The Lithuanian Civil Service: Secrets of Success and Alternatives for Further Development
Keywords:
the civil service, human resource management, civil service reform, public administration institutions.Abstract
The 2009 SIGMA assessment of the civil services in the new EU member states, which joined the EU in
2004, revealed that only the Lithuanian civil service achieved a high degree of fit with the European principles
of public administration. The article seeks to determine main reasons behind this favourable assessment of
Lithuania. Compared to other countries of Eastern and Central Europe, the development of the Lithuanian civil
service was marked by relative continuity and consistency. In addition, the article presents two main alternatives
for further developing the Lithuanian civil service: a stabilisation and consolidation of the Lithuanian civil
service as well as its moderate managerial reform. To implement these alternatives, the article outlines a number
of short-term and medium-term recommendations for Lithuanian decision-makers.
