The Public Service

Independence, Responsibility and Responsiveness

Bibliographic Data

ID11959031
AuthorsMichael Keating AC (Australian National University, corresponding author)
Year1999
Volume58
Issue1
Pages39-47
Publication date1999-03-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAustralian Journal of Public Administration (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0313-6647 • E-ISSN: 1467-8500
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1467-8500.00069
OpenAlexW2161608517
LanguageEN
Citations received5

In recent years there has been controversy surrounding the issues of the independence, responsibility and responsiveness of our public services. Critics come from two opposing directions: (i) there have been charges of politicisation of the public service, with the implication that it has lost its independence and become dominated by the government; (ii) Pusey (1991) has accused ‘economic rationalists’ in the public service of pursuing their own neo‐classical agenda and dominating government policy. Both criticisms reveal a misunderstanding of the respective roles and responsibilities of ministers and public servants and the proper relations between them. In our system of democratic government, it is the prerogative of ministers to decide and the role of departments to propose and advise and then implement the decisions of ministers. This contribution begins by considering the respective responsibilities of ministers and officials, before canvassing the charges of politicisation and what should be expected from public servants in contributing to policy development. Finally there is consideration of the ethical values of public servants and what responsibility they might have for the ‘public interest’

Democracy · Government (linguistics · Independence (probability theory · Political science · Politics · Prerogative · Public service · Sociology · Foucault, Power, and Ethics · Law · Ombudsman and Human Rights · Public Administration · Public Policy and Administration Research

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