8.5 The Functional, Formal, and Social Politicisation of the Czech Ministries Starting with functional politicisation, the extent of political influence on officials’ day-to-day activities is a critical aspect of their work in public administration settings. The extent of such influence varies depending on the position of the official (Graph 2). More than half (51 percent) of rank-and-file officials and about the same percentage of directors of section (54 percent) do not perceive political interference with their work as a significant issue. However, the situation is different with lower and middle management staff. Full 42 percent of departmental directors reported that politicians often influence their day-to-day work, while only 29 percent of them state the opposite. The opinions of division heads about political influence are harder to interpret. On the one hand, 37 percent of them report that their work is politicised, while 42 percent do not. The view of division heads on political influence is somewhat ambiguous because 21 percent of them took a neutral stance. 120% 100%
28%
Position: section director* Merit
0% 11%
0% 11%
0% 9%
0% 10%
0% 8%
Section directors
Department directors
Division heads
83% 87% 87% 78% 85% 86% 87%
Rank-and-file
65%
Section directors
78%
Department directors
67%
Division heads
55%
Division heads
44%
Rank-and-file
56% 33%
0% 8%
27%
17%
Section directors
20% 25%
Rank-and-file
0%
16%
Division heads
20%
22%
Department directors
36%
40%
8%
Rank-and-file
22% 30% 27%
0% 0% 12% 1% 19% 2% 18% 18%
Section directors
60%
6%
Department directors
80%
8%
Position: department Position: division head* Position: rank-and-file director* Personal favouritism
Political allegiance
Graph 3: Perceived Importance of Criteria for the Appointment of Officials
Graph Perceived of Criteria the Appointment of Officials Note: * 3: The differencesImportance are significant at p≤0.01for (Pearson’s chi square). Question worded “At your Ministry, which criterion is decisive for the appointment to the work positions?” (“Don’t know” and “No
Note: * The differences are significant at p≤0.01 (Pearson’s chi square). Question worded “At your response” answers removed). Source: GACR survey Ministry, which criterion is decisive for appointment to the work positions?” (“Don't know” and “No response” answers removed). Source: GACR survey 98
Investigation of the criteria that policy workers deem important for promotion within the