The NPM agenda in small developing countries: Employment contracts and politicization in Samoa's public service

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine claims that the removal of tenure in favour of fixed-term employment contracts has led to some politicization of top-level appointments in the Samoa public service. The intention is not only to shed light on how politicization is perceived in a small developing society, but also to determine whether such claims are well founded and if so, what the implications are for a small public service like that in Samoa. Design/methodology/approach - Data are gathered from government documents, literature review and the experience of the author as a former senior public servant in Samoa. Findings - While the claims cannot be fully endorsed at this stage, it is clear that there was some politicization of senior public service appointments and, importantly, the outcomes in most cases were unfavourable for Samoa's public service. Originality/value - Politicization of the appointment of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) in Samoa's public service since the shift to employment contracts in the early 1990s has not previously been reviewed. Apparently the ramifications of politicizing the appointment of CEOs have, in most cases, proved unproductive for the public service and its stakeholders. Hence the Public Service Commission, which is the main advisory body, urgently needs to recommend necessary changes to avert political appointments in the future.