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Kuwait
Bureaucracy
Kuwait's large state bureaucracy emerged in the post-World War
II period as a result of the vast government revenues generated
by oil. Under the first oil concession, oil payments went directly
from the oil companies to the amir, who, along with his advisers,
decided--initially, rather informally--how much of the oil revenues
would be spent and in what ways. The historical elite, notably
the merchants, objected to this arrangement, most notably in the
Majlis Movement of 1938. In time the government instituted ministries,
budgets, financial controls, and other aspects of modern public
administration, partly in response to such public protests and
partly from the practical necessities of carrying out a variety
of new state functions related to oil and to popular distribution
of revenues through state services.
At the top of this bureaucracy is the cabinet, under the prime
minister, a post that historically has been held by the crown
prince. The cabinet is appointed by the amir, who has the power
to dismiss it along with almost every senior executive official,
including the crown prince, local governors, and officers in the
armed forces. Members of the Al Sabah play an important role in
the cabinet. Twelve of the fifteen members in the original postindependence
cabinet appointed in January 1962 were from the ruling family.
Although public criticism led to a reduction in their numbers,
in the 1970s and 1980s a large number of ministers, including
those in the most important posts, came from the ruling family.
The remaining cabinet ministers often came from prominent families
and from members of the National Assembly (see Legislature , this
ch.). These ministers were generally young (in their thirties
and forties), highly educated (nearly half with college degrees,
some with advanced degrees, especially in economics and business,
often from United States universities), and mostly Sunni.
In addition to the cabinet, Kuwait has several autonomous agencies
and public corporations. Their employees and those of the various
ministries comprise the bulk of the nation's civil servants. The
civil service grew tremendously in the years after independence
as the state developed a large bureaucracy devoted to spending
oil revenues. The largest state institutions are those providing
social services, notably education. Historically, this bureaucracy
has been staffed largely by foreigners. Although the government's
policy has been to staff the civil service with Kuwaitis to the
extent possible, and although most employed Kuwaitis work for
the state, the government nonetheless relied heavily on foreigners
to fill positions at all levels before the Iraqi invasion.
A second factor contributing to the growth of the bureaucracy
is the government's guarantee of jobs to all citizens. Not only
does the state guarantee jobs, but it also offers Kuwaitis preferential
treatment in employment, including higher salaries and preference
in advancement over non-Kuwaitis. The government is the largest
employer in the country. Many Kuwaitis prefer government employment
to other positions even when it means undertaking routine tasks
that underuse their skills and time. Others hold jobs in both
the public and the private sectors, working in a government office
in the morning and working privately in the afternoon. Observers
frequently have commented on the country's excessive bureaucracy
and overstaffing, to the extent that several people are often
assigned to what could be one job. Several efforts to reform the
civil service have not reduced the inefficiency and underuse of
available labor.
Data as of January 1993
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