The question of the goals of the civil service, despite its importance, is largely staging, since the methodology of goal setting in management in general, and in public administration in particular, is the least developed.

The goals of the state civil service should be considered as a form of awareness and consolidation by state bodies in the relevant regulatory legal acts of socially significant urgent problems.

The main goal of the public service is the practical implementation of the functions of the state, the solution of its tasks, ensuring the welfare of society, satisfying public interests on the basis of the principles and provisions established in the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal laws and laws of the subjects of the Federation.

The main tasks of the public service include:

• - protection of the constitutional order of the Russian Federation, creation of conditions for the development of civil society, production, ensuring the free life of the individual, protection of the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of citizens;
• - formation of socio-political and state-legal conditions for the practical implementation of the functions of state bodies;
• - ensuring the effective work of state bodies in accordance with their competence;
• - improvement of the conditions of civil service and professional activities of civil servants;
• - ensuring the operation of the principle of openness in the activities of civil servants and state bodies;
• - creation and maintenance of favorable interpersonal relations in state bodies that would ensure the development of positive personal qualities of employees.

Each type of public service carried out by special public authorities (for example, federal services) has its own tasks established in regulatory acts.

There are few theoretical developments in this regard, moreover, they often contradict each other. So, Yu. N. Starilov believes that the main goal of the public service is the practical implementation of the functions of the state, the solution of its tasks, ensuring the welfare of society, satisfying public interests on the basis of the principles and provisions established in the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal laws and laws of the subjects of the Federation. In turn, A.F. Nozdrachev identifies the following goals of the public service:

• - streamlining the work of the state apparatus;
• -establishment of requirements for the functions and powers of government positions;
• - determination of the competence and professional readiness of civil servants;
• - regulation of methods and procedures for analyzing and evaluating the effectiveness of the functioning of the state apparatus;
• - formation of conditions for providing civil servants, including material, social and legal guarantees of public service.

It is easy to see that in the latter approach to determining the goals of the civil service, government officials are mainly focused on the needs of the apparatus, while the needs and interests of the people appear as if in the background.

In the author's opinion, the goals of the public service should coincide with national goals. In this regard, the point of view of G. V. Atamanchuk deserves attention, who believes that the meaning and goals of a normal state are, and only, to favor the material and spiritual development of its people.

Each social subsystem has its own main goal, but it is subordinate to the main goal of the state. The main goal of a democratic constitutional state can be considered the creation of conditions that allow citizens to achieve civilized standards of life, to freely develop a human personality. Enterprises, organizations, institutions, municipalities, subjects of the Federation can strive to achieve their own goals, focusing on the main goal of the state. Otherwise, the state will collapse.

At present, Russia does not have a well-defined "tree of goals".

The formulation of public service goals is a rather complex and controversial process. At the heart of a rational approach to setting goals for the public service is the exchange of views of the political elite and the majority of citizens on the deep needs and interests of people united in the state. If this is not observed, then the self-preservation of the seized power-property becomes the only goal of the existence of the state regime. As M. Dmitriev notes, “goals for the state apparatus are not defined and are replaced by technologies. This opens up scope for the state apparatus to achieve its own goals and use “informal” control levers. As a result, the state apparatus poorly protects the interests of society, large social groups, but it protects their own, departmental, "clan", neutralist or regional interests, the interests of groups.

The objectives of the public service can be classified on various grounds:

• - according to the degree of social importance: a) strategic, related to the quality of life of society, its preservation or transformation; b) tactical, defining specific actions in time and space to achieve strategic goals;
• - according to the results: a) final; b) intermediate;
• - by time: a) long-term; b) medium-term; c) short-term;
• - by spheres of public life: a) economic; b) political; c) social; d) spiritual.

Goals need to be coordinated so that they support and mutually condition each other.

When clarifying the tasks of the civil service, it must be taken into account that civil servants are actively involved in the development of draft laws, programs expressing the country's domestic and foreign policy, proposals for changes in the structure of state bodies, and current decisions of state authorities. Therefore, among the main tasks of the public service, the following can be distinguished:

• - ensuring the constitutional order;
• - development of a strategy for the economic, social, political development of the country;
• - selection of personnel capable of implementing the country's development strategy;
• - creation of organizational structures of state power;
• - making decisions on important operational issues of the life of the country;
• - protecting the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of citizens, creating conditions for the development of the human personality;
• - creation of the necessary conditions for the implementation of the functions of state bodies.

In the public administration system, the civil service is designed to perform a dual task. Firstly, this is the provision of administrative (hardware) support to the political leadership of the country, and secondly, the study of management problems and the interests of all segments of the population, which state bodies so need.

Each type of public service performs its tasks established in regulatory legal acts.

The goals of the public service can be classified according to the following criteria.

• 1. Social:
  • a) execution and maintenance of powers of the state and its bodies;
  • b) solution of national management tasks;
  • c) performance of public affairs;
  • d) practical implementation of the functions of the state;
  • e) creation of conditions for communication between the state apparatus and the people.
• 2. Economic:
  • a) increasing the efficiency of state regulation of the economy;
  • b) management of state property on behalf of the state;
  • c) support for entrepreneurship;
  • d) ensuring financing of public service costs;
  • e) reducing the cost of maintaining the state apparatus.
• 3. State-political:
  • a) strengthening the rule of law social state;
  • b) organizational and technical support of public authorities;
  • c) creating conditions for communication between the state apparatus and the population;
  • d) fulfillment of constitutional requirements for state support of the social sphere;
  • e) ensuring the welfare of society.
• 4. Organizational:
  • a) ensuring the powers of state bodies;
  • b) bringing the structure of the state apparatus in accordance with the tasks of the civil service;
  • c) improvement of norms, standards, rules for regulating the composition of the state apparatus, promotion.
• 5. Legal:
  • a) implementation by civil servants of the legislation of the country;
  • b) development of specialized legislation on civil service;
  • c) ensuring compliance with the laws of the country;
  • d) creation of legal conditions for the normal functioning of the state apparatus.

