Part II: The Structure of Bureaucracy and the Canadian Political System

1. Part II: The Structure of Bureaucracy and the Canadian Political System The Political-Bureaucratic Interface (Cont’d) October 5th

2. Individual Ministerial Responsibility – Shaping the Political/Bureaucratic Relationship • the individual minister demands from their senior bureaucrats... • loyalty in service • honesty in advice • refrain from public comment = public service neutrality

3. Individual Ministerial Responsibility – Shaping the Political/Bureaucratic Relationship • the senior bureaucrats agree to public service neutrality in exchange for... • official anonymity • promotion based on merit • security of tenure

4. Roles and Responsibilities of Ministers and Deputy Ministers • the politics-administration dichotomy (conceptual) • policy – what should be done • administration – how it should be done • does this distinction seem workable? • this is the ideal to strive toward even if impossible to achieve • the politics-administration distinction in reality • Minister predominates in policy • Deputy Minister predominates in administration

5. Roles and Responsibilities of Ministers and Deputy Ministers • the role of the Minister • cabinet/departmental link • minister represents department in cabinet (advocate) • minister represents cabinet to the department • approves/initiates broad policy decisions • ratifying solutions to problems identified by the civil service • referring policy problems to the civil service for solutions • answers publicly for the actions of the department

6. Roles and Responsibilities of Ministers and Deputy Ministers • the role of the Deputy Minister • appointed by PM but answers directly to Minister • administration • staffing • financial control • policy • presenting policy options to the Minister in response to ministerial requests • accountability • investigating and correcting problems at the behest of the Minister (with Minister reporting publicly)

7. PUBLIC SERVICE VALUES The “Swivel Service”?

8. Political-Bureaucratic Conflict – Potential Sources • personal • ideological • bureaucracy developed under one partisan gov’t facing new government • territorial • e.g. defending bureaucratic turf against political intrusion • defending bureaucratic expansionism (esp. budgets) against retrenchment • bureaucrats as “budget-maximizers” • innovation (political) vs. stasis (bureaucratic) • fundamental conservatism of bureaucracy as an organizational form • systemic • the result of each of the different actors adequately performing their different roles

9. Subjective vs. Objective Responsibility Objective Responsibility re: Finer Central Concept: Political Responsibility Focus: controls Subjective Responsibility re: Friedrich Central Concept: Moral Responsibility Focus: ethics

10. Accountability/Responsibility of the Senior Public Service • subjective vs. objective responsibility • explicit political controls are not enough if there is no sense of subjective responsibility (Friedrich) • importance of public service values

11. PROCEDURAL neutrality accountability responsiveness (political) integrity (ethics) fairness and equity (procedural) SUBSTANTIVE public interest efficiency/effectiveness responsiveness (public) fairness and equity (substantive) Procedural vs. Substantive Public Service Values

12. The Public Service... • “The public service is a special calling. It is not for everyone. Those who devote themselves to it find meaning and satisfaction that are not to be found elsewhere. But the rewards are not material. They are moral and psychological, perhaps even spiritual. They are the intangible rewards that proceed from the sense of devoting one’s life to the service of the country, to the affairs of state, to public purposes, great or small, and to the public good.” The Tait Report

13. The Public Service... • “The notion of public interest is a touchstone of motivation for public servants. It is for the public service what justice and liberty are for the legal profession, or what healing and mercy are for the medical profession.” The Tait Report • “The public service is there to remind elected leaders to do those things we should do but for which there is no immediate political gain.” Former Ontario Premier Bob Rae

14. The Public Service... • “Speaking truth to power” • the corollorary of “honesty in advice” • What would be the characteristics of a senior bureaucracy likely (and able) to perform this type of function? • What type of person is likely to develop these types of values?

15. The Career Public Service • benefits • speaking truth to power/long-term view of the public good • official anonymity & security of tenure • expertise/capability • performance based on merit • drawbacks • may not be politically responsive • may become ossified • rigid adherence to accepted policies • may challenge political leadership

16. The Paradox of Public Service Values • demand high ethical standards of public servants • requires people devoted to public service • people with high ethical standards will have strong values/beliefs • may bring them into conflict with elected officials • demand people who are highly capable • capable of challenging elected leadership • built-in tension between bureaucratic and elected officials • may generate considerable conflict between public service and elected officials • systemic – e.g. the system operates this way by design • may raise issues of democratic control

17. Bureaucratic-Political Conflict • what if there is no evidence of conflict between bureaucratic and elected officials? • are bureaucrats doing their job? • i.e. “speaking truth to power” • “...reminding political officials of things they should do but for which there is no immediate political gain” • have elected officials been captured by the bureaucracy?

18. The Paradox of Public Service Values • bureaucratic domination • how serious a problem?? • depends on... • the model of democracy in question!! • bureaucratic surrender • how serious a problem?? • depends on... • the model of democracy in question!! • ...on which side would you err??