The late M. de Gournay… sometimes used to say: “We have an illness in France which bids fair to play havoc with us; this illness is called bureaumania.” Sometimes he used to invent a fourth or fifth form of government under the heading of “bureaucracy.”

— Baron von Grimm (1723-1807

Introduction

Bureaucracy or the Civil Service constitutes the permanent and professional part of the executive organ of government. Usually described as the non-political or politically neutral, permanent, and professionally trained civil service, it runs the administration of the state according to the policies and laws of the government. Upon the qualities and efficiency of bureaucracy depends the quality and efficiency of the state administration. It, however, works under the leadership and control of the Political Executive.

Bureaucracy: Meaning and Definition

The terms bureaucracy, civil service, public servants, public service, civil servants, government service, government servants, officials of government, officials, permanent executive and non-political executive are used to describe all such persons who carry out the day to day administration of the state. The terms Bureaucracy’ and ‘Civil Service’ are popularly used as synonyms.

In a narrow sense the term Bureaucracy is used to denote those important and higher level public servants who occupy top level positions in the state administration. In the broad sense, it refers to all the permanent employees of the government right from the peons and clerks to the top-level officials. Presently, we use the term in its broader dimension. Some of the definitions given about bureaucracy are as follows

(1) “Bureaucracy means the civil servants, the administrative functionaries who are professionally trained for the public service and who enjoy permanency of tenure, promotion within service-partly by seniority and partly by merit.” -Garner

 (2) “In its broad larger sense, the term Civil Service is used to describe any personnel system where the employees are classified in a system of administration composed of a hierarchy, sections, divisions, bureaus, departments and the like.” -Willoughby

(3) “Civil Service/Bureaucracy is a professional body of officials permanent, paid and skilled.” -Finer

Bureaucracy: Main Features:

In every country, the bureaucratic set up has certain common features such as

Permanent Character:  The civil servants hold permanent jobs in government departments. They mostly join their services during their youths and continue to work as government servants till the age of retirement which is usually 58 to 60 years.Hierarchical Organisation: Bureaucracy is hierarchically organised in several levels. Each official is placed at a particular level of hierarchy and he enjoys the privileges and powers which are available to his co-level officials. He is under his immediate higher-level officials and is above his immediately lower level officials. The principle of rule of the higher over the lower governs the inter-relations between various levels of bureaucracy.Non-partisan Character:  The members of the Bureaucracy are not directly involved in politics. They cannot join political parties and participate in political movements. They are not affected by the political changes which keep on coming in the political executive. Whichever party may come to power and make the government, the civil servants remain politically neutral and carry out their assigned departmental roles impartially and faithfully.Professional, Trained and Expert Class: The Bureaucracy constitutes the educated and professionally trained class of persons which helps the political executive in carrying out its functions. The members of civil service are recruited through competitive examinations for appearing in which they have to possess some minimum educational qualifications. Before their appointments, they get special trainings. During the course of their service they attend orientation and refresher courses. They have the knowledge, training and expertise necessary for carrying out their administrative work.Fixed Salaries: Each member of the Bureaucracy receives a fixed salary. Right at the time of appointment he is allotted a scale of pay, which depends upon the nature and level of his job-responsibility. All the civil servants belonging to a particular class of administrative hierarchy are placed in one scale of pay. Each job also entitles them to some allowances.Bound by Rules and Regulations: The Bureaucracy always works in accordance with ‘rules and regulations’. ‘Strict obedience to rules’, ‘Through Proper Channel’, ‘Decision-making after satisfying the rules’, are the principles which always guide, direct and regulate the working of bureaucracy. Each official works only within the sphere prescribed for him by the rules of his department.Class Consciousness: The Civil Servants are highly class conscious. They jealously work to protect and promote the interests of their class of civil servants. They are called the white-collar class because of their faith in their ‘superior status’ as government officials.Public Service Spirit as the Ideal: Modern Bureaucracy identifies itself with public service spirit. It always tries to project itself as the civil servants devoted to the promotion of public welfare through the satisfaction of public needs. They are expected to behave as ‘officers’ responsible for public welfare, with service as their motto.Bound by a Code of Conduct: The civil servants have to follow a code of conduct. They must act in a disciplined way. Their rights, duties and privileges stand clearly defined. The procedure of work is definite and settled. They can be punished for misbehaviour, incompetence or negligence or for a violation of their conduct rules. In short, Bureaucracy is characterised by political neutrality, professional competence, permanent/ stable tenure, fixed salaries and strict obedience to rules.

Role of Bureaucracy

In a well-functioning public administration, bureaucracy has four crucial roles to play

