Americas Brazil Brazil started to move away from a patronage based public service starting in the second half of the 19th century, but written tests and merit only became the norm towards the end of the 1930s, as a result from reforms introduced during
Getúlio Vargas first term as the nation's President. Civil servants in Brazil () are those working in the
executive,
legislative, and
judicial branches of the
Federal,
state,
Federal District or
municipal governments, including
congressmen,
senators,
mayors,
ministers, the
president of the
republic, and workers in
government-owned corporations. Career civil servants (not temporary workers or politicians) are hired only externally on the basis of
entrance examinations (). It usually consists of a written test; some posts may require physical tests (such as policemen), or oral tests (such as professors, judges, prosecutors and attorneys). The rank according to the examination score is used for filling the vacancies. Entrance examinations are conducted by several institutions with a government mandate, such as CESPE (which belongs to the
University of Brasília) and the
Cesgranrio Foundation (which is part of the
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro). The labor laws and social insurance for civil servants are different from private workers; even between government branches (like different states or cities), the law and insurance differ. The posts usually are ranked by titles, the most common are
technician for high school literates and
analyst for undergraduates. There's also higher post ranks like auditor, fiscal, chief of police, prosecutor, judge, attorney, etc. The law does not allow servants to upgrade or downgrade posts internally; they need to be selected in separate external entrance examinations.
Canada Historians have explored the powerful role of civil service since the 1840s. In Canada, the civil service at the federal level is known as the
Public Service of Canada, with each of the ten provincial governments as well as the three territorial governments also having their own separate civil services. The federal civil service consists of all employees of the
crown. Ministers' exempt staff and members of the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police or
Canadian Armed Forces are not civil servants. There are approximately 357,000 federal civil servants (2023),
United States In the United States, the federal civil service was established in 1871. The Civil Service is defined as "all appointive positions in the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of the Government of the United States, except positions in the uniformed services." (). In the early 19th century, government jobs were held at the pleasure of the president—a person could be fired at any time. The
spoils system meant that jobs were used to support the political parties. This was changed in slow stages by the
Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883 and subsequent laws. By 1909, almost two-thirds of the U.S. federal work force was appointed based on merit, that is, qualifications measured by tests. Certain senior civil service positions, including some heads of diplomatic missions and executive agencies, are filled by
political appointees. Under the
Hatch Act of 1939, civil servants are not allowed to engage in political activities while performing their duties. The U.S. civil service includes the
competitive service and the
excepted service. The majority of civil service appointments in the U.S. are made under the competitive service, but the
Foreign Service, the
FBI, and other National Security positions are made under the excepted service. (U.S. Code Title V) As of January 2007, the federal government, excluding the Postal Service, employed about 1.8 million civilian workers. The federal government is the nation's single largest employer, although it employs only about 12% of all government employees, compared to 24% at the state level and 63% at the local level. Although most federal agencies are based in the
Washington, D.C. region, only about 16% (or about 284,000) of the federal government workforce is employed in this region. As of 2014, there are currently 15 federal executive branch agencies and hundreds of subagencies. In the early 20th century, most cities in the US had a spoils system. Over the next few decades, the spoils system was replaced with a civil service system.
Cambodia The Civil Service (,
Sevakamm Civil) of Cambodia is the policy implementing arm of the
Royal Government of Cambodia. In executing this important role, each civil servant (,
Montrey Reachkar) is obligated to act according to the law and is guided by public policy pronouncements. The
Common Statute of Civil Servants is the primary legislative framework for the Civil Service in Cambodia.
