Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance

Living Edition
| Editors: Ali Farazmand

Bureaucracy and Politicians: Dynamics and Challenges

Living reference work entry
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_3293-1
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Synonyms

Conflict between bureaucrats and politicians; Politics-administration dichotomy; Politics-bureaucrats relationship: Adversaries or Partnerships?

Definition

Bureaucracy and politicians is a concept that refers to the theoretical relationship between bureaucrats and politicians in the affairs of the state. While defining politicians and bureaucrats, Wilson (1887: 210) stated that “politics is state activity in this great and universal, while administration, on the other hand, is the activity of the state in individual and small things.” According to Wilson, “politics is thus the special province of the statesman, administration of the technical officials. Policy does nothing without the aid of administration, but administration is not therefore politics” (Wilson 1887: 209–210). Thus, this concept is used to provide a clarification about the role of bureaucrats and politicians in the administration of the state.

Introduction

Elected politicians and appointed bureaucrats are two...

Keywords

Civil Servant Policy Process Policy Implementation Democratic Government Dichotomy Model 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of Public AdministrationUniversity of RajshahiRajshahiBangladesh