The Politicization of Civil Service in the Palestinian Bureaucracy: Augmenting Loyalty and Excluding Opposition

Abstract

This study explores how civil service in the Palestinian bureaucracy has been politicized in the quarter century since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority, with a focus on how government jobs are obtained, granting degrees, travel allowances, rights discrimination, and a lack of job safety. This politicization in the Palestinian instance is founded on promoting loyalty while limiting opposition, in violation of constitutional rights (protected by Palestinian Basic Law), such as the right to equality and equal opportunity in civil service employment. This approach, while not unique to this time, expanded following the 2007 Palestinian divide. The study concludes that the results of this politicization are manifested in the growth of the bureaucracy, a decrease in public trust in it, and the proliferation of corruption.