Continuity, Change, and Gaps in Civil Service Reform: Aligning Georgian Institutions with EU Standards

Civil service plays a crucial role in the public administration frameworks of both the European Union (Sigma/OECD, 2019) and the European Neighborhood Policy (Hill, 2018). By signing the Association Agreement (AA, 2014, Article 333), Georgia has committed to aligning its policies and institutions with those of the European Union and has been implementing civil service reform since 2014. Despite these efforts, the lack of empirical studies hinders a comprehensive understanding of the current state of the civil service system. This research employs a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods to assess government policy design and implementation within the Georgian civil service system and its institutions. It highlights the dissonance between theoretical constructs and actual implementation practices. The study utilises John Kingdon's multiple streams theory to analyse the logic of policy change, revealing that while significant reforms have been introduced since the Public Administration Reform (PAR) of 2014, numerous challenges persist. Key findings indicate that the reforms have not effectively addressed critical issues within the civil service system and its institutions. For instance, while the government emphasizes the importance of developing and advancing civil servants, a lack of a robust career framework and ineffective class and rank systems undermine these efforts, prompting many officials to leave the civil service. Additionally, low salaries and weak meritocratic mechanisms further diminish the attractiveness of civil service employment. Another critical obstacle is the persistence of patron-client relationships, where "patrons" exploit civil servants for electoral advantages. Such practices compromise the neutrality and effectiveness of the system, highlighting a significant gap between the government's stated principles of meritocracy, neutrality, impartiality, accountability, and effectiveness, and the actual practices observed within the civil service. This study provides valuable insights into the challenges of civil service reform in Georgia, contributing to the broader discourse on public administration and institutional change in Central and Eastern Europe. By addressing these issues, the research underscores the need for more robust policy frameworks and implementation mechanisms to align the Georgian civil service system and its institutions with European standards and principles.