Civil Service Council of Mongolia

Mr. Samdan Tsedendamba is the director of the Civil Service Council of Mongolia.  The role of the council is to support and train the civil service and public administrators who work for the national and local governments.

 

Mr. Samdan Tsedendamba, Director of the Civil Service Council of Mongolia

In 1996, the Parliament adopted the Law of Civil Servants to establish a civil servant and public administation workforce throughout Mongolia.  In 2002, an amendment to the law created an independent council (the Civil Service Council of Mongolia) to support the training and development of a professional public sector workforce for all levels of government in Mongolia.  The council members serve 10 year terms and are appointed by the State Great Hural (Parliament).

The Civil Service Council (CSC) created a subscription certification program in cooperation with the National Academy of Governance to provide educational opportunities for the civil servants in their respective fields or programs of work.

In Mongolia, four categories of civil servants were established.  They are:

1. Political civil servants and administrators - the staff of the elected officials
2. Public administrative staff - work for the public sector in the Aimag (county) offices
3. State Special Organizations - Customs & Immigration, police, emergency responders and tax offices
4. State service employees - teachers and anyone who receive funding from the public budget

Civil servants organizations fall into one of two categories:  1) university and 2) public administrators

The primary challenge for Mongolia is how to protect the civil service employees jobs.  When political power changes hands - whether it's within the same political party or a different political party - the civil servants fear the loss of their jobs.  In 2002 and 2008, the Parliament passed civil servant protection laws to prevent the loss of the country's professional public workers.  In practice, these laws have done little to prevent political cronyism and favoritism.  The challenge is how to given these laws "teeth" so that they can be enforced.

While my notes from this meeting are short, the discussion was deep and very substantive.  We went way over our one hour alloted time.  We discussed Kentucky's past history and the creation of the Kentucky Merit System. The growth pains that Mongolia is experiencing seem to mirror those that Kentucky and the US have experienced over the past 200 years.  It seems that they are us all over again.  I really did not realize the importance of bureacratic structure as the underpinning for making our democracy work. A very interesting discussion.  Time flew by!

 

National Academy of Governance

Monday, September 18 was a day full of meetings and activities.  My brain felt like it was on information overload.  This post will complete my summary of Day 1 meetings.

Dr. Damiran Tsedev is the dean of the School of Public Affairs and Mangement at the National Academy of Governance.  Last April, he visited Lexington, Kentucky and met with Dr. Kim and others at the UK Martin School International Public Policy and Management Institute.  Dr. Kim is the director of the Martin School's IPPMI and administers the US State Department parntership.  Learn more about the IPPMI here:  http://www.martin.uky.edu/IPPMI/index.html

Dr. Tsedev is one of the most forthright people that I've ever encountered.  He doesn't speak in techno-bable, and I like that!  In summary, he identified the challenges to civic engagement and local development to two causes:  distance and lack of infrastructure.  Mongolia is a vast country.  Traveling anywhere outside of Ulaanbaatar is challenging.  The dilemma for policy makers and political leaders in Mongolia is the fact that the population is small comparatively speaking to other nations.  It's the most sparsely populated independent country on the planet.  Everyone knows everyone it seems.

So, when policies are made that impact various segments of the population - whether its the mining sector, the nomadic tribes, local government or the capital district - leaders must FACE people they know and answer for their decision.  This leads to inaction many times.

In the 1990's, Mongolia made the choice for democracy and free markets.  A lot of excitement and enthusiasm was generated and all of the citizens were engaged and informed in the decisions being made.  Then, the reality of "self-made" responsibility set in.  Greed and selfish motives took over, and it was every man for himself, so to speak.  Now, people are disillusioned and frustrated.  People are trying to place "blame" wherever they can.

Dr. Tsedev listed all of the choices that could be made.  There is no going back.  Socialism didn't work.  I asked which solution will Mongolia choose?  He said "all of them." The country must experiement and adapt.  Pragmatism will prevail though it may take time to discover exactly what that means.

We discussed Mongolia's "third neighbor" strategy.  Mongolia's two big neighbors are Russia and China.  These countries have, at various times, dominated decision-making in Mongolia.  With the advent of democracy and capitalism, the leadership of the nation have embarked on finding other neighbors.  The 3rd neighbor cannot be a nation or political system that has failed.  Thus, the United States, Great Britain, Australia, South Korea and others have become Mongolia's virtual "3rd neighbor."  Mongolia is seeking balance in its relationships and establishing international partnerships that are mutually beneficial.  This may be the most pragmatic approach of all.  Dr. Tsedev is incredibly talented and smart.  I thoroughly enjoyed talking with him.  Oh yes, he asked me my intentions and what I was seeking.  I gave as honest an answer as I could.  I want to be friends, listen and learn as much as I can about Mongolia and provide any insights from our experiences at KLC that might prove helpful.

 

Dr. Tsedev Damiran

 

My last meeting of the day was with Dr. Perenlei Dorjsuren, Dean of the National Academy of Governance.  I enjoyed learning the history of the National Academy.  The academy offers a Masters of Public Administration and a Masters of Business Administration.  It also offers a post-graduate certificate program in public management.  Its graduates work primarily in the public administration sector.  These programs were offered in separate agencies during the Communist era.  They have been merged in the National Academy and now serve the Great State Hural (Parliament). 

