The famous words of Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, which became the aphorism “Personnel decide everything,” today describe the deplorable state of the Russian economy and inspire hope for a bright future for the country, changing the very approach to the selection of these personnel.

The serious economic crisis in Russia is accompanied by facts of outright corruption, the presence of which makes it possible to cause huge multi-billion dollar damage to the budget Russian Federation different levels.

Irreversible damage to the national and economic security of the state is caused by the established corruption of local officials at the instigation of higher ministries and departments, the lack of control and, as a consequence, the systematic violations in the receipt and expenditure of budgetary funds. Money, illegal disposal of government and municipal property, land plots and other state values.

These illegal actions or inactions of officials at the highest echelons of power, as well as corruption in the executive, legislative and judicial authorities lead to deterioration social status people, violation of the constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens, to the fall and undermining of the economic, political, social component of the foundation of the state, and the transfer of illegally obtained assets abroad.

The policy pursued by the government does not contribute to the growth of the living standards of Russian citizens. The property differentiation of the population is increasing and the level of poverty is rising, which leads to a violation of social peace and public harmony. The standard of living is on the verge of poverty. Therefore, government steps to reduce budget expenditures and increase tax burden on citizens cause just resistance among the people.

Sociologists have recorded an increase in protest sentiments in Russia. Rallies dedicated to social problems of the population have become more frequent. Doctors, teachers, farmers, students, truck drivers, etc. are protesting.

The level of distrust in government is only increasing. One of the methods to correct the situation can be the issue of personnel. It is he who is the key link in the sphere of ensuring national security, and in the spheres of forming a new image of citizenship, and the breakthrough development of the country itself.

Ideally, the current so-called “elite” should itself admit that it serves the state poorly and ineffectively. But she is not internally ready to make sacrifices and give in on anything, including giving up those excesses and opportunities that she has enjoyed in recent decades.

Therefore, Russia needs a fundamentally new class of officials. We have no shortage of quality human resources. In our country there are several million educated, energetic and ambitious people who should become a huge social force. They are interested in overcoming the current stagnation and in the development of Russia. This is a potential army of support for the ruler who will lead the country into a breakthrough. Therefore, the task of organizing and providing selected personnel in key areas, including managerial and political ones, seems to be technical. It can be solved using the following algorithm.

Firstly, it is necessary to introduce a system of measures to ensure the rotation and self-reproduction of a capable ruling class of Russia, imbued with a sense of its patriotic calling, loyal to the supreme power, competent in fulfilling national programs and solving national problems. The new class of officials should think and act innovatively, and be prepared for fair competition. In a sense, we can talk about this system as an enslavement of the bureaucracy.

When selecting personnel, a set of criteria is essential. One of them is ideological: the criterion of a comrade-in-arms, a like-minded person. This is not a party principle, but the principle of adherence to a single platform for state development, which provides for the possibility of uniting on this platform representatives of different parties and different ideological movements, forming a coalition of creative patriotic forces.

Other requirements: criterion of professional suitability and compliance with the profile of activity, organizational and personal qualities, educational and age, degree of physical health.

In 2014, at a meeting with volunteers, Russian President Vladimir Putin named three qualities that, in his opinion, one should have political figure: “Honesty, professionalism and, perhaps, this is more applicable to doctors - a sense of compassion and involvement in the life of an ordinary citizen, this is an extremely important thing.”

The civil service should be a conscious choice, and not an experimentation with one’s own destiny and the destiny of the country. This system should include the following mechanisms and organizational models.

It is required to take an oath to Russia for officials (modeled on the military one). Also form a new code of honor for representatives of the political and administrative elite. The Code of Honor implies certain standards of life and activity, strict rules and regulations that sharply increase the moral requirements for those personnel who connect their future with a responsible civil service.

There is a need for actual publicity of declarations on the income and expenses of the property of persons, their families, and those around them holding public positions and applying for them, including positions filled by elections at all levels. Internal corporate transparency of the income of members and officers of professional corporations should be introduced; openness of facts of official and political biography persons applying for elective positions and high positions by appointment.

