THE ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNMENT

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CHAPTER 8

• THE ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNMENT

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• Development
• Characteristics of Bureaucracy
• Functions of Modern Government Bureaucracies
• Controlling Bureaucracies
• Canadas Public Service

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BUREAUCRACY

• A formal organization characterized by the
  rational operation of a hierarchical authority
  structure and explicit procedural rules
• Bureaucrats tend to arise whenever the activities
  of a group of people have to be co-ordinated in
  terms of explicit impersonal goals.
• The rationality of the bureaucratic form gives it
  a superior efficiency to other methods of
  administration.
• Known as the rule of officialdom

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DEVELOPMENT OF GOVT BUREAUCRACY IN CANADA

• In late 19th C, public service of the day was
  largely unprofessional by current standards made
  up of people whose only expertise amounted to
  reading, writing, some bookkeeping.

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• Until early 20th C, administrators were selected
  and obtained tenure for partisan reasons and
  patronage.
• During 1920s civil service was upgraded from a
  clerical force to a highly qualified group of
  professional policy advisers.
• From 1930 on, a tradition of a non-partisan civil
  service was firmly established (under PM
  Bennett).

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• Today approximately 12 of the labour force works
  for government administration. (all levels)
• Approximately 500,000 work for the federal
  government. (p. 182, p. 187)

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CHARACTERISTICS OF BUREAUCRACIES

• Tasks are distributed among the various
• positions as official duties. (high degree
  of specialization)
• Positions/offices organized into a
  hierarchy (pyramid)
• Formal established system of rules and
  regulations govern officials and their
  actions

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• Officials are expected to assume an
• impersonal orientation in client contact
• and with other officials.

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FUNCTIONS OF MODERN GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRACIES

• Implementation of Policy
• Primary function is the execution and
  enforcement of the laws and regulations passed by
  the executive and legislative branches of govt,
  and ruled by the courts.

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• Formulation of Policy
• Initiate policy proposals based on changing needs
  of their departments and people served. Not only
  does bureaucracy introduce policy they modify,
  abandon, and/or monitor policy

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• Regulation
• Numerous regulations flow from all government
  departments. Every aspect of private, corporate,
  and government behaviour is regulated airlines,
  customs immigration, radio, sport, etc. (CRTC,
  PUB, NEB, CTC). SAFETY regulations

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• Servicing
• Many administrative agencies are created to
  provide government services. Environment Canada
  is a service agency (weather forecasting) Dept.
  of Agriculture conducts research on pest
  control, experimentation, etc. Employment and
  Immigration runs job finding services Health
  Welfare Canada funds and co-ordinates Canadas
  Medicare.

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• Licensing
• As an administrative function, licensing is a
  means of control and source of funds enables
  govts to set standards and qualifications on
  activities having public consequences. Licenses
  requirements eg. driving a car, hunting,
  fishing, practicing medicine, law, teaching,
  selling real estate, etc.

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• Gathering Information
• All bureaucracies gather and store information
  from the outside world. Intake of information
  results in an output of policy or action by the
  political system. Eg. Health Welfare Canada
  collects info on diseases Dept. of Justice
  gathers info on crime and subversion. Census
  Canada gathers info about population in order to
  help govt make policy choices that fit needs of
  the people.

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CONTROLLING BUREAUCRACY

• Presidents, PMs, Ministers, formally control the
  bureaucracy through their powers of appointment
  and removal.
• They also have the power of the purse from which
  bureaucracies are funded and programs planned.
• Executives can tame a bureaucracy by threatening
  to reduce spending and cutting back the size of
  bureaucracy.

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• Bureaucracies fall into line and go along with
  goals of the elected government of the days
  allocation of financial resources among govt
  departments and agencies.
• Assemblies and courts also exercise significant
  external controls. Public inquiries, auditors
  report, questions of MPs/MLAs, etc., all have an
  effect on bureaucratic performance.
• Legislatures can compel bureaucracