Government reshuffle: When there are no ideas, it remains to discuss people

1. A ministry is a central executive body responsible for the development and implementation of state policy in a particular area. The number and list of ministries is determined by how to divide a large list of public policy areas among the ministries. Usually, if something is important, a separate ministerial position is created (example: Ministry of Veterans).

2. If the ministry is not engaged in the development and implementation of state policy, it does not matter who heads it.

3. Very large ministries do not work well, because it means that the list of policy areas for which they are responsible is too long, and something inevitably falls out of the scope of attention. Every manager knows that you should not have too many objects to manage.

4. Mergers and consolidations of ministries are a bad practice because they paralyze work for many months for purely administrative and bureaucratic reasons. It should be done only in exceptional cases.

5. As it follows from the above, it is better to think through the structure and then not to touch it unless necessary. Ideally, ministries are created for policy areas, not for people who need to be put in or removed.

6. It is always preferable to have a permanent minister rather than an acting minister leading a ministry. An acting minister can restrict the scope and effectiveness of their work, including interactions with external partners. Long-term acting ministers often signal a serious staffing crisis or a lack of trust from Parliament.

7. A deputy prime minister is essentially a top-level government project manager who coordinates several ministries to achieve specific large goals (example: Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration). Handing out deputy prime minister statuses to individual ministers adds to their workload, but does not particularly add to their capabilities.

8. Ideally, the government works as a team, with ministers reaching agreements on complex issues. For example, the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Finance will always be opponents, as one is concerned with development and the other with spending.

9. The role of the prime minister is of particular importance as the conductor of this orchestra, the organizer of collective work. If key decisions are made elsewhere, the government will not work as a team, with the corresponding consequences.

10. Ideally, the government relies on the parliament that appointed it and has close contact with it. Reports of ministers, their cooperation with specialized parliamentary committees, and parliamentary support for government bills are the three pillars of this system's effectiveness.

Finally. “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people,” said Eleanor Roosevelt. When there are no ideas and events do not bring joy, it remains to discuss people. And that's what we're going to do for the next few days.

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About the author. Valeriy Pekar, lecturer at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy

The editors do not always share the opinions expressed by the blog authors.