Public service as a phenomenon can be considered in various aspects: as one of the types of professional management activities, as a legal institution, as a social phenomenon, etc.

In domestic legislation, civil service is understood as professional activity to ensure the execution of the powers of state bodies. As a leading feature in the definition of this concept, professional activity is singled out, which is carried out on the basis of special knowledge and skills, consisting in the continuous, successive and competent provision of the powers of state bodies by persons in public positions.

1. Law enforcement function. Real implementation of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, laws and other regulatory legal acts of the state.

2. Rule-making function public service is expressed in drafting, as well as in expert, analytical, reference work of civil servants and the process of preparing draft laws.

3. Regulating function . Development and implementation of state policy in all areas of society.

4. Lawmaking function. Development and adoption of normative legal acts.

5. Human rights function. This is to ensure the rights and freedoms of citizens. The civil service is called upon to serve the needs and interests of citizens, increase the effectiveness of the legal protection of the individual, and apply measures of state coercion in cases established by law.

6. Organizational function . Ensuring the practical implementation of the competence of state bodies, internal consistency, their stable functioning and effective influence on processes in society.

The civil service manifests itself in the development of various specific programs of state activity, the adoption of all fundamental political decisions and their actual implementation. In this sense, the civil service performs an important regulatory function. Its task is to ensure the reconciliation of the various interests that take place in society.

The civil service is called upon to ensure the coordination and streamlining of the activities of state bodies, their unification into a single state apparatus of legitimate state power. To do this, she must constantly solve the following tasks:

Streamlining the work of the state apparatus;

Establishment of requirements for functions and powers for public positions;

Determining the competence and professional readiness of civil servants;

Regulation of methods and procedures for analyzing and evaluating the effectiveness of the functioning of the state apparatus;

Formation of conditions for providing civil servants, including material, social and legal guarantees of public service.

The organization of the public service itself is aimed at the implementation of the functions of public administration, which is built in accordance with the achievements of modern management science. In connection with these most important features of the public service are:

Clearly established hierarchy of positions;

Precise definition of job functions;

Appointment of officials on the basis of an agreement;

The presence of a "career" in the form of a system of promotion according to merit;

Selection of personnel taking into account abilities, professional qualifications, moral qualities;

The performance of the position as the sole and main occupation of the employee;

Strict discipline, control, responsibility.

In the modern period, the main innovations in the civil service are also associated with the achievements of the science of management and, above all, public management. The construction of the state apparatus according to the model of M. Weber is supplemented by the theory of informal organizations, the ideas of openness of the public administration system, its decentralization, managerization, etc.

In this regard, the opinion of G.V. Atamanchuk that the public service should bring to public administration a program-targeted approach, managerial professionalism, legal competence, organization and discipline, stability and reliability, attention and service to the needs of citizens, legality, efficiency, rationality.

The weakness of the influence of the public service on the improvement of public administration is also due to the fact that its modern organization reveals a number of significant shortcomings:

Ignoring the best domestic and foreign experience in public service management;

The dominance of positions and the patronage system of service;

Lack of clear goals and objectives of the service, criteria for its evaluation;

Underestimation of the place and role of the civil service in the system of power and administration;

The assignment to politicians of part of the functions of the public service, for which they are not adapted, etc.

The result of public service is the normal progressive development of that sphere of public life, which is within the competence of the state body.

At this stage of public administration reforms, the role of the public service in management activities and in the implementation of public functions is objectively increasing.

Downplaying the role of the civil service, underestimating the capabilities of the administrative and managerial apparatus, as well as its inefficient use, negatively affects the quality of public administration.

The application of the best state and foreign experience, the elimination of existing organizational shortcomings, setting new goals for the civil service will help increase its role in improving public administration, ensuring its efficiency and rationality.

The main goal of the public service is the practical implementation of the functions of the state, the solution of its tasks, ensuring the welfare of society, satisfying public interests on the basis of the principles and provisions established in the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal laws and laws of the subjects of the Federation.

The main tasks of the public service include:

Protection of the constitutional order of the Russian Federation, creation of conditions for the development of civil society, production, ensuring the free life of the individual, protection of the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of citizens;

Formation of socio-political and state-legal conditions for the practical implementation of the functions of state bodies;

Ensuring the effective work of state bodies in accordance with their competence;

Improving the conditions of public service and professional activities of civil servants;

Ensuring the operation of the principle of openness in the activities of civil servants and state bodies;

Creation and maintenance of favorable interpersonal relations in state bodies that would ensure the development of positive personal qualities of employees.

Each type of public service carried out by special public authorities (for example, federal services) has its own tasks established in regulatory acts.

