Staroňová, Katarína. 2003. “Roles and perceptions of senior officials in coalition governments in Slovakia” In: Bryane, M., Kattel, R., Drechsler, W. (Eds.) Enhancing the capacities to govern: challenges facing the Central and Eastern European countries. Bratislava: NISPAcee, 2003. Pp. 67-83. ISBN 80-89013-16-3 [Enhancing the capacities to govern : challenges facing the Central and Eastern European countries. 11th NISPAcee annual conference. Bucharest, 2003] Roles and Perceptions of Senior Officials in Coalition Governments in Slovakia By Katarina Staronova Introduction The transition of Central European countries into modern democracies in the past decade has led to many questions and problems connected with institutional redesign. The majority of academic studies have focused on topics such as electoral systems, multi-party politics, coalition governments and constitutional reviews. Studies by international organisations have been more interested in the degree of ‘Europeanisation’ or ‘Westernisation’ of these countries and in the degree of adoption of formal frameworks incorporating democratic standards. Part of the process of creating new institutional arrangements involves the role of individual senior officials, and specifically the degree to which there is a clear division between political or administrative roles. Although many international organisations (such as the European Commission and the OECD) recognise the importance of, and need for, establishing a Senior Civil Service, few studies have been undertaken in this field. This paper analyses formal and actual perceptions about the role of the senior civil servants in Slovakia using a research methodology developed by Guy Peters and Tony Verheijen, and is a part of a study on politico-administrative relations. As Slovak formal legislation lacks a definition for senior official, all relevant formal documents – such as the Law on Civil Service, Competency Law, Coalition Agreement – are analysed, in order to obtain a clear overview of the official role of top civil servants in the Slovak context. The second part of the paper presents data about the role perceptions of top civil servants from their own point of view. This part draws from empirical research. FORMAL ROLES Immediately after the velvet revolution in 1989, the former Czechoslovakia engaged in a democratic transformation. Public administration reform was initiated in 1990 and envisaged two interconnected reforms: decentralisation (handing over responsibilities from the state administration to territorial self-government) and civil service reform (defining the new status of civil servants). 1 Following elections in 1992, a new government was created in Slovakia by a coalition of populist parties with national and social orientations (and some authoritarian inclinations) led by Vladimir Meciar’s HZDS party. 2 The only public administration reform during this term (1994-1998) was a new territorial division, with a slow process of deconcentration (transfer of competencies from top to lower levels of state administration). The ruling government had made no effort to introduce decentralization or 1 Malíková and Staroňová (2001). 2 The HZDS led coalition brought about the split of Czechoslovakia in 1992. After premature elections in 1994, HZDS (with nearly half of the seats in the parliament) again became the leading party in the coalition with the Slovak national party and the Association of Workers. The party ruled the country for a full term from September 1994 to September 1998.