China Historical One of the oldest examples of a civil service based on
meritocracy is the Imperial bureaucracy of China, which can be traced as far back as the
Qin dynasty (221–207 BC). However, the civil service examinations were practiced on a much smaller scale in comparison to the stronger, centralized bureaucracy of the
Song dynasty (960–1279). In response to the regional military rule of
jiedushi and the loss of civil authority during the late Tang period and
Five Dynasties (907–960), the Song emperors were eager to implement a system where civil officials would owe their social prestige to the central court and gain their salaries strictly from the central government. This ideal was not fully achieved since many scholar officials were affluent landowners and were engaged in many anonymous business affairs in an age of
economic revolution in China. Nonetheless, gaining a degree through three levels of examination—prefectural exams, provincial exams, and the prestigious palace exams—was a far more desirable goal in society than becoming a merchant. This was because the mercantile class was traditionally regarded with some disdain by the
scholar-official class. This class of state bureaucrats in the Song period were far less aristocratic than their Tang predecessors. The examinations were carefully structured in order to ensure that people of lesser means than what was available to candidates born into wealthy, landowning families were given a greater chance to pass the exams and obtain an official degree. This included the employment of a bureau of
copyists who would rewrite all of the candidates' exams in order to mask their handwriting and thus prevent favoritism by graders of the exams who might otherwise recognize a candidate's handwriting. The advent of widespread
printing in the Song period allowed many more examination candidates access to the
Confucian texts whose mastery was required for passing the exams.
Current Hong Kong and Macau have separate civil service systems: •
Hong Kong Civil Service •
Secretariat for Administration and Justice is responsible for the civil service in
Macau India In India, civil servants are selected as per the
Constitution of India. Civil servants serve at the pleasure of the
President of India. The civil services of India can be classified into two types—the
All India Services and the
Central Civil Services (Group A and B). The recruits are university graduates selected through three phase exams such as the
Civil Services Examination (CSE) or the
Engineering Services Examination (ESE) among others, conducted by the
Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). Additionally, there are also
State Civil Services. The state civil servants are selected through an examination conducted by
state public service commissions. State civil servants serve at the pleasure of the
Governor.
Indonesia , Indonesia is ready to provide service people. In
Indonesia, Civil Service (
Indonesian: '
) is a component of the State Civil Apparatus (Indonesian: '). Since the enactment of Law Number 5 of 2014, ASN employees have been divided into two categories: PNS, who are appointed as permanent employees, and Government Employees with Work Agreements (
Indonesian: ''''), who are appointed according to the needs of government agencies. As of June 30, 2021, the number of civil service in Indonesia was 4,081,824, consisting of 2,143,065 women (53%) and 1,938,759 men (47%). Seventy-seven percent of them work in regional government agencies, while the remaining 23% work in central government agencies. Approximately 11% hold structural positions, 51% hold functional positions, and 38% hold executive positions. The number of civil service in Indonesia has continued to decline since 2016
Japan Pakistan In Pakistan the
FPSC (Federal Public Service Commission) conducts a
competitive examination for the
Central Superior Services of Pakistan and other civil-service posts; Pakistan inherited this system from the
British Raj-era
Indian Civil Service. Pakistan has federal civil servants serving in federal government offices, with staff selected through the Federal Public Service Commission. Similarly, Pakistani provinces select their own public servants through provincial Public Service Commissions. The federal services have some quota against provincial posts, while provincial services have some quota in federal services.
Taiwan The
ROC constitution specifies that public servant cannot be employed without examination. The employment is usually lifelong (that is, until age about retirement).
Oceania Australia New Zealand Europe France The civil service in France (
fonction publique) is often incorrectly considered to include all government employees including employees of public corporations, such as
SNCF. Public sector employment is classified into three services; State service, Local service and Hospital service. According to government statistics there were 5.5 million public sector employees in 2011.
Germany The
Public Service in Germany (
Öffentlicher Dienst) employed 4.6 million persons . Public servants are organized into hired salaried employees (
Arbeitnehmer), appointed civil servants (
Beamte), judges, and soldiers. They are employed by public bodies (
Körperschaften des öffentlichen Rechts), such as
counties (Kreise),
states, the
federal government, etc. In addition to employees directly employed by the state another 1.6 million persons are employed by state owned enterprises
Beamte has been a title for government employees for several centuries in German states, but became a standardized group in 1794. Soldiers other than
conscripted soldiers are not Beamte but have similar rights. Judges are not Beamte but have similar rights too. Public attorneys are all Beamte, whereas most (but not all) professors are Beamte. The group of Beamte have the most secure employment, and the amount they are paid is set by national pay regulations (
Besoldungsordnungen). Beamte are prohibited from
striking.