Consideration of the issue of the functions of the civil service allows us to understand not only its main purpose, but also to identify unresolved problems of the civil service in order to eliminate gaps in legal regulation or its shortcomings, develop directions and identify means to improve the civil service and reform it. The functions of the public service are determined by its internal properties and fundamental features. In the most general form, it can be stated that the functions of the public service are the functions of the state itself, because the public service is the implementation of the goals and functions of the state, the practical performance by employees of their official duties and the competence of state bodies. The functions of the federal executive body, managed by the President of the Russian Federation, are determined by a decree of the President of the Russian Federation, the functions of the federal executive body, managed by the Government of the Russian Federation, by a Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation.

The functions of adopting normative acts are understood as the publication, on the basis of and in pursuance of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal constitutional laws, federal laws binding on public authorities, local governments, their officials, legal entities and citizens, rules of conduct that apply to an indefinite circle of persons .

The functions of control and supervision are understood as:

implementation of actions to control and supervise the implementation by public authorities, local governments, their officials, legal entities and citizens established by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal constitutional laws, federal laws and other normative acts of generally binding rules of conduct;

issuance of permits (licenses) by state authorities, local governments, their officials to carry out a certain type of activity and (or) specific actions to legal entities and citizens;

registration of acts, documents, rights, objects, as well as the issuance of individual legal acts.

Law enforcement functions mean the issuance of individual legal acts, as well as the maintenance of registers, registers and cadastres.

The functions of state property management are understood as the exercise of the powers of the owner in relation to federal property, including that transferred to federal state unitary enterprises, federal state-owned enterprises and state institutions subordinate to a federal agency, as well as the management of federally owned shares of open joint-stock companies.

The functions of providing public services are understood as the implementation by federal executive bodies of services of exceptional social significance and provided on the conditions established by federal legislation to an indefinite circle of persons.[ ]

The functions of the public service as a social and state phenomenon must be distinguished from the functions of the public service as a legal institution. In this sense, we can talk about the relationship between two categories - the functions of law (service law) and the functions of the state (professional activities of civil servants). These two categories are interrelated and directly affect each other. They have both common features and differences. The unity of the functions of law and the state lies in the fact that they reflect the essence and social purpose of law and the state, respectively, and are often called upon to solve common problems. The differences between the functions of law and the functions of the state are that:

They are the expression of various entities that determine their specificity and independent character;

Ways, methods and forms of implementation of these functions differ;

The number and types of implemented functions do not completely coincide;

The functions of the public service should be understood as the main directions of the practical implementation of the legal norms of the institution of the public service, contributing to the achievement of the relevant goals of the legal regulation of public service relations and the fulfillment by the public service of its social role and state-legal purpose. Functions are specific areas of organizing influence on specific public service relations that arise in the process of creating a public service and the direct activities of civil servants.

Along with the functions of the civil service as a type of socially useful professional activity, we can also talk about the functions of the legal institution of the civil service, i.e. about the functioning of the legal system, presented in the form of a public service, or, in other words, about the functions of law. The functions of the public service in this sense are the directions of legal influence on state-service (municipal-service) relations determined by the social purpose. With this approach, the main thing is to clarify the specific properties of the civil service as a state-legal phenomenon, characterized by high-quality independence, special features and properties. Each sub-institution of the civil service performs, along with general and, therefore, specific functions for the entire legal institution, also specific ones. For example, the sub-institute for attestation of civil servants is characterized by the functions of assessment, control, information, etc.

From the point of view of the functions of law, the civil service as a legal institution performs the functions traditional for the legal system: [ ]

Security, i.e. fulfillment of tasks and functions of the state and its bodies; state bodies are a complex and branched system of links, each of which has its own tasks and competence. The civil service is called upon to ensure the practical implementation of the competence of these bodies, the internal consistency of their work, the effectiveness of influencing social processes;

Integrative, i.e. public service acts as a legal means of ensuring and protecting the interests of man and citizen, social harmony, harmony in the functioning of the state apparatus, optimal patterns in state building, creating guarantees for the well-being of the individual and the whole society. Through this function, it is possible to integrate (connect) all elements of the political system, the state apparatus, people, the whole society to achieve socially significant goals and satisfy public interests;

Regulatory, i.e. with the help of the established legal status of civil servants (rights, duties, restrictions, prohibitions, responsibility, etc.), the civil service regulates public relations, using the legal possibilities available to it, using methods of organization, coercion, incentives, responsibility, etc. d. as a result, social relations acquire, if possible, an "organized" form and form; the regulatory function also includes the organizing function of the civil service;

Communicative, aimed at ensuring socially useful accumulation and purposeful use of information about the processes taking place within the state apparatus, state bodies, at the use of public opinion on the results of the functioning of the public service and the directions of its reform; sometimes this function is called informational;

Protective, which ensures the use of preventive, enforcement and restorative measures by authorized officials in order to maintain the rule of law in the system of state and public relations.

Along with the functions of law, the civil service performs the functions of the state administration, the administrative apparatus, state bodies, and, ultimately, the functions of the state itself, its bodies and the functions of civil servants. The civil service is comparable in its functions with the role and social and legal purpose of the entire state and public administration, with the authority of public authorities. V.M. Manokhin rightly notes that the public service is organically linked with the state, with its place and role in the life of society. The tasks and functions of the state find their real embodiment in the activities of civil servants. The public office contains part of the competence of the state body, it is an organic part of its structure and aims to organize the personnel of the state body, i.e. civil servants.[ ] The social role of the state (executive and administrative appointment of public administration and the competence of state bodies) is inextricably linked with the functions of the public service carried out in the course of state activity, which can be understood as independent and relatively separate types of public service actions (official, organizational, coercive etc.).

