The Establishment of the Estonian Top Civil Service Development System

Abstract

The chapter explores the evolution of the Estonian top civil service development system as an instrument facilitating horizontal coordination within the central government. Previous studies have shown that the sources of fragmentation and difficulties for joint working lie not only in specialization and decentralization but also in personal agendas of ministers and senior civil servants (Bourgault, 2007: 258). Especially under the managerial paradigm that tends to focus on the performance of single organizations, the leaders of governmental organizations have strong incentives to pursue strategies and programs which emphasize the results of their own organization, but may overlook broader goals and values of the government (Bouckaert et al., 2010: 20). Therefore, coordinating the development of top civil servants in order to achieve common values and role perceptions as well as to pave the way for working across the organizational borders is a well-pronounced pursuit for overcoming fragmentation, integration of services and addressing ‘wicked issues’ (Verhoest et al, 2007: 344; Bouckaert et al., 2010). Top civil servants’ leadership, professionalism and ability to work together are critical preconditions for successful public sector coordination (Hansen and Steen, 2010).