For concealing the above facts, the perpetrator will bear visible and public liability, temporary, partial or complete deprivation political rights for deliberate violation of these norms, misleading government agencies and society, etc.

Moreover, the transition from a lower class to a higher one will occur during career growth; a reverse transition is impossible. An official who commits actions inconsistent with his position will be dismissed without retaining privileges. Thus, the practice of transferring an official of any rank from one chair to another in case of serious misconduct will be eliminated. And for crimes that entail significant damage and are classified as particularly serious (taking bribes, embezzlement, corruption understood as selfish patronage, exceeding and abusing one’s powers, ineffective spending of budget funds, undermining economic security, etc.), there will be no suspended sentences . The right to hold positions in government bodies will not be preserved. state power until the end of life, and the measure of confiscation of the entire family’s property will necessarily be applied.

Regarding officials who honestly fulfill their duties for the benefit of the country and their citizens, they and their families will receive solid state support - official housing, transportation, etc. in accordance with the experience and rank of the employee. Serious benefits will also be provided that cannot be obtained in any other type of activity (no taxes, free medical care in any medical institution, free education for children). Leaving service due to age, health or any other reason good reason should be accompanied by a large pension for him and his spouse, as well as the continuation of a number of benefits.

Working in the civil service, an official must understand his future. Earn all these privileges. He must be responsible for completing assigned tasks. IN new elite The highest responsibility for state and corporate affairs must be cultivated. An important means on this path could be the restoration of courts of honor for civil servants, which should become a factor in the moral renewal of the ruling layer of Russia and would make the consideration of crimes and misdeeds of officials not only the subject of the activities of the justice authorities, but also of the entire society, primarily the political one. and the managerial elite.

One of the main and most effective mechanisms for updating the system and consolidating its gains is a personal example from the authorities, which at the same time remains open and accessible, something like moral innovation. While maintaining hierarchy and subordination, there should be no “high fence” or an atmosphere of secrets and suspicion. Power should be easy to communicate, modest in consumption, internally disciplined, attentive to the needs of others, imbued with a noble spirit of service and spiritual focus on achieving a common goal.

Statesman Russian Empire Fyodor Stolypin, speaking to the bureaucracy, clearly expressed his attitude to serving the Motherland: “Where there is money, there is the devil. The homeland demands service so sacrificially pure that the slightest thought of personal gain darkens the soul and paralyzes the work.”

Thus, Russia needs new army managers, selected not by patronage or formal criteria of education and age, but by exceptional organizational and moral qualities, tested in specific socially significant work.

– Careerist.ru

What associations arise when you hear the word “official”? Stereotypical - and sometimes very harsh - about the unpleasant Chekhov and Gogol heroes, about Comrade Ogurtsov from Carnival Night. What is a modern civil servant like?

Even in the children's book about Cheburashka there was a guy who sat at the table and stamped visas on papers: “Allow! Ivan Ivanovich. Don't allow it! Ivan Ivanovich". In general, an official is a thieving bureaucrat, a link in the chain around the neck of the working people. Another aspect: “there are too many bureaucrats, we need to cut them down.” Plus, there is a widespread myth in the mass consciousness about the total corruption of Russian officials.

So who is he, today's official? Let's try to figure it out!

Despite numerous conversations that there are too many officials in Russia, their number per capita is inferior developed countries. In our country, at the end of 2014, there were 67 officials in government positions per 10 thousand people. At the same time, in Germany and Norway there are about 300 people, in the USA - about 350, and in France - about 400 civil servants.

Larisa Zabrodskaya:

— You know, the word “official” is always used in
in some negative context. Actually, I prefer the title
"the sovereign's man." An official is, first of all, a good manager.
A person, coming with his problems to an official, must
understand that in front of him is a representative of the state, and the state is
force.

