Principles of Senior Civil Service in Kazakhstan: Integrity, Professionalism, and Ethics

Abstract

As the experiences of Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States demonstrate effective and responsive civil service systems often have a senior civil service
level. It is named differently in different countries, for instance, in
the Netherlands – de Algemene Bestuursdienst (or in short – ADB),
in the UK – Senior Civil Service, in Singapore – Administrative
service. In Kazakhstan it has been named “corps A”. Corps A is an executive level of civil service envisioned to ensure the link between the strategic decision-making and implementation, as well as provide continuity of human resources policy and long-term
performance of a state agency. The current civil service reform in Kazakhstan, particularly introduction of the executive level – corps A, promotes the ideals of serving the people and society at large. Such profound changes that require civil service transparency, public accountability and efficient delivery of quality public services aim at increasing the number of civil servants for whom integrity, professionalism and ethics are paramount principles.