The politicization of the Malian civil service in the context of democratization

The politicization of the civil service in Mali in the context of democratization had a catastrophic effect on the democratization and development process in Mali. In the first decade of democratization, the "dominant" party permeated and used the civil service to control and take advantage of state resources. In addition, the civil service has been also transformed into a funding agency for the "dominant" party as well as coercion and exclusion machinery. In the second decade the rules of the games were changed while the goal and outcome remained the same. "Dominant" party rule has been replaced with a diffused party system under the name of "consensus" politics.;This dissertation examines the phenomenon of the politicization of the Malian civil service in the context of democratization as a hindrance for its development into the institution needed to support and deliver democracy to citizens. Such an examination is important to uncover a new type of politicization whose objective is not to control the civil service for policy purposes, but rather the elite's organized abuse of the state.;By using the ethnographic method of studying the concept of politicization of the civil service in the context of democratization, this dissertation argues that the phenomenon of politicization of the civil service in the context of democratization has been a hindrance for the civil service development into the institution needed to support and deliver democracy to citizens. This phenomenon of politicization has also destroyed all state institutions and has endangered the democratization and development processes.;The findings of the dissertation show how state leadership has engaged in grand corruption and clientelist practices to reinforce its power. The rupture of the state and its civil service from society, the Malian elite's abuse of the state and its citizens, the joint conspiracy of the administrative and political leaders against the people, and the insidious and organized grand corruption under implementation have caused a crisis in both state authority and state legitimacy as well as the failure of democratization and the development process.