An ancient Chinese proverb says: “It is not difficult to rule the world, it is a shame
doing it is bad."

There are system-forming milestones in management, having mastered which you can
essentially, manage anything. An official cannot know everything in the world. This
a person who can manage the process and resources,
including human ones. He knows how to take the necessary things in time,
informed decisions. And this is not easy - you need to choose wisely
team, set goals, define tasks. In order to
subordinates under your leadership worked effectively, you need to treat
treat a person a little better than he is worth.

The official must also be sincere. Especially when he can't
solve the problem instantly. There should not be a categorical word “no”
be in the lexicon. It is necessary to explain to the person that the state
the machine cannot work for a single case, it works for
system.

An official must be strong because one cannot be allowed to dictate
conditions to the state. The rules of the game must be clearly defined and
are the same for everyone, it doesn’t matter whether you drive a Mercedes or a
municipal transport.

Mark Porter, a famous economist, built a management pyramid. IN
Russia lies at the very bottom of the pyramid Natural resources, then they go
financial resources, infrastructure, etc., and at the very top -
a negligible percentage of social capital, i.e. trust in
to the state. Over 70 years this trust has been so undermined, and in the last 15
years, I would say, destroyed to the ground, what to restore it
unimaginably difficult.

But the whole world builds a pyramid differently: at the base of everything lies the social
capital on which all other spheres of society rely
life. Therefore, in Western countries people pay quite calmly
up to 90% of taxes, they trust the state and understand that this money
are for their benefit. People trust, which means they do not invest in
dollars and euros, and they are not hidden under the pillow, but invested
into its economy, acquires various stocks and bonds.

We are talking about people's trust in officials, therefore, about trust in
to the state. But developing this trust is very difficult. The work of the "sovereign"
person" - very responsible and difficult, because with his
with his decisions he must awaken in the population respect and trust in
to the state.

Elena Meteleva:

- If we approach this issue
formally, then the official, at a minimum, must have a certain
educational level, i.e. specialized education
management specialty. Unfortunately, we only have about 5%
officials meet this requirement, the remaining 95% -
have a degree in the humanities, natural sciences, technology, whatever
education, just not the kind you need. Meanwhile, the official must
have specific knowledge about the state and municipal
authorities, about their structure and structure, knowledge about society,
specific management skills, etc.

As for the personal qualities of an official, here I adhere to
Western views on public service. Max Weber in his concept
“ideal bureaucracy” wrote that an official should
be guided exclusively by the rules, not allowing
no emotions. This option would be ideal for Russia, but
The mentality of a Russian person is different from that of a European. We are living
feelings, not reason, emotions have enormous power over us. Even
In our work we are not always guided by reason. Don't need any
feelings, they mostly interfere, the official must impartially
fulfill his duties: no matter who stands in front of him, the president
or a janitor. Everyone is equal before the state machine.

Behind long years of its existence, the Soviet nomenklatura-
bureaucratic system of work of state and municipal
authorities created a fairly stable negative portrait of the employee.
He is easily recognizable by the use of special speech cliches,
preference for clerical, telephone and other remote
techniques compared to personal contacts, excessive reinsurance and
etc.

It is necessary to change style, values, procedures, stereotypes
activities of administration employees. Theoretically, bureaucracy
should be open to dialogue, and not hidden behind seven seals.

Larisa Goncharova:

— Choice in favor
I did public administration consciously. Russia needs new
managers. A fresh, strong wind of change must disperse
stagnant water. An official must be responsible for his actions, must
realize the full extent of responsibility for decisions made. If in
as a result of the actions or inaction of an official, people suffered,
he needs to take strict measures, including dismissal. Doesn't matter,
what rank is the official - minister or head of the district administration,
everyone is equal before the law.

I think that our generation, brought up in conditions other than
our parents, will be able to change the prevailing situation in the bureaucratic class
mutual responsibility system. Life doesn't stand still
power can also change if people change. It's better to have
flexibility of character rather than clinging to a long-standing position with donkey stubbornness
outdated rules.