Arbeitnehmer have work contracts, whereas
Beamte are appointed, employed, and removed in accordance with the Public Sector Service and Loyalty law (
öffentlich-rechtliches Dienst- und Treueverhältnis). Most tasks can be either done by
Arbeitnehmer or
Beamte, however some specific tasks of official nature are supposed to be handled by
Beamte since they are subject to a special loyalty obligation.
Beamte are divided into four levels: •
Einfacher Dienst: ordinary civil service, corresponding to
enlisted ranks in the military, now largely obsolete •
Mittlerer Dienst: medium-level civil service, corresponding to
non-commissioned officers in the military •
Gehobener Dienst: senior civil service, including civil servant positions such as
Inspektor and above, corresponding to
commissioned officers from
lieutenant to
captain in the military •
Höherer Dienst: higher civil service, including civil servant positions such as
Rat (Councillor) and above as well as academic employees such as Professors, corresponding to
major and above in the military
Gehobener Dienst and
Höherer Dienst both require a university education or equivalent, at the very least a bachelor's or master's degree, respectively.
Ireland The civil service of Ireland includes the employees of the
Departments of State (excluded are
government ministers and a small number of paid political advisors) as well as a small number of core state agencies such as the
Office of the Revenue Commissioners, the
Office of Public Works, and the Public Appointments Service. The organisation of the Irish Civil Service is very similar to the traditional organization of the British Home Civil Service, and indeed the grading system in the Irish Civil Service is nearly identical to the traditional grading system of its British counterpart. In Ireland, public sector employees such as teachers or members of the country's
police force, the
Garda Síochána are not considered to be civil servants, but are rather described as "public servants" (and form the
public service of the Republic of Ireland).
Russia Spain The
civil service in Spain (
función pública) is usually considered to include all the employees at the different levels of government:
central government,
autonomous communities, as well as
municipalities. There are three main categories of Spanish public positions: temporary political posts ("personal eventual"), which require a simple procedure for hiring and dismissal and is associated to top level executives and advisors, statutory permanent posts ("funcionarios de carrera"), which require a formal procedure for access that usually involves a competition among candidates and whose tenants are subject to a special statutory relationship of work with their employers, and non statutory permanent posts ("personal laboral"), which also require a formal procedure for entry similar to the procedure required for the "funcionarios de carrera", but whose tenants are subject to normal working conditions and laws. Competitions differ notably among the state, the 17 autonomous communities and the city councils, and the "funcionarios de carrera" and "personal laboral" examinations vary in difficulty from one location to another. As of 2013, there were 2.6 million public employees in Spain, of which 571,000 were civil servants and 2 million were non-civil servants. More recent figures can be found at SEAT. In December 2011, the government of Rajoy announced that civil servants have to serve a minimum 37.5 working hours per week regardless of their place or kind of service.
Switzerland Civil servants in Switzerland work for the Confederation, cantons, or communes. According to the OECD, approximately 595,000 people worked for a public administration in 2022, representing 11.2% of the active population, placing Switzerland in the lower third among OECD member countries. However, some estimates place the figure at 23% when including employees of semi-public entities such as the
Post, the
Federal Railways, university hospitals, and subsidized sectors. Historically, Swiss civil servants were appointed for fixed terms and often renewed by tacit re-election, a system rooted in republican traditions hostile to career civil service derived from royal courts. Only the cantons of Geneva and Vaud practiced lifelong civil service appointments similar to most European countries. Toward the end of the 20th century, most cantons shifted to engaging personnel under regular employment contracts with indefinite duration. By 2000, the majority of cantons and numerous municipalities had transitioned from a traditional civil service system to an administration composed of regular employees. The Confederation followed with its
Federal Personnel Act, which entered into force in 2002, abolishing the fixed-term appointment system and introducing collective bargaining agreements in public services. Civil servants in the devolved government in Northern Ireland are not part of the
Home Civil Service, but constitute the separate
Northern Ireland Civil Service. Some employees of the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office are members of
HM Diplomatic Service, which is associated with but separate from the Civil Service.
European Union The European Civil Service administers the
institutions of the European Union, of which the largest employer is the
European Commission. Civil servants are recruited directly into the institutions after being selected by competitions set by
EPSO, the official selection office. They are allocated to departments, known as
Directorates-General (DGs), each covering one or more related policy areas. ==See also==