The question of the definition and types of functions of the civil service at present is only a staging one. This is largely due to the fact that the problem of the functions of the state itself, its bodiesand the functions of public administration is also not devoid of controversial issues. The functions of the state are implemented by all state bodies that make up the unified state power. Within the framework of this unity, there are significant differences in the methods and forms of implementation of functions. Accordingly, they distinguish independent types of state activities that differ in specific purpose, special subjects - state bodies (civil servants), ways of implementing state functions.

In the most general form, the functions of the state and its bodies are the main directions and aspects of the state's activities, ensuring social welfare, guaranteeing the realization of the rights and freedoms of man and citizen, stable and effective management of the state and society. The functions of the civil service are determined by objective laws. The content of each function is predetermined by the goals facing the state and public administration and the specifics of the object of public administration, the features of public service powers, the scope and duties of civil servants. Speaking about the functions of the public service, we must remember that the public service solves the problems of the state, carries out its functions and the functions of state bodies. Thus, from a functional point of view, the civil service is a certain purposeful impact of the subject of public service relations in order to streamline the organization and practical activities of the system of state bodies. This impact is clearly managerial in nature. One of the main tasks of public administration is the formation of the personnel potential of state bodies. This is done to ensure that the personnel and organizational means that are necessary for the performance of public administration tasks are consistent with the goals and objectives of the state and are placed at its disposal. With this approach to the study of public service, it is advisable to single out such an institution as the public service within the public administration system. The civil service, being a legal institution and establishing the legal status of the personnel of a state body, is the most important area of ​​state-administrative influence associated with other elements of the theory of public administration. The public service (personnel), which practically implements the functions of state bodies and performs their tasks, functions in all these areas. Therefore, the analysis of the functions of the civil service allows us to evaluate the role and purpose of the civil service in the state social mechanism, to determine its effectiveness, usefulness and significance, given that the civil service is the main channel for the implementation of legal relations that arise in the process of exercising the competence of state bodies, performing tasks and powers civil servants. Public service in the modern sense is reduced to the performance of the functions of public administration, considered in a broad sense, i.e. as a management activity of all state bodies in the system of executive, representative and judicial power. As part of the implementation of the functions of the public service, public management activities are implemented, which means the implementation by the subjects of public administration, as well as other levels of public administration (civil servants and officials) of the functions of public administration.

The managerial nature and legal nature of the functions of the public service is that the management itself acquires the following specific features:

In the process of it, both the tasks, functions, interests of the state and its subjects, as well as constitutional civil rights are realized, the legitimate interests of citizens are ensured;

Management functions are performed by special subjects, formed mainly by the state;

These entities act on behalf of the state;

They are endowed with the necessary powers of a state-imperious nature;

They act within the limits of the competence established for them in the relevant legal acts;

Most of the options for managerial relations are also mediated by other regulations. The civil service includes both objective (the need to perform the functions of the state and its bodies) and subjective (availability of abilities, suitability for service, professional education, as well as other conditions) prerequisites for its formation. Also, public administration contains objective and subjective prerequisites for its implementation.[] Public administration is subjective, since it is the fruit of the thoughts and actions of people (civil servants).

Turning to the consideration of the issue of the types and classification of the functions of the civil service, it is advisable to list the most important functions for the current stage:

Regulatory function, i.e. development and implementation of policies aimed at creating specific programs (privatization, investment activities, energy, etc.);

Coercion function, i.e. application by the state of measures of state coercion established in the legislation in strictly defined situations. It is a necessary element of a democratic order;

Security-restorative function, i.e. ensuring the rights and freedoms of man and citizen; increasing the effectiveness of the legal protection of the individual; the formation of the judiciary;

Organizational function, i.e. the creation of a civil service system and the maintenance of order and legality in it, the reform of personnel policy and the legal institution of the civil service;

Law-creating (law-making) function, i.e. development and adoption of legal acts, improving the quality of the rule-making activities of state bodies;

Control function, i.e. ensuring state control and supervision in the sphere of state activity.

The functions of the civil service can be divided into basic and specific. In turn, the main and specific functions are divided into general, special and auxiliary (optional).[

The main functions of the public service are general, typical, special-oriented types of interaction between subjects and objects of management, characteristic of all managerial relations, ensuring the achievement of consistency and order in the field of public administration.

The main general functions of the public service include:

Information support for the activities of state bodies, i.e. collection, receipt, processing, analysis of information necessary for the implementation of state (administrative) activities;

Forecasting and modeling of the development of the civil service system, government bodies, public administration standards;

Planning - determination of directions, rates, quantitative and qualitative indicators of the development of certain processes in the public administration system, state functions (economic, socio-cultural, military, defense, combating organized crime and corruption in the public service, etc.)

Organization - the formation of a civil service system based on established principles and approaches to this process, determining the structure of the management and managed systems in the civil service, establishing their competence and interconnection; organization in the narrow sense is the streamlining of the structure of state bodies, states, personnel, public administration processes, administration, i.e. operational regulation of public-service relations arising from the exercise of the powers of state bodies and official duties, ensuring the regime of proper state activity; in a narrow sense - giving current instructions by leading civil servants;

Management – establishment of rules, regulations, areas of activity and individual actions of state bodies, managed objects; general management - determining the content of state activities (for example, managerial);

Coordination – harmonization of the activities of various state bodies to achieve common goals and objectives of the public service;

The control – establishing compliance or non-compliance of the actual state of the civil service system and its structure with the required (certain) standard and level, studying and evaluating the results of the overall functioning of the civil service, as well as specific actions of civil servants;

Regulation – the use of methods and methods of management in the process of organizing the public service system and its functioning;

Accounting – fixing information, expressed in quantitative form, on the movement of material resources of the civil service, on the results of the implementation of public-service relations, the powers of state bodies, etc.

