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Political leaders, ministers and heads of government rely on advice from senior civil servants and, increasingly, from so-called ministerial advisors. This is a growing group of people who are essential to help these officials make informed strategic decisions, keep up with different stakeholders and accelerate government responses. Unlike senior civil servants, ministerial advisors are exempt from the requirement of political neutrality.
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Modern government operates in a complex market of ideas, policies and actors. It requires thousands of decisions to be taken and acted upon each day. Today’s information and communication technologies have not only increased sources of information and created new communities but have, at the same time, raised public expectations about government response times. A key challenge to successful government is the ability to make good decisions and communicate them in a timely manner.
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It is not a new phenomenon in many countries that ministers appoint ministerial advisors on the basis of personal trust. However, ministerial advisors have become more institutionalised. This reflects not only the fact that their numbers are increasing in some countries but also the many roles that they are performing. As a result, ministerial advisors increasingly wield influence in the machinery of government.
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The general employment rules for the public service apply to both public servants and ministerial advisors in a majority of respondent countries. In fact the compensation for ministerial advisors is based primarily on the public service salary scale, although is not necessarily the advisor’s only source of income.
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Governance frameworks to ensure that ministerial advisors do their work transparently, ethically and accountably are generally limited. In most countries the same standards of conduct apply to public servants as well as ministerial advisors. Thus the standards of conduct do not take into account the political nature of ministerial advisors’ role and related risks.
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This chapter highlights the experience of the Austrian, Canadian and British governments in managing ministerial advisors. It focuses on:
- the politico-administrative contexts in which ministerial advisors exercise their functions;
- the reasons why ministers appoint them;
- their employment status and, in particular, how their appointment procedures, compensation and performance management differ from those of senior public servants;
- the governance framework in which they operate and, in particular, the standards of conduct that apply to them. -
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