Assisting Public Representatives: In a democratic setup, policy formulation is the privilege of the elected representatives at different levels of governance. While at the federal/Provincial level, it is the cabinet which formulates the policies, in case of a federal ministry or provincial department, it is the Minister in charge who is responsible for the formulation of policies for his/her ministry and its attached departments.However, it is the Bureaucracy which plays an active role in this exercise. Bureaucrats being repository of institutional knowledge along with their experience serve as guides to their respective ministers in formulating these policies. They not only give vital inputs for this purpose but in most of the cases put up the first draft of any public policy and supply the data needed by the political executive. The Political Executive then adopts this  policy with necessary amendments  as the governmental policy for his ministry/department.Public Policy Implementation: While public policy formulation is the privilege of the elected representatives at different tiers of governance, its faithful implementation is the duty of the bureaucracy. For implementing this policy, the bureaucracy devises strategies and procedures and ensures that policy objectives are efficiently and effectively achievedPublic Management: This is the inherent jurisdiction of the bureaucracy vested in them usually by the parliament or the President/Prime Minister. It can range from collecting taxes, spending public funds, providing public goods and services (health/education/water etc) To run the day to day administration in accordance with the policies, laws, rules, regulations and decisions of the government is also the key responsibility of the Bureaucracy. The political executive simply exercises guiding, controlling and supervising functions.Redressing Public Grievances: During the performance of their duties or otherwise, if anyone is adversely affected, listening to him/her and redressing their grievances is part of the functions of a bureaucratAdvisory Function: One of the important functions of the Bureaucracy is to advise the political executive. The ministers receive all the information and advice regarding the functioning of their respective departments from the civil servants. As amateurs, the ministers have little knowledge about the functions of their departments. They, therefore, depend upon the advice of bureaucracy. As qualified, experienced and expert civil servants working in all government departments, they provide expert and professional advice and information to the ministers.Role in Legislative Work: The civil servants play an important but indirect role in law-making. They draft the bills which the ministers submit to the legislature for law-making. The ministers provide all the information asked for by the legislature by taking the help of the civil servants.Semi-judicial Work: The emergence of the system of administrative justice, under which several types of the cases and disputes are decided by the executive, has further been a source of increased semi-judicial work of the bureaucracy. The disputes involving the grant of permits, licences, tax concessions, quotas etc. are now settled by the civil servants.Collection of Taxes and Disbursement of Financial Benefits: The civil servants play a vitally important role in financial administration. They advise the political executive in respect of all financial planning, tax-structure, tax-administration and the like. They collect taxes and settle disputes involving recovery of taxes. They play a vital role in preparing the budget and taxation proposals. They carry out the function of granting of legally sanctioned financial benefits, tax relief, subsidies and other concessions to the people.Record-Keeping: The Civil Service has the sole responsibility of keeping systematically all government records. They collect, classify and analyse all data pertaining to all activities of the government. They collect and maintain vital socio­economic statistics which are used for the formulation of Public policies and plans.Role in Public Relations: The era of modern welfare state and democratic politics has made it essential for the government to keep close relations with the people of the state. The need for maintaining active and full public relations is a vital necessity of every state. The civil servants play an active role in this sphere. They become the Ears and Eyes of the State by keeping the political elite informed about issues needing formulation of public policy. They are the main agents who establish direct contacts with the people. They serve as a two-way link. On the one hand, they communicate all government decisions to the people, and on the other hand, they communicate to the government the needs, interests and views of the people. Thus, Bureaucracy plays a vigorously active and highly important role in the working of the government.

Why Bureaucracy enjoys such power and control

Throughout history, there has been a constant complaint against the increased role and influence of the bureaucracy in almost every country. There are several reasons for this tendency of the bureaucrats to play a larger than life role in the country

Structural Strength: Structural foundations of bureaucracy, based on the Weberian organisational model, is inherently very powerful. Its hierarchical structure leads to a concentration of power in few hands. Specialization mixed with long experience makes the bureaucrats experts in their respective fields which further enhances their power and control. Web of networking, their mutual respects for one another, and appointment of their senior colleagues as the head of administrative courts/tribunals to carry out their accountability frustrate any effort of the elected representatives to take them to the task. This is further exacerbated by the fact that career bureaucrats are tenured civil servants who can be removed only by a lengthy and cumbersome procedure.Bureaucracy is State: No doubt, it is the public representatives who formulate the policies, but it is the bureaucracy that implements those policies for which they have the power to interpret the rules on the point of its implementation and use force if needed. Thus, for the man on the street, bureaucracy is the state-the regulator, the facilitator, and the service provider. They become the Ear and Eyes of the State by keeping the political elite informed about issues needing formulation of public policy. They serve as a two-way link. On the one hand, they communicate all government decisions to the people, and on the other hand, they communicate to the government the needs, interests, and views of the people.Weak Oversight: While the bureaucracy becomes powerful because of its accumulated experience and professional expertise, its handlers, the political representatives fail to provide a strong oversight for one reason or another. They come into the picture for a short period, always worrying about their next elections for which they need the assistance of these very bureaucrats in their respective constituencies.Weak Civil Society and Media: Although they are under great scrutiny by the civil society organisations on the one hand and the media on the other, yet they can outmanoeuvre them by sheer dint of their dexterity, control over information and finances, and their proximity to the political elite who protect them for their own vested interest

How to control Bureaucracy

Keeping in view the above mentioned increased role of modern civil servants in statecraft and public management, every nation-state tries to have strict control over its bureaucracy to prevent the civil servants from abusing their powers as well as for ensuring their active and positive role. For this purpose, there are usually two types of controls in vogue all over the world. 

Internal Control: Being a hierarchical organisation, it is convenient and cost-effective to apply internal controls on the working of the bureaucracy by judiciously and prudently using various tools available. These tools of control are budgeting, accounting, auditing, reports, inspections, efficiency surveys, personnel control, code of conduct, and discipline and leadership control. In particular, regular internal inspections, auditing of accounts, and evaluation of the performance of each civil several acts as the main means of internal control over BureaucracyExternal control: Notwithstanding the convenience and effectiveness of internal controls to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness in the working of the bureaucratic machinery, there is always a need to have effective checks and balances on bureaucracy from outside. In this respect, parliament is the best institution to exercise this control through its various committees. It could be supplemented by the media and the civil society organisation. Lastly, the judiciary is the ultimate external control on the misuse of authority by the bureaucracy.