POL214Y5 Lecture 12: 12. Bureaucracy
Document Summary
Even though the bureaucracy, or public service, is generally not as visible as the other three branches of government, it is no less important. The traditional function of the bureaucracy is that of policy implementation administering policies established by the prime minister, cabinet, and parliament. The bureaucracy is delegated wide quasi-legislative" powers to make subordinate rules on its own. The bureaucracy engages in interest articulation in the sense of various departments speaking up from their own concerns or helping to advance the demand of their principle clientele. The bureaucracy may be a source of demands, since administrators of a program are likely to be among the first to recognize its inadequacies. The bureaucrats advise on almost every decision, but the prime minister and ministers actually make the political decisions. Government departments are created and reorganized by acts of parliament, which also set out the responsibilities of each.