One of the most important functions of the civil service, which arose with the adoption of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which established a multi-party system in the Russian Federation, is the political function. Through this function, the civil service implements state policy.

Among the general functions of the public service are:

Implementation of the state personnel policy at the level of the federal government and subjects of the Russian Federation;

Staff recruitment of state bodies, taking into account the abilities, professional, personal and moral qualities of employees;

Formation of the register of public positions; formation and maintenance of the register of civil servants;

Organization of public service;

establishment of social and legal guarantees and conditions necessary for the activities of personnel of state bodies;

Establishment of requirements for public positions and qualification requirements for public servants;

Control over the activities of civil service personnel;

Organization of the development and control over the implementation of public service standards, etc.

The specific general functions of the civil service, on the one hand, affect the activities of public authorities personnel in the implementation of state coercion in the field of maintaining law and order and public order, and on the other hand, they can be considered as regulatory and other organizational impact (activity) on limited and expedient intervention in the economic sphere and social and cultural construction, where often objects of management do not belong to the state and have significant independence in the choice of decisions and their implementation.

Thus, in the field of defense of the country and maintenance of public order, the civil service performs the following specific general functions:

Ensuring sufficient defense capacity of the country;

Maintaining public order and public safety;

Protection of life, health and property from criminal and other unlawful encroachments.

In the sphere of economy and socio-cultural construction, it is necessary to single out the following specific functions of the civil service:

Increasing the people's welfare; social protection of the population with incomes below the subsistence level;

Ensuring the rational, complete and integrated use of natural resources;

Protection of the natural environment;

Ensuring the conversion of the defense industry with the use of science-intensive production for the production of high-quality and competitive goods on the world market; and etc.

Auxiliary functions of the civil service are intended to serve the activities of state bodies within the framework of the main and specific general and special functions. These are office work, legal services, logistics, etc.

The special functions of the public service reflect the features of the object of management (for example, methodological, technical guidance). Special functions can complement general functions where they are not enough.

The list of special functions of the civil service is extremely difficult to establish, since the state body has many areas of activity that ensure the fulfillment of the main tasks of this state body. The special functions of the civil service include:

Development and introduction of standards for the number, material, financial and other material costs for the maintenance of the personnel of a state body;

Development of normative legal acts establishing public-service relations or other legal relations in special state bodies;

Conducting research in various government agencies.

On the system and structure of federal executive bodies. Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of March 9, 2004 // Ros. gas. 2004. March 11.

See: Radko T.N., Tolstik V.A. Law functions. N.Novgorod. 1995. S.33-34.

See: Kudryavtsev V.N., Kazimirchuk V.P. Modern sociology of law. M., 1995. S.64-73; Lazarev V.V. The effectiveness of law enforcement acts. Kazan. 1976. S. 27

See: Manokhin V.M. Public service // Soviet administrative law. Public administration and administrative law. M. 1978. S.291.

See: Atamanchuk G.V. Ensuring the rationality of public administration. M., 1990. S.33-49.

See: Voloshina V.V. Legal problems of regulation of the public service of the Russian Federation. Abstract dis. … candidate of legal sciences. M., 1993. S.12-13.

The question of the goals and objectives of the public service, despite its importance, is largely staging. The fact is that the methodology of goal-setting in management in general and in public administration in particular is the least developed. The goals of the civil service can be considered as a form of awareness and consolidation by state bodies in the relevant regulatory legal acts of socially significant urgent problems.

At present, Russia does not have a well-defined "tree of goals". There are few theoretical developments in this regard, moreover, they often contradict each other. So, Yu. II. Starilov believes that the main goal of the civil service is the practical implementation of the functions of the state, the solution of its tasks, ensuring the welfare of society, satisfying public interests based on the principles and provisions established in the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal laws and laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

In turn, A.F. Nozdrachev identifies the following goals of the public service:

• - streamlining the work of the state apparatus;
• – establishment of requirements for the functions and powers of government positions;
• - determination of the competence and professional readiness of civil servants;
• - regulation of methods and procedures for analyzing and evaluating the effectiveness of the functioning of the state apparatus;
• – formation of conditions for providing civil servants, including material, social and legal guarantees of public service.

It is easy to see that in the latter approach to defining the goals of the civil service, civil servants focus mainly on the needs of the apparatus, while the needs and interests of the people are in the background.

Objectives of the public service can be classified:

• 1) according to the degree of public importance:
  • - strategic, related to the quality of life of society, its preservation or transformation;
  • - tactical, defining specific actions in time and space to achieve strategic goals;
• 2) according to the results:
  • - final;
  • - intermediate;
• 3) by time:
  • – long-term;
  • – medium-term;
  • - short-term;
• 4) by spheres of public life:
  • – economic;
  • - political;
  • – social;
  • - spiritual.

