Governments oversee the affairs of the nation assisted and advised by a number of individuals and groups. Also in modern democratic countries by parties and legislatures with the bureaucracy at their disposal. The traditional view is that the political directorate formulates policy and the great increase in the complexity of governmental activities as well as being responsive to the demands of citizens. The division of responsibility between politician and bureaucrats make it increasingly difficult to employ the concept.
The administration of policy implementation, the underlying concept is that the public sector should be politically neutral in a partisan sense. Since the function of the public sector should be parallel to the public interest, in providing public goods and services, not supplied by the public sector. To do otherwise can impede efficiency and foster corruption. Bureaucracy roe therefore is to oversee the political process.
The cabinet is the supreme decision making authority in the Parliamentary systems of government but it is merely advisory in Presidential systems because it is based on the separation of power principle. Both President and Legislature are elected directly by the people. In order to identify the functioning role of both the political directorate and the bureaucracy, there exist two (2) major doctrines, that of the Collective Responsibility of Cabinet to Parliament and the doctrine of Individual Responsibility of Ministers to Parliament. In the first doctrine, the cabinet commands the support of the majority in the Legislature of elected members which is known as the confidence rule. Whereby members of Cabinet can express themselves freely without fear of Public censure. The Confidentiality rule and the Unanimity rule implies that ministers should not speak with one voice in terms of making decisions in Cabinet. The bureaucratic systems would then function effectively because one government policy would be implemented.
Another bureaucratic responsibility to ministers is the Advice rule, the Culpability rule and the Propriety rule. The first implies that ministers are entitled to departmental advice in performance of their duties but only that are responsible for there decisions in the end result. The second states that ministers are personally responsible for any errors of policy attributed to them, to which they are personally involved. The last rule ensures that ministers conduct themselves with a certain degree of professionalism and personal propriety benefiting the office of ministers. The government constitutes a team and presents a united front. This facilitates policy formulation and implementation.
The public administration is not viewed as simply as a politically neutral, technical and managerial endeavor without political choices. Reliance of the widespread use of political patronage in recruiting, selecting ad promoting public employees is an effort to ensure administrative responsiveness. Patronage is used to instill accountability to ensure sustainability of political parties.
Despite there being defined roles for bureaucracy and political directorates, the boundaries appear to be getting obscured as modern day bureaucracies experience a growth in administrative complication in handling matters. Moreover, its close relationship to political ideals regarding the scope of state interference between citizens rights and responsibility of politicians. The bureaucrats make it increasingly difficult to draw a line between the two.
