monika Knassmüller, and Renate Meyer
8. Belgium 137
Annie Hondeghem, Christian de Visscher,
Maxime Petit Jean, and Silke Ruebens
v
vi Contents
9. Denmark 153
Bente Bjørnholt and Morten Balle Hansen
10. Finland 167
Turo Virtanen
11. Germany 183
Werner Jann and Sylvia Veit
12. The Netherlands 199
Trui Steen, Caspar van den Berg, and Peter Leisink
13. Switzerland 216
Adrian Ritz and Leonie Schuessler
Part IV Training Senior Civil Servants in
Latin European Countries
14. France 235
Alexandra Couston, Joyce Liddle, and Robert Fouchet
15. Italy 252
Denita Cepiku, Alessandro Hinna, and Sandro Mameli
Part V Training Senior Civil Servants in Other Countries
16. Colombia 271
Pablo Sanabria and Claudia N. Avellaneda
17. Namibia 288
Erwin Schwella, Yrika Maritz, Michael Conteh, and
Elsie Nghikembua
18. South Africa 304
Peter E. Franks
19. South Korea 321
Sangmook Kim
Conclusion: Understanding the Reasons for the Differences in
Importance, Quantity, and Quality of SCS Training 337
Montgomery Van Wart and Annie Hondeghem
Index 349
List of Illustrations
Tables
0.1 Countries endorsing explicit competency models for the
SCS or civil service in general 14
1.1 SES programs, 2013 32
3.1 Executive core qualifications (ECQs) 60
3.2 Training assessment 63
3.3 Satisfaction with training 64
5.1 Content summary of the mandatory basic exam curriculum 99
5.2 Summary of the content of the civil service advanced exam 99
6.1 Mandatory professional training programs (MSTP) for
SCSs 2009–2012 110
6.2 NACS activity between 2010–2012 111
6.3 Position of SCS in the administration apparatus 113
6.4 NACS competency framework (based on needs assessment)
for prefects and subprefects 114
6.5 Competency frameworks comparison 115
8.1 Number of civil servants and mandate holders in the
different levels of government, 2012–2013 139
9.1 Educational background of department heads, in percents
(1979, 1989, 1999, 2009) 159
9.2 Educational background of agency CEOs in percents
(1995, 2000, 2005, 2008) 159
10.1 Top civil servants by sex in Finland in June 2013 171
11.1 Training for civil servants in the Federal administration
according to the “Agreement on public sector modernization
and training in the Federal administration” (2007) 193
12.1 Educational levels of Dutch senior civil servants, 2007 206
12.2 Educational background of Dutch senior civil servants and
organization type, 2007 208
13.1 Timeline and key events affecting the training of
top civil servants in Switzerland 219
13.2 Management positions in the Swiss Federal Administration 220
14.1 Overview table presenting ÉNA, INET, and EHESP,
2011–2012 243
14.2 Overview table presenting ÉNA, INET, and EHESP,
2008–2012 245
15.1 Stages of reform and training supports 254
vii
viii List of Illustrations
15.2 Main managerial reforms in Italy 257
16.1 Colombian normative regarding senior civil servants 279
16.2 Norms regarding the training of Colombian senior officials 280
19.1 The SCS competency model 327
19.2 Training trends by administration 330
C.1 Summary of senior civil servant training in select countries 340
C.2 Importance of SCS training 344
C.3 Quality of SCS training factors 346
Figures
0.1 Context and background of the training of
senior civil servants 7
4.1 The Estonian top civil service competency framework 78
7.1 Top civil servants (TCSs) in Austria’s Federal
Administration 127
10.1 Finnish governmental system 169
15.1 Public employment trends in Italy 255
16.1 Number of top servants who received training from
ESAP (Higher School of Public Administration) 282
17.1 NIPAM’s capacity-building framework 302
19.1 Grade-based training structure 329
Appendix
16.1 Inventory of existing educational programs suitable to
top management 286
Foreword
For some, the training of top civil servants may sound rather a boring topic
or, at least, one of only narrow, technical interest. To my mind, quite the
contrary is true: the nature of such training is closely linked to some of the
most crucial questions in contemporary liberal democracy, and its implica-
tions go far beyond the technical.
Liberal democracies are supposed to be representative systems, in which
those who are elected by the citizens play central roles in deciding, as the
people’s representatives, what gets done. In practice, of course, such repre-
sentatives cannot possibly know enough to decide many matters in any
detail, and neither could they have the time or skills actually to carry out
what they have decided. They need help, both to decide and to implement,
and, since the nineteenth century in many countries, civil servants have
been the principal source of that help. Many civil servants never see a poli-
tician face-to-face, but top civil servants do. They stand right at the fron-
tier between politics and administration. They are frequently influential.
Because of this they need clear rules on what they should and should not
do, and we citizens need a clear understanding about how top officials are
recruited and trained, and how, once in action, they are going to remain
both competent and accountable.
The above considerations have applied for many decades, and have gener-
ated a vast literature and an unending debate, in both of which academics
have played important parts. Different countries have arrived at different
“public service bargains” between politicians and their top officials. Recently,
however, the nature of the politics-administration frontier seems to have begun
to change. Indeed, the nature of politics itself is changing, and this poses many
questions for top civil servants. These changes have been widespread, though
occuring in different degrees in different countries. They include:
(cid:77)(cid:1) Increased electoral volatility and declining party loyalty on the part of
citizens
(cid:77)(cid:1) New parties springing up and making party competition more complex
and multilateral
(cid:77)(cid:1) More media, reporting more quickly and aggressively, 24/7; the growing
salience of the sound bite
(cid:77)(cid:1) The personalization of politics, in the sense of media portrayals of govern-
ments and politics becoming more focused on individual characters and
their foilbles and on clashes between personalities, rather than on policies
and programs
ix