When clarifying the tasks of the civil service, it must be taken into account that civil servants are actively involved in the development of draft laws, programs expressing the country's domestic and foreign policy, proposals for changes in the structure of state bodies, current decisions of state authorities, in the provision of public services. Therefore, among main tasks of the civil service the following can be distinguished:

• - ensuring the constitutional order;
• – development of a strategy for the economic, social, political development of the country;
• - selection of personnel capable of implementing the country's development strategy;
• – creation of organizational structures of state power;
• - making decisions on important operational issues of the life of the country;
• – protection of the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of citizens, creation of conditions for the development of the human personality;
• – creation of the necessary conditions for the implementation of the functions of state bodies.

According to V. D. Grazhdan, in the system of public administration, the public service is intended to perform a dual task. Firstly, this is the provision of administrative (hardware) support to the political leadership of the country; secondly, the study of management problems and the interests of all segments of the population, which is so necessary for state bodies.

Thus, each type of public service performs its tasks established in regulatory legal acts.

The concept of "civil service functions" and their types have not yet been defined in regulatory legal acts, which reflects one of the gaps in the legal regulation of this institution. In the scientific and educational literature, the question of the functions of the civil service is predominantly staging. Some authors understand the functions of the public service as independent and relatively separate types of public service activities. Others consider the functions of the public service as an organization for the practical implementation of legal norms.

Public Service Functions- the main directions of the impact of civil servants on public relations to achieve the goals and objectives of the state.

It can also be argued that the functions of the public service as a whole coincide with the functions of public authorities and public administration. The last statement is based on the fact that the civil service, in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, is designed to ensure the powers of state authorities.

The functions performed by civil servants are divided into socio-political (general) and special legal.

To general functions of the civil service can be attributed:

• - management of public affairs (in this regard, the public service can be considered as an organizational institution);
• - goal-setting - a function, the purpose of which is to determine the parameters of the optimal functioning of the state and society as a whole, the model of its future development, the algorithm of public administration;
• - forecasting and modeling the development of society and government bodies (this function is based on the analysis of trends in social development, it is associated with the prediction of changes in society and government bodies due to any events or purposeful actions);
• - planning - these are decisions made in advance about what to do, when to do and who will do it in state bodies (in the course of planning, directions, proportions, rates, quantitative and qualitative indicators of the development of certain processes in society and state bodies are determined);
• - organization - the creation and streamlining of the structure of the civil service and state bodies, their staffs, processes of state administration for the sustainable and dynamic development of society and state bodies (the purpose of the public service is to organize the life of citizens and, as you know, civil servants directly or indirectly ensure the process social organization of a person);
• - control - establishing the compliance or non-compliance of indicators of the development of society and the public service with internal or external standards and the level set by plans and programs;
• - accounting - fixing in quantitative indicators the processes taking place in society and in the public service;
• - coordination - harmonization of the activities of various state bodies to achieve the common goals and objectives of the state;
• - information support for the activities of state bodies and the life of society, i.е. collection, receipt, processing, analysis of information necessary for the implementation of state activities.

In recent years, the civil service has been increasingly viewed as producer of public social services. We are talking about education, health care, security, and so on. Therefore, we can talk about such a function of the public service as the production of public services.

The public service performs educational function. It plays an important role in the formation in the public consciousness of a respectful attitude towards the human person, institutions of state and law.

For the dynamic development of society, it is of great importance regulatory function of the civil service. Civil servants play an active role in regulating relations between social groups in the economic, political, social and ideological spheres of society. For these purposes, rules, regulations are established, the direction of actions of citizens and civil servants is set. This is manifested in the development of various programs, bills, and political decision-making.

To special-legal functions of the public service relate:

• – law-making(civil servants take an active part in the development of draft regulatory legal acts, their examination, analytical and reference work of the law-making process);
• – law enforcement(civil servants implement the norms of constitutions, laws and other normative legal acts of the Russian Federation and subjects of the Russian Federation).
• – law enforcement(civil servants protect the established norms of law from violations by the subjects of legal relations; for this purpose, bodies of control and supervision, methods of coercion are used).

The specific functions of civil service structures and civil servants are established by the regulations on the structural subdivisions of the apparatus of state authorities and job descriptions.

The functions of the public service are carried out with the help of legal, economic, organizational and administrative, socio-psychological methods.

• Cm.: Starilov D.N. Course of general administrative law: in 2 volumes. M .: Porma-INFRA, 2002. T. 2. S. 42.
• Cm.: Nozdrachev A.F. Civil service: a textbook for the training of civil servants. M.: Statut, 1999. S. 73.
• Cm.: Citizens V.D. State civil service: textbook, allowance. M.: Yurkniga, 2005. S. 48.
• See: Ibid. S. 50.

