The Changing Political Role of the Hong Kong Civil Servant

Bibliographic Data

ID2886575
AuthorsKathleen Cheek-Milby (University of Hong Kong, corresponding author)
Year1989
Volume62
Issue2
Pages219
Publication date1989-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenuePacific Affairs (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0030-851X • E-ISSN: 1715-3379
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/2760580
OpenAlexW2324055769
LanguageEN
Citations received6

R ECENTLY THERE HAS BEEN much focus upon the political role of civil servants in the initiation, determination, as well as implementation of public policy. While historically the politics/administration dichotomy was recognized as the first paradigm in the field of public administration,' the ideal Weberian distinction between politicians who make policy and bureaucrats who merely implement it has been found to be an invalid characterization of most modern states. Yet Weber was quite accurate in his prediction of the two powerful currents of the twentieth century -namely the modern bureaucracy and the rise of professional politicians.2 As a consequence, these two greatest shapers of the modern state have been the focus of much research leading some to conclude, On no single dilemma has more ink been spilled by political scientists in the last quartercentury than on the relative power and roles of the bureaucracy, on the one hand, and of representative institutions, such as parties and legislatures, on the other. I Contemporary scholars have been increasingly concerned with the interaction between the bureaucrats and politicians, with their relative degree of influence, and with their conflict or convergence in the policymaking process.4 Analysis has focused upon determining the self

Civil servant · Civil servants · Political science · Politics · Servant · Engineering · Labor Movements and Unions · Law

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