In administration is it called bureaucracy? This is a question that is becoming increasingly pertinent as the days go by. Has the civil service been able to live up to the expectation of the people who it was appointed to serve? Has it followed the role that the constitution bestowed upon it or has it usurped a role for itself, which gives it more powers and privileges and a redefined value system that is conveniently flexible? The answers to these daunting questions are depressing. The bureaucracy has more or less failed the people as public servants and has also failed their political counterparts as straightforward advisers on policy formulation. Perhaps one most important step to be taken is to view critically the existing relationship between the policy maker and the policy implementer, i.e., the politician and the civil servant.
Unfortunately, the executive arm follows the diktat, said and unsaid, of the political head. Where the political head is committed to public welfare and takes to heart the oath he swears to uphold the provisions of the constitution, the executive arm has no option but to follow suit.