• Public service in the system of power and public administration
  • The concept of the dichotomy of state power
  • Political Power and Public Service: General and Special
  • Public administration as the main function of the state civil service
• Theoretical and methodological foundations of public service
  • General scientific approaches to the theory of public service
    • The structure of the theory and methodology of public service
  • The concept of "public service"
  • The nature of the civil service
    • Goals, tasks, functions of the state civil service
• Public service as a social and legal institution and professional service activities
  • Public service as a social institution
  • Civil service as a legal institution
  • Public service as a professional service activity
    • Professional activity in relation to public service
• The system of public service of the Russian Federation
  • The essence and structure of the public service system of modern Russia
  • Basic principles of building and functioning of the public service system of the Russian Federation
• Federal State Civil Service: essence, structure, features
  • Federal public service: concept, distinctive features, functions
  • Structure and features of the federal civil service
  • The specifics of the organization and functioning of the civil service in federal government bodies
    • State service of the federal executive branch
    • Public service of the judiciary
• Public service of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation
  • Constitutional foundations for the functioning of public authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation
  • Legal regulation and organization of the state civil service of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation
  • Comparative analysis of the federal legislation and the legislation of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation on issues of the state civil service
    • Admission (admission) to the civil service
    • Legal status of a civil servant of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation
• Civil servant: concept, classification
  • Civil servant: concept, signs
  • Classification of civil servants of the Russian Federation
• Positions of the state civil service of the Russian Federation
  • Civil service positions: concept
    • Signs of public office
  • Classification of positions of the state civil service of the Russian Federation
    • Qualification requirements for positions
  • Register of positions of the federal state civil service
• Passage of the state civil service
  • Theoretical foundations of public service
  • The main types of the civil service process
  • Legal and organizational framework for the civil service of the Russian Federation
    • Organization of public service
• Social and legal status of a civil servant in Russia
  • Status of a civil servant: concept and classification
  • Essence and signs of the social status of a civil servant
  • Legal status of a state civil servant of the Russian Federation
    • Basic duties of a civil servant
    • Civil service restrictions
    • Prohibitions related to civil service
• State guarantees and liability in the civil service of the Russian Federation
  • Basic and additional state guarantees for civil servants
  • Incentives and disciplinary sanctions in the civil service
• Public Service Management
  • Conceptual Framework for Civil Service Management
    • Subjects and objects of management
  • The system of management of the civil service of the Russian Federation
    • Federal level of government
    • The level of management of the subjects of the Russian Federation
  • Improving the efficiency of the Russian civil service management system
• Reform and development of the public service system of the Russian Federation
  • Theoretical foundations of civil service reform
  • Legal foundations for reforming the public service system of modern Russia. Federal reform program
  • The main directions of reforming and developing the public service system of the Russian Federation
  • Problems and prospects for the development of the state civil service of the Russian Federation
• State personnel policy and personnel doctrine
  • Theoretical foundations of state personnel policy
  • Priority directions of the state personnel policy of the Russian Federation
  • personnel doctrine. Problems of state personnel policy in modern Russia
• Legal basis and subject-object base of the state personnel policy
  • Legal basis of the state personnel policy and personnel activity of modern Russia
  • Subjects and objects of state personnel policy
    • Objects of state personnel policy
• Basic principles and mechanisms for the implementation of the state personnel policy
  • Basic principles for the implementation of the state personnel policy
  • Mechanisms for the implementation of state personnel policy in the public administration system
    • The mechanism of regulatory support of personnel policy
    • The mechanism of organizational support of personnel policy
    • Research mechanism of personnel policy
• State personnel policy in the system of state civil service
  • Essence, tasks and principles of personnel policy
  • Priority areas of personnel policy and personnel work
  • Development of the personnel of the civil service of the Russian Federation
• Personnel work and personnel service of a state body
  • Personnel work in a state body: essence and content
  • Personnel service of a state body
• Formation of the personnel of the civil service
  • Qualification requirements for public civil service positions
  • Theoretical and organizational foundations of personnel selection
  • Ways to fill public positions
• Personnel technologies for assessing the personnel of the state civil service
  • Theoretical foundations for assessing civil service personnel
    • Methodology for assessing civil service personnel
  • Competition and test for admission to the civil service
  • Certification in the civil service
    • Qualification exam for civil servants
• Formation and training of a personnel reserve in the civil service
  • Conceptual, legal and organizational foundations for the formation of a personnel reserve
  • The procedure for the formation and preparation of a personnel reserve
  • Features of the formation of a reserve of managerial personnel
    • The program for the formation of a reserve of managerial personnel in the city of Moscow
• Business career management
  • Service and business career: essence, classification, stages
    • Career advancement
  • Strategy, tactics and technologies for managing a business career
    • HR technologies
  • career growth factors
• Professional Development. Additional professional education of civil service personnel
  • Legal framework and principles for the professional development of civil servants
  • Organization of additional professional education
  • State order for professional retraining and advanced training of civil servants
• Corruption in public authorities
  • The essence of corruption as a social phenomenon
    • Aspects of corruption
  • Causes and forms of spread of corruption in public authorities
    • Forms of manifestation of corruption
  • Legal Basis and Anti-Corruption Measures in the Public Service System
  • Organizational measures to combat corruption in the civil service
• Moral foundations of public service and personnel policy
  • Moral principles of personnel policy and performance of civil servants
  • Requirements for official behavior of civil servants. Settlement of conflict of interest
  • The principle of serving the state and society
  • Moral problems of civil servants
• Foreign experience of public service and personnel policy
  • Modern European experience in the organization of the civil service
    • Public civil service in the UK
    • Public civil service in France
    • State civil service in Germany
  • Civil service management in foreign countries
  • Personnel management in public service in Western countries
    • Personnel policy in the civil service in France
    • Personnel policy in the civil service in the UK
    • Personnel policy in the public service in the United States
  • Modern foreign experience in the formation of a personnel reserve in the civil service
• The experience of public service and personnel policy in Russia
  • Public service in Tsarist Russia
  • Career policy and public service in tsarist Russia
  • Public service in the party-Soviet period

Federal public service: concept, distinctive features, functions

Within the framework of the level classification, the state civil service is divided into two levels: the highest - the federal state civil service and the lowest - the state civil service of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation. The military and law enforcement services are by law forks of the federal public service.

