In the case of Poland, path-dependence factors have been strongly unfavorable to administrative reform, as these factors encompass traditionally negative attitudes toward administration as well as a history of politicization of administration.
Consequently, Polish civil service reforms have lagged far behind other political, social, and economic reforms. The pace of civil service reform has thus far been slow, and current legislation can be interpreted as bringing the development of a professional and apolitical civil service to a halt or, perhaps, as being a complete derailment of such development.
Although the CSA of 1998 formed a sound basis for the development of a professional and apolitical civil service by articulating clearly defined professional qualifications, requiring a qualifying examination for civil servants, establishing nomination procedures for a professional corps within civil service, and establish- ing competition procedures for civil servants seeking senior administrative posi- tions, the snail’s pace of developing a professional and politically neutral civil service corps has raised serious questions about civil service functioning in reality.
Historically, negative social attitudes toward administration have contributed to the slow development of a professional civil service and prevented working in public administration from being perceived as a potentially attractive career. In addition, a severe lack of public knowledge about the civil service corps has further exacerbated attempts to develop and professionalize the civil service and has left little room for meaningful defense against political attack.
Administrative performance is critical to further progress of postcommunist reforms designed to meet the new challenges of EU integration and to achieve the efficient functioning of a democratic state. And although current reforms under the 2006 CSA may be viewed as a retreat to the nomenklatura system, the necessity to strengthen Poland’s administrative capacity will eventually be realized as a com- bined result of internal and external pressures.
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