On How to Turn a Bureaucrat into a Useful Person

On How to Turn a Bureaucrat into a Useful Person
June 14, 2012
Fernando Ravsberg*

HAVANA TIMES — Cuba needs to transform the civil service bureaucracy, a
Spanish specialist in public administration issues told me. We
immediately got into a long and involved conversation about what could
be the key to that process.

He claims that Cuban public administration should replace the
"legitimacy" once held from being tied to the revolution with "the
legitimacy of the people, whereby civil service functionaries have to
understand that their purpose is to serve the citizens."

Nevertheless, he says that both the experience Spain and of other
countries show that it's useless "to expect a functionary to reduce
their own discretion or their power to rule over citizens. Nobody does
that by choice."

"The way forward is to give more power to citizens and to protect them
legally. In this way, that pressure will change the behavior of
government employees. Procedures should have clearly regulated steps and
well-defined limits."

I replied that life on the island is governed by directives, ministerial
decisions and special provisions, some of them in direct conflict with
the law. There are so many bureaucratic regulations, combined with a
lack of laws that — in practice — functionaries and employees legislate
rather than the elected deputies.

One only has to recall that for two decades a resolution, which few
could read, denied access to hotels by Cuban citizens although the
constitution very specifically gave them that right.

I then explained that Cuba's approach to "reducing arbitrariness is to
institutionalize the revolution, which could happen if there were legal
regulations that were binding on everyone – both citizens and public
officials alike."

Upon finishing that conversation, I received an email from Yamina Valdes
(a bureaucrat with the state-owned telephone monopoly) threatening to
cut off my Internet service if didn't immediately show that I'm a
journalist. That's nothing new…they do that every year when I'm about to
leave the country.

They are so focused on preventing anyone from having Internet service
without permission that they don't have time to curb corruption within
the phone company (from clandestine phone-card sales to the
disappearance of thousands-of-miles-long underwater cable).

Incompetence is the other big issue of the Cuban bureaucracy. Actually
the little bureaucrat on the island knows little. One can walk from one
desk to another without anyone being able to tell you what the process
is for carrying out the simplest procedure.

They will always send you to the wrong office, and then demand a
document that no one asked for; and when they deny you your right to
something, they don't explain why. It's quite true the saying that the
bureaucrat has a problem for what should be every solution

Interestingly, the polls in Spain also show that "what causes the
greatest dissatisfaction and anger among people are incomprehensible
responses of government employees that cannot be understood using common
sense."

It seems that to move in this direction it's necessary for "the process
of the recruitment of civil servants be based on merit and ability,
demonstrated through a competitive examination." This would mean after
taking an exam, the most qualified person would be selected for the job.

"We're talking about lower and middle strata functionaries," explained
the specialist. With a smile he added, "Unfortunately, most senior
positions are hand-picked, chosen based on political affinities in
almost every country in the world."

I asked him what the principal characteristics are of a good public
official, and he said: "The first is their being able to abide by the
law, being able to withstand all of the pressures, even when these come
from their own superiors."

The second has to do with ethical training: "They have to be satisfied
with their wages and resist daily temptations. This is a moral principle
because there's no salary large enough to prevent an official from
becoming corrupt."

Finally, regarding the most important principle of all, "It's being
clear that a public official is there to serve the citizens." They are
the ones who, after all, pay the salaries of the public employees in any
country.

Imagine how much easier your life would be if when entering an office
you were clearly explained the steps to be taken in whatever proceeding,
the laws that protect you, the rights you possess, the time the process
will take, and also the refusal of any gratuities on the grounds that
the official's job is to serve.

(*) An authorized Havana Times translation of the original commentary
published by BBC Mundo.

http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=72607