An attempt to define the concept of "federal public service" was made by the domestic legislator back in 1993 in the Regulations on the Federal Public Service, approved by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 2267 of December 22, 1993, although even before that, in Art. 11 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the constitutional division of state power (and hence the public service) into “state power in the Russian Federation” and “state power in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation” was fixed, with the delimitation of subjects of jurisdiction and powers. Article 71 of the Constitution referred the federal public service to the jurisdiction of the center, i.e. Russian Federation.

In the Regulations on the Federal Public Service, a rather voluminous wording of the federal public service was also given: “The federal public service is carried out in accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, legislative and other regulatory acts of the Russian Federation in public positions in the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation, the Office of the Government of the Russian Federation, in the apparatus of the chambers of the Federal Assembly Russian Federation, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation, Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation. Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, in federal state bodies subordinate to the President of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Russian Federation, as well as in other positions, in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.

As you can see, this formulation does not contain a definition of the concept and essence of the federal civil service.

In 1995, in the Federal Law "On the Fundamentals of the Civil Service of the Russian Federation" No. 119-FZ, which legalized the institution of the civil service, the legislator again refers to this topic. So, in Art. 2 very briefly states that the Russian civil service is divided into two levels: federal and subjects of the Russian Federation. But the definition of the essence of the federal civil service was not given, since the scientific basis of this concept had not yet been developed, and practical experience was completely absent.

The Concept of Reforming the System of the Civil Service of the Russian Federation (2001) and the Federal Program "Reforming the Civil Service of the Russian Federation" (2002) also did not give a detailed interpretation of the essence of the federal civil service and its features, mentioning only that a single system of civil service is formed by various types of federal civil service and public service of the subjects of the Russian Federation.

For the first time at the legislative level, the definition of the essence of the federal civil service was formulated in the Federal Law "On the System of the Civil Service of the Russian Federation" No. 58-FZ (2003). In Art. 4 of this legal act states: - professional service activities of citizens to ensure the execution of the powers of the Russian Federation, as well as the powers of federal state bodies and persons holding public positions in the Russian Federation. The concepts of “positions of the federal civil service” and “federal civil servant” are also introduced there.

An analysis of this concept shows that the normative definition of the civil service of the Russian Federation in general is the basic one for it. A distinctive feature is that in the federal service civil servants ensure the execution of the powers of only federal structures and officials: the Russian Federation, federal government agencies and politicians at the federal level.

Along with the normative, it is advisable to give a theoretical definition of this concept, indicated in the works of a number of scientists - sociologists and political scientists. Here, in our opinion, an integrated, generalizing approach is acceptable: federal civil service- this is the central public administrative system of the country, a legal, social and organizational institution at the federal level, designed to perform the tasks and functions of the state, the professional service activities of citizens of the Russian Federation, replacing the posts of the state civil, military and law enforcement service in federal government bodies formed in accordance with with the Constitution of the Russian Federation and federal legislation.

The analysis allows us to highlight the distinctive features of the federal civil service:

• this service consists in the implementation on behalf of the state of public administration throughout the country;
• federal state bodies in which the federal state service functions are created on the basis of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and federal legislation;
• this service ensures the execution of the powers of only federal state bodies and politicians at the federal level;
• federal civil servants receive financial support at the expense of the federal budget;
• legal, organizational and other foundations of the federal civil service, as well as the legal status of federal civil servants are regulated by federal legislation.

The basis of the federal civil service is the staff positions included in Register of positions in the federal civil service. In accordance with the legislation, state positions of the federal civil service are divided into positions of the federal civil service (in federal government bodies), military and law enforcement service positions. Various types of public service positions may be established in a federal state body. The positions will be filled by federal civil servants - Russian citizens who carry out professional service activities in the positions of the federal civil service and receive salaries from the federal budget. This is a normative definition.

Personnel composition federal civil servants is fairly representative.

According to Rosstat data for 2008, the total number of state civil servants of the Russian Federation was 770.8 thousand people. Of these, there were 548.4 thousand federal civil servants, 222.4 thousand in state authorities of the subjects of the Federation. 469.3 thousand, in the judiciary and the prosecutor's office - about 79.1 thousand. It can be stated that in quantitative terms, the personnel corps of federal civil servants is optimal and generally meets the requirements of the public administration system.

Purposes and functions federal civil service are not clearly defined either in regulations or in the scientific literature. If we proceed from the essence and social role of the federal public service as an administrative activity to ensure the execution of the powers of federal state bodies, then the main goal of the federal public service is to serve the interests of the Russian state and society, to ensure the high-quality performance of the functions of the state, its federal bodies and officials. Being an instrument and mechanism of the state, the federal public service ensures the efficiency and stability of public administration on the scale of the Russian Federation.

As for the functions of the federal civil service, they can be seen to a greater extent in the normatively fixed provisions and regulations of individual federal state bodies. As part of ensuring the execution of the powers of federal authorities, it is advisable to single out several main functions: information and analytical; organizational and technical; preparation and decision-making procedures; implementation of the adopted management decision; legal; financial and economic; personnel; expert; documentation.

The listed functions do not exhaust the whole variety of functions of the federal civil service, but show the most significant areas of activity. These functions are implemented in all federal state bodies, regardless of their belonging to one or another branch of government. In each of these bodies, the civil service has other functions specific to this body.