This study analyzes local bureaucracies in in the ‘Cattle Cluster’ of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina in light of the concepts developed in the Ibero-American Charter for the Public Service. The Charter reflects the consensus of Latin American countries about the crucial role of public bureaucracies in development, as well as principles and functional requirements necessary in the public service in order to have a positive impact.
The research question that guides this work is: to what extent have local bureaucracies implemented recommendations from the Charter? More specifically, how are local human resources appointed, managed and dismissed? What are the main drivers of such human resource management strategy? and What are the consequences for local bureaucracies?
As understood by the Charter, the development of public services at any particular level is given by external constraints which are “the legal framework for implementation, the political system and the labour markets” and internal determinants. Consequently, the study analyzes both the general institutional framework and local elements that as drivers of their human resource strategy. The use of a single case study within the ‘cattle cluster’ allowed to analyze how municipalities manage public bureaucracies in detail, identifying how their human resource strategy impact in the characteristics of local public service.
In addition, the use of a historical institutionalist theoretical framework allows the consideration of how formal and informal institutions along with specific historical changes shape the path in which local bureaucracies develop today.
Through the study of Bolivar, a municipality in the Buenos Aires Province, the research concludes that local bureaucracies do not follow recommendations form the Charter. Appointments are based in patronage links and management strategies are reduced to salary negotiation with no training or professional career plan. The municipality lacks a human resource plan that links the needs of the organization with the quantity and the competence of the employees. The result is a bureaucracy with very low levels of autonomy and technical capacity.