Nearly half of civil servants, 47 percent, have had to deal with moral doubts in the past year. For example, they believe that citizens are not helped with the policy they have to implement, that policy is not ethically or legally sound, or they believe that policy choices do not correspond with their political convictions.
This is evident from a study by I&O Research among 2,275 civil servants at the national government, municipalities, provinces, water boards and implementing organizations such as the Tax and Customs Administration, which will be published on Wednesday. According to the survey, 18 percent of all civil servants say that policy is not (always) made according to their views. Almost a third of civil servants experience ‘political pressure’ at work, and more than a quarter have experienced situations in which the public interest was not served.
“Top officials are increasingly tormented by the wishes of the political leadership. We already knew that. But this study shows that lower civil servants are also noticing this development,” says researcher Peter Kanne of I&O Research.
Concerns that live among lower officials are also common at the top. Last year, senior officials from all twelve ministries noted “an increased tension” in cooperation between the civil service and the country’s political leadership. In November last year, fifty top officials complained in a letter to Prime Minister Mark Rutte (VVD) and Minister Hanke Bruins Slot (Interior Affairs, CDA) about the tension between politics and the civil service. They wrote: “Officials should be able to do their job without the risk of being drawn into the political debate.”
I increasingly experience it as a problem that all kinds of power games are played within the government
Anonymous official
The research by I&O Research shows a trickle-down effect to the lower echelons of the civil service. The report cites (anonymous) officials who cooperated. Political interference appears to be a problem for many respondents. For example, one civil servant says: “I increasingly experience it as a problem that all kinds of power games are played within the government and that the citizen does not get along with it.” Another says: “The aim of the government seems increasingly focused on ‘keeping ministers/the cabinet out of the wind’, rather than on solving the major social challenges.”
Sometimes civil servants themselves have outspoken political views, which they cannot reconcile with the policy they have to implement. An official says: “The reception of asylum seekers and Ukrainians, the implementation of climate policy. Terrible, but I have to cooperate.”
Still, says researcher Peter Kanne, the impression that civil servants have substantive difficulties with policy choices is only partly correct. “Much more often it concerns policy that they want to implement, but in which they run into internal moral obstacles. Is this according to the law? Is it fair?”
Unjust policy
There are major differences between government bodies. For example, 70 percent of the interviewed employees of implementing organizations (Tax and Customs Administration, the UWV or the Central Bureau for Driving Skills) have to deal with ‘unjust policy’, for example if they see citizens falling between the cracks or if there is discrimination behind policy. The greatest concern of government officials at ministries is that choices are made under political pressure that are not in the interest of the public good.
Some incidents have caused unrest among officials. In the case of former parliamentary speaker Khadija Arib, the top civil servants of the House of Representatives resigned because they did not feel supported by the political leadership. In August last year, the secretary general of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate left after clashes with the politically responsible minister, Micky Adriaansens (VVD).
Most moral dilemmas occur among healthcare personnel (55 percent) and the police (53 percent). Healthcare officials believe that citizens are being neglected, while the police believe that policy choices are not in the interest of citizens.
Also read this article: Senior officials concerned about cooperation with politicians, top meeting at Rutte
A version of this article also appeared in the June 21, 2023 newspaper.