Text: Elena Rudneva, photo: GettyOne

The State Duma returns to the second reading of the code of conduct for officials. The authors of this document are achieving the impossible: for officials to be honest. To accomplish this task, they suggested that Mikhail Kasyanov and other ministers publish “Declarations of Conflicts of Interest” in newspapers.

On April 24, the centrist majority of the State Duma failed the “Code of Official Conduct for Officials of State Bodies and Local Self-Government Bodies,” developed in the depths of the Union of Right Forces. This was already the second reading. The first one took place a year earlier. Then the Kremlin supported the proposals of the right, but this year the presidential law on the civil service was adopted (Gazeta.Ru spoke in detail about this document), so the code on honest behavior of officials turned out to be unnecessary. However, its author, Vladimir Yuzhakov, was given the opportunity to finalize the document, scheduling a second second reading for today.

On the eve of the consideration of the code, a round table was held within the framework of the Open Forum, the participants of which had to decide whether such a code was needed in Russia. Politicians, businessmen and political scientists were unanimous - it is necessary.

For the first time in the history of Russia, the code defines what anti-corruption and corruption behavior of civil servants is.

By dangerous corruption, the code understands not just bribes, but situations of so-called conflict of interest. For example, when any decision of an official affects his interests as an ordinary citizen. An official should not accept gifts, use his official position, information, state property, car, for example, for personal purposes.

Officials in state bodies and local self-government bodies are prohibited from “making decisions and taking actions (inactions) entailing legal consequences in relation to the interested person.” Moreover, it is prohibited to occupy a position that allows such decisions to be made. Following this prohibition, the minister, for example, does not have the right to make decisions regarding companies whose owner or co-owner is himself or his relatives.

The minister is obliged to either eliminate the conflict of interest within ten days (for example, force his wife to break up with the business), or vacate his position.

Alexey Starovoytov, an analyst at the Parliamentary Development Fund, told the participants round table that in the UK there is a code of ethics for civil servants, and in the USA there is a code of ethics for civil servants. In addition, the Americans have had a presidential advisory commission on ethics and conflict of interest since the time of President Kennedy. Therefore, according to the expert, if such a code as proposed by SPS deputy Yuzhakov comes into force, it will become “a classic design for the disciplined behavior of government officials and will increase public confidence in the authorities.”

SPS leader Boris Nemtsov spoke about how to increase the responsibility of the authorities.

Nemtsov demanded that all officials must publish their declarations of conflicts of interest in Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

“Every minister must say where he worked before, what shares he has,” Nemtsov protested. “There are no officials who are not connected by family ties. For example, I know many such heads of district administrations: if such a head "The relative does not control the regional consumer union, something did not work out for such a head in his career. If all the ministers write such declarations, I am sure that the resignations will be satisfied the next day."

Deputy Vladimir Lysenko from Regions of Russia, who took part in its writing, also praised the right-wing code.

Lysenko was not afraid to compare the Code of Conduct of Officials with the “Moral Code of the Builder of Communism,” and for some reason he compared Vladimir Putin with the Tsar.

“The adoption of the Code should be the culmination of the reign of Vladimir Vladimirovich himself. Knowing the history of our kings and general secretaries, it can be noted that it was they who broke their necks, trying to break the back of this hardened, stagnant bureaucratic machine,” said the deputy. As for the idea of ​​publishing ministerial declarations of conflicts of interest in newspapers (a sample of such a document was shown to journalists), journalists will benefit from this. Such newspapers, according to Lysenko, will sell in great demand.

A member of the Bureau of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Alexander Shokhin, who once served as an official, then sat in the State Duma, and is now involved in business, complained that it is difficult for business to compete with officials who are also involved in business. He also doesn’t like the fact that officials take bribes. Shokhin proposed to fight bribe takers in the following way: constantly change their places. “With the advent of a new president, about a thousand officials change in the states. In the new Clinton administration there were 962 new appointments. And how many ministers of Bush Sr. lost their posts due to a scandal involving the hiring of illegal immigrant workers?” asked Shokhin .