 

The academy's programs were expanded to subscriber training for the government sector and the elderly in the 1990's.  In the early 21st century, the academy adapted its mission again to include post-graduate training and distance learning.

 

I noted that the academy has been very adept at morphing its mission to serve the educational needs of the public sector over the years and asked what it next?  Dr. Dorjsuren responded that the changes that are coming with the election of a new president and ruling party, the academy will have to adjust once again.  Nothing is certain, but he anticipates that the academy will no longer be an extension of government, specifically the Parliament.  It may very well become an independent academy.  It's main role will be educating students pursuing a Masters in Public Administration.  That has always been its primary mission.  The MBA and other programs may be moved and distributed to other organizations and agencies.

 

One thing is certain.  I have learned that dramatic change is coming to Mongolia over the next four years.  I heard the same theme over and over during my discussions.  It will be interesting to see the impact and long-term effects of these changes in the years to come.

 

 

 

Dr. Perenlei Dorjsuren







State Policy Analysis Institute - National Academy of Governance

My jets are lagging!  I awoke this morning at 4:00 a.m. Gradually, my body clock is moving forward.  While My Old Kentucky Home was enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon, it's Monday morning in Ulaanbaatar and time to get ready for business.  I caught a beautiful sunrise over the capital city.

 

After a good breakfast, I returned to the room to prepare for a day of meetings at the National Academy of Governance.  When all was done, I laid down on the bed to watch TV and immediately fell asleep.  Upon awaking, I discovered that I had about 20 minutes before Hatnaa was to pick me up.  I've never showered and dressed so quickly in my life!  Just as I put my suit jacket on, Hatnaa called.  "Tad, I'm in the lobby," he said.  I was almost late on the first day!  Disaster averted.

We drove across town to the National Academy.  Let me just say right now that car drivers in Ulaanbaatar scare the HELL out of me. First, the steering wheel is located on the right-hand side, but people drive don't drive on the left-hand side like they do in Europe.  They drive (most of the time) on the right-hand side, so it's confusing to watch.  Second, drivers think that the lane striping is just a suggestion!  Sometimes, two lanes of traffic contain three cars and they all honk their horns constantly.  It's total chaos.  Just glad I'm not driving.  Thank goodness Hatnaa's driver knows what he's doing!

Professor Gelegil Chuluunbaatar is the director of the State Policy Analysis Institute (NGO).  This is the institute where Hatnaa works on democratic governance policy. Dr. Chuluunbaatar described the work of the institute which is to conduct research on the effectiveness of democratic governance and measure the impact of building civic capacity.  I really enjoyed our discussion.

The new president of Mongolia has directed that the institute update its biennial report on the state of democracy in Mongolia by March 2013.  Since 2005, the research has indicated that the quality of democracy has not improved, civic participation is low, and institutional intransigence is deeply imbedded in bureacracy.  The president has directed an initiative to promote and expand democratic inclusion and participation.  Dr. Chuluunbaatar expressed his appreciation for the partnership with the UK Martin School and the participation of KLC in hosting Hatnaa.  He described the importance of international relationships in sharing best practices and new ideas for improving the quality of life for our communities by building capacity at the local level.

 

Dr. Chuluunbaatar, State Policy Analysis Institute (NGO)

 

Next, I met with Dr. Sharai Batsukh, Vice-Director of the Mongolian National Academy of Governance. He is a very interesting person, and I learned that he studied in Leipzig.  He liverd for 8 years in the DDR (former East Germany) and 6 years in the GDR (former West Germany).  Incredible perspective of governance.  Dr. Batsukh and I discussed local community development under state policy and the challenges and opportunities for Mongolia.  We also discussed the development of national as it relates to national and international partners.  Our discussion was very pleasant and I had a big AHA moment.

 

He talked of the process of change within Mongolia and difficulty in changing people's mentality and expectations of what government should provide.  He believes that the key to Mongolia's successful transition to free markets lies in a "countryside development first" policy.  That is, basic infrastructure such as modern highways and water systems are the key to opening the country up to economic opportunity.  Essentially, small cities and communities must feel an inter-connectedness to Ulaanbaatar center, and people must be able to travel, live and work throughout the countryside if Mongolia is going to be as successful as it hopes to be.  That is an incredible concept in this country, and I think he makes a very good case.  Immediately, I thought of President Eisenhower's interstate initiative as well as the development of the toll road system throughout Kentucky.  Imagine where we would be today if those changes had not taken place. 

 

We discussed many other challenges.  One that I thought was particularly ironic.  "We don't necessarily require that the legislative body do anything for us, but please don't do anything against us."  That sounds so much like KLC and the General Assembly that I almost choked when he said it. I thoroughly enjoyed this entire discussion.

 

 

 

Dr. Sharai Batsukh, Vice-Director of the Mongolian National Academy of Governance

 

I'm going to pause here and catch my breath...er, my fingers.  I'll post our other meetings shortly as well as my adventures around the city.  Enjoy!