23 specializations in short supply. In Japan, bonuses are now offered to recruits in remote geographical areas as well as for hard-to-recruit professions. In addition, more flexible working and leave conditions are offered to scientific personnel on entry.

In contrast to the mandarin systems, some countries favor an alternative, more open model of civil service recruitment. They emphasize flexible, decentralized, sometimes market-oriented practices. The U.S. system stands in stark relief from elite models, for example, permitting horizontal entry without age restrictions and allowing considerable inter-class mobility, though inter-agency mobility is rare.' The U.S. also has moved toward more flexible hiring practices, replacing its centralized, competitive entrance examination for entry level staff with profession-specific exams and in some cases non-competitive procedures affording individual managers considerably more discretion in hiring.<sup>3</sup> Decentralized, flexible recruitment is gaining ground in the agency reform administrations as well. Although the U.K retains its highly centralized recruitment system for the higher civil service, inducting elite-trained generalists into its fast-stream Administrative Trainee Program, some flexibilities are being introduced on a limited basis at lower levels, thus giving greater discretion to Department and Agency heads.<sup>2</sup> ' Many departments have begun recruiting directly from the market, using pay flexibilities within central guidelines.' "The non-hierarchical qualities of the U.S. system contriouted, along with steady erosion of real pay since the 1960s, to a civil service leadership vacuum, motivating the creation of the Senior Executive Service program, discussed later in this paper.

38More flexible hiring practices were introduced in the U.S. through the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 which aimed to balance the need for greater managerial flexibility in personnel decisions with protection of the merit principle. Some observers worry, however, that by decentralizing many aspects of personnel management, CSRA may have encouraged more frequent use of the buddy system and nepotism in recruitment. This potential for abuse is exacerbated by the suspension of the Professional and Administrative Career Exam (PACE) program and the widespread use of "Schedule B" recruitment procedures which allow managers to dispense with competitive exams when hiring college graduates or through "name requests" which allow managem to place a known candidate's name on a vacancy short-list, if he meets minimal qualification requirements. When surveved, managers preferred Schedule B arrangements. as it gave them more control from central intervention in hiring. But results of a Merit System Protection Board survey in 1989 revealed that 1/3 of rank-in-file federal employees reported that they had been denied a job because someone else had benefitted from personal connections. See Carolyn Ban and Harry C. Redd, "he State of the Merit System: Perceptions of Abuse in the Federal Civil Service", Review of Public Personnel Administration. 1991.

2 ' - Recruitment for high-level positions and the higher civil service's fast stream the Administrative Trainee Programme (ATP) -- remains under the control of the OMCS and its CSC. The process for recruiting Administrative Trainees (ATs) is very selective and involves eaaminations-only 10-20% of the applicants pass this stage--and interviews and group work exercises at an assessment center. This recruitment process still seeks out elite-trained generalists. Members of professional and specialist groups are not admitted to the ATP fast stream, and as a result, they are largety prevented from rising to the top civil service management positions. ATs are give rotational assignments during a two-year probationary period. which is followed bv a 16-week course at the Civil Service College. The AT stream provides the policy core for the UK civil service. But as Next Steps reforms progress in the UK. this policy core is likely to shrink in relation to the executing agency staff.

3In accordance with centrally determined guidelines, departments are free to recruit through their own personnel units, request the services of the cenLral civil service commission or use outside contractors. The government is currently creating a Recruitment Agency out of the CSC which will market its services to the departments and agencies. At the top of the agencies. there are as yet no fixed rules for the recruitment of agencv Chief Executives but generally these positions are open to candidates outside the civil service and are advertised nationally. (The fact remains that most of the appointees still come from the career service, but this reform is stiu quite recent.) Chief Executives are selected on the basis of management experience and are appointed to fixed terms. In some cases, the government will pay them salaries above civil service scales to capture highlv attractive candidates in the market.