“But in this code that we are discussing, there are no mechanisms for holding such officials accountable. There should be more stringent punitive sanctions,” Alexander Oblonsky, chief researcher at the Institute of State and Law, tried to argue. “The code will be a non-working document. We have already introduced declarations alone. The government has filled out 900 thousand such papers, but what’s the point? Now all this has turned into an annoying necessity,” Igor Nikolaev, director of the strategic analysis department of the FBK company, supported him.

Most likely, today the State Duma will not have time to consider the “Code of Official Conduct of Officials” stated on the agenda, because most of the time had to be spent on the reform of Dmitry Kozak, the tax package of Alexei Kudrin and the report of Mikhail Kasyanov (Gazeta.Ru separately talked about the speech of these officials) . But deputies have two more meetings before the end of the spring session to determine their attitude to the moral code of Russian officials.

The image of a modern Russian official.

First, you need to turn to the sphere of activity of officials, i.e. directly to state power, which is characterized, for example, by the following attributes: monopoly on violent methods, the legitimate nature of influencing society, sovereignty, the spread of power over the entire society, political organization, etc.
The concept " official", in fact, can be associated with the concept "bureaucracy"- one of the basic categories of science public policy and management. Bureaucracy is any large-scale organization of professional employees whose primary responsibility is to implement the policies of decision makers.
The evolution of ideas about bureaucracy can be traced by comparing the characteristics of the ideal bureaucrat M. Weber and the modern ideal official:

The ideal bureaucrat (M. Weber)	Modern ideal official
Avoids risk	Takes risks in necessary situations
Engaged in routine activities, performing only what is assigned	Constantly embraces innovation
Focuses attention on the activity itself	Focuses on performance results
Doesn't like change	Committed to change
Avoids making mistakes, they are administratively punishable	Accepts mistakes and learns from them
Focuses on limitations	Focuses on emerging opportunities
Prioritizes safety	Highlights the need for achievement
Has no desire to relearn	Strives to constantly improve his skills

Modern public administration marked a trend towards expanding the political functions of the bureaucracy. German political scientists G. Schmidt and H. Treiber identified a type of “political bureaucracy”:

Classic bureaucracy	Political bureaucracy
Orientation towards the common good, public interests	Targeting different political groups, interests and goals
The belief that problems should be solved cleanly business basis, politically neutral	The belief that problems should be resolved through political negotiations and compromises
Pluralistic political support (parliament, parties, interest groups) is in principle seen as unnecessary and even dangerous	A pluralistic political coverage area is recognized as necessary for the implementation of political and government decisions
Participation of the masses in politics and governance is rejected	In principle, the political activity of the masses is approved
Poor interaction between bureaucrats and politicians	Relatively intense interaction between bureaucrats and politicians
Elite solidarity	Little Elite Solidarity
Orientation towards procedural methods of activity	Focus on programmatic and problem-based methods of activity

In my opinion, the image of a modern Russian official should look like this:
- sometimes takes risks in necessary situations, more often in unconsidered ones;
- Engaged in routine activities, performing only what is given from above.
-Introduces innovations only if such a system has proven itself well in the West.
-A pluralistic political framework is recognized as necessary for the implementation of political and government decisions. Because competition promotes more active behavior on the part of officials.
-In principle, the political activity of the masses is approved.
-Relatively intense interaction between bureaucrats and politicians, sometimes of an illegal nature.
- Elite solidarity.
-Focus on programmatic and problem-based methods of activity, as well as on sources of increasing one’s own profits.

Not everyone is like that, but when answering the question about the image, an approximate above-mentioned opinion is formed. Naturally, this is very subjective and exaggerated, but we ourselves are able to trace the activities of Russian officials at various events of a political, socio-economic and other nature, as a result of which we can assess the existing image of a civil servant.