International experience in appointing senior civil servants: a comparative analysis

The purpose of the article is to identify and compare the models of appointment of senior civil servants (representatives of the highest bureaucracy - deputy ministers, heads of departments, permanent secretaries) in nine foreign countries, as well as the subsequent development of recommendations for improving Russian legislation in the field of regulating the activities of senior civil servants based on the conducted research. The research methodology is based on a comparative political science approach, including theoretical, legal and institutional analysis of public administration models, as well as on the concepts of meritocracy, patronage and the administrative elite. The research methodology includes the use of a comparative method to compare regulatory legal acts regulating the status, selection, appointment and rotation of senior civil servants, followed by a typologization of appointment practices based on two main criteria: professional competence and political loyalty. A content analysis of legislation and administrative procedures in nine countries (USA, Germany, Argentina, China, France, Brazil, Spain, Belgium, and the United Kingdom) with different forms of government, legal system and model of public service was conducted. The practical value of the study lies in recommendations aimed at improving the civil service system and the possible development of legal acts regulating the status, selection and evaluation of senior civil servants in Russia. The results of the study showed that the prevailing model of appointing senior civil servants is fixed by law in all the analyzed countries.