The paper examines the structure, reforms, and challenges of the contemporary Bangladesh Civil Service. It provides an overview of the public administration system; an evaluation of reforms and innovations that have been “allowed”; the present recruitment procedure; and the extent and impact of politicization. Recruitment and politicization are the key problems identified and discussed. To explore these problems further qualitative, interview-based primary research was conducted with recent university graduates, and entry-level, mid-career, and retired civil servants. The second part of the paper reports the analysis of the survey data. The challenges are to reform the recruitment process, de-politicize the bureaucracy and ensure the civil service promotion system is not tainted. These reforms, if
undertaken successfully, would place efficient and skilled personnel in the right positions and attract the best and brightest students to public service careers. There is a large difference between what is necessary and what can be achieved when it comes to the public administration and good governance in Bangladesh. We found in this paper that contemporary public administration is all about politics. Politicians and bureaucrats are the key actors in the management of bureaucracy. Both bureaucrats and politicians have their own interests to preserve.
Author: Jahan, Ferdous
Type: Working Paper
Year: 2006