Deconstructing and Reconstructing Career Civil Service Systems in Latin America Merilee S. Grindle Harvard University August 2010
De Jure Civil Service Systems CountryCivil Service in Constitution Basic LawMost Recent Basic Law Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Costa Rica Dom. Rep Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Mexico Panama Uruguay
Officially Available Discretionary Appointments CountryPercent of Total Public Sector Positions Argentina0.26 Bolivia9.00 Brazil9.52 Chile1.34 Colombia1.08 Dominican Republic1.32 Guatemala Honduras1.68 Mexico0.37 Panama0.71 Paraguay0.83 Peru0.46 Uruguay0.19 Venezuela1.60
De Facto Personnel Systems Level 0Level 1Level 2Level 3Level 4-5 Panama El Salvador Honduras Nicaragua Guatemala Paraguay Peru Ecuador Dom.Rep. Bolivia Venezuela Mexico Argentina Uruguay Colombia Chile Costa Rica Brazil Great discretion to hire/promote/ fire Largely unsuccessful efforts to limit discretion to hire/promote/ fire Mix of discretion and merit to hire/promote/ fire Constrained discretion to hire/promote/ fire Extensive merit system
Mechanisms for Resisting Implementation of Civil Service Systems Opt out of the system Disestablish the organization Starve the beast Delay the process Question the system’s credibility Reclaim authority over recruitment Recapture positions Engineer the job to the candidate Create new categories
Four Cases of Resistance to Reform Country Year of Reform Post-Reform Mechanisms of Resistance Brazil1938 Opting out Re-claiming Disestablishing Re-capturing Starvation Job engineering Delaying Creating categories Questioning Argentina1991 Opting out Questioning Starvation Job engineering Delaying Creating categories Mexico2003 Opting out Re-claiming Disestablishment Re-capturing Starvation Job engineering Questioning Creating categories Chile2003 Opting out Job engineering Questioning Creating categories Re-claiming