Law in action : the problem of political patronage in the process of appointing high-ranking posts in civil service in Poland

According to the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, the idea underlying the establishment of the civil service was that its servants carry out the state’s policies in a professional, competent, objective and politically impartial manner. The aim of the paper is to define to what extent the actual relation between politics and administration reflects the principles contained in the 1996, 1998 and 2006 Civil Service Acts and the 2006 Act on State Staffing Pool and High-ranking State Posts, and the presently in force 2008 Civil Service Act. The paper focusses on the policy towards senior civil service posts, especially the posts of directors general in ministries, other central offices and regional offices as these positions are critical to gain and preserve direct control over civil service by politicians. The politicising of senior posts carries danger of increased staff manipulation, driven by party or private interests, with respect to lower-ranking posts. In this article, based on empirical research, I intend to demonstrate the concrete actions taken by leading political parties, which, often contrary to the spirit of the consecutive Acts, were aimed at staffing senior civil service posts with political candidates. The paper argues that the most significant negative feature hindering the development of a professional civil service in Poland has been a wide-scale practice of employing in senior positions in civil service political appointees.