"A pioneering book. There are new concepts and formulations, excellent and useful bibliographies, and the chapter authors clearly are in touch with the most current thinking...Must reading for anyone interested in comparative government in general." - Frank P. Sherwood, Jerry Collins, Eminent Scholar, Reubin OOD, Askew School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University. Describing and analyzing civil service systems throughout the world, this study begins with a general orientation to issues of theory and methodology. It then examines the history and structure of civil service systems, explores contextual characteristics of these systems, looks at them from holistic perspectives, examines change and transformation in civil service systems, and proposes an agenda for future research.