This article is the second of a two-part posting.

Panagiotis Karkatsoulis

Taking into account the previously-mentioned remarks, no significant change in the administrative reform policy is expected to take place in 2012: The horizontal cuts will be continued and consequently the public sector’s core functions won’t be carried out properly.

As a countermeasure to that grim prospect, a recovery plan must be agreed upon by major stakeholders, including at least:

1. Measures to strengthen the administrative professionalism, mainly the following:
A drastic reduction, by at least 50 percent, of the political appointees, of the posts of Deputy Ministers, Vice-Ministers, General and Special Secretaries, political advisers and other staff employed through political channels: 16 Ministers, 21 Vice Ministers and 9 Deputy Ministers, 75 General and Special Secretaries and 1080 political advisers just for the central government. Adding the 325 municipalities and 23000 legal entities, the number of political appointees is considerably higher.A change of the status of the Secretaries General of the Ministries from politically appointed to selected among qualified professionals for a certain period of time (managers)

This article is the first of a two-part posting. Watch for Part 2 to be posted this Thursday, January 26th.

Panagiotis Karkatsoulis

The future of the Greek state seems, at first glance, mortgaged; a series of problems justifies this ominous prediction. The most important, in order of priority:

A) The many years of resistance to the reform of the State, including the period of the Economic Adjustment Programme. The failure to adapt to international and national rapid developments in the economy, technology and current risks, places the Greek state in the chorus of states with high operating costs, low efficiency and significant corruption.

B) The pseudo-reforms (i.e., the reforms that were announced but never implemented) due to clientelistic strategies and the promotion of vested interests. As a result of the “fake” reforms, the credibility of the Greek political system was undermined, on a European and international level, and the already severely weakened trust of the public employees towards their political leaders was withdrawn.

This article is the second of a two-part posting. To read part one, see the Related Articles box below for a link.

Arie Halachmi

The changes that are needed to address each of these items necessitate the creation of new staff units at the central government level with corresponding counter-part units at the ministerial level. Eventually, similar units would have to be established at the provincial and local levels commensurate with their unique circumstances. Learning from the experiences of governments in other countries Greece should make better use of the resources that are available to it from the academia and corporate research entities.

In the January 2012 issue of Governance two British authorities on public sector management describe a global trend toward greater austerity when it comes to the business of government. The article notes that in many countries the salaries and pensions of public employees have been slashed. Agencies have been downsized and new measures were taken to freeze or reduce the hiring of new employees. There is no doubt that the foreign entities that were involved in assisting Greece to address its financial woes expect it to follow suit. The Hellenic government, under any leadership, is expected to demonstrate in a tangible way the use of austerity measures that are similar to those that have been taken by other countries around the world and in particular by those in Europe. Taking such measures is not intended to penalize public employees in Greece.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! In the spirit of starting 2012 with a fresh and positive outlook for both work and life, we at PA TIMES Online felt the following 2-part article to be particularly appropriate. The authors will also be presenting a session on their inspired philosophy during the National Conference of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) to be held in Las Vegas, NV, March 2-6, 2012.

Elaine Dundon and Alex Pattakos

Opa! Indeed, it is much more than simply a word; it is a lifestyle and a workstyle! Against this backdrop, let’s review briefly each element of this inspirational philosophy of living and working:

OthersMost of us are striving to connect in more meaningful ways to build stronger relationships with family member, friends, coworkers, customers, and other members of society. Our research focused on the interconnectedness of life in the traditional Greek villages. The lessons from this research are applicable to how we interact and build authentic relationships in both our personal and work lives. The focus of life in the village is on the collective “we”; caring for and sharing with others for the collective good. How many of us can truly say we treat our workplaces like traditional village communities?