“That the spoils system works badly is there for all to see. If it had worked, we wouldn’t be here complaining every day about the malfunctioning of public administrations”. He writes it Sabino Cassese in an editorial in the ‘Corriere della sera’, launching a proposal that can overcome the current spoil system.
“The government now finds itself at a crossroads: take the inclined plane of expanding the spoils system, or take a step back, abandon it, equip the country with a stable, robust, capable, well-selected, impartial, neutral and loyal to any political force – Cassese writes – It is a question of making the quality of the people prevail and not the partisan spirit; of choosing not faithful people, but capable people. The bureaucracy must be selected according to objective criteria and not – as it is proposed – on the basis of adherence to the ideology of this or that party. But it must be directed and must let itself be directed by the government without holding back or sabotaging”.
“I understand that a government led by someone who has not been in power during the seventy-five years of the Republic wonders how it could use the spoils system, and then abolish it – we read again – This will be possible if a transitional rule is adopted which allows for the evaluation, once and for all, impartially, the performance, suitability and neutrality of the people who currently hold the positions, confirming or not renewing them, in view of a future mechanism, when fully operational, which rewards experience and ability and, at the same time, create a fast access channel for the most capable young people, restricted to a hundred men and women who, placed at the top of the administration, make it work effectively”.
Cassese closes with a significant consideration. “Thus a nursery could be created from which an administrative ruling class could emerge. It is the greatest gift that politics could give the country today”.
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