Kazakstan Book

This report argues that to avoid a crisis of state, Kazakstan needs to reform its state apparatus and safeguard key public services. It highlights the ways in which reforms in the state ' s structures, in public resource management systems, and in key programs could facilitate the government ' s adjusting its role in managing the country ' s economic and social life. Identified are five priority directions for the state ' s transition: (1) a deliberate shrinking of administrative structures, leading to a release of redundant personnel; (2) a consolidation of the social sector facilities to maintain coverage and quality by shifting toward more outpatient and ambulatory treatment in the health sector and increasing student/teacher ratios in education; (3) the adoption of budget management instruments aimed at selecting priorities among competing needs determined by market forces and consumers, rather than distributing resources according to exogenously defined uses (as was the case under the command system); (4) a differentiation of public interventions across the country according to the priorities of local populations, through a gradual devolution of responsibilities to bodies of local self-government; and (5) the creation of personnel management systems which foster motivation, continuity, and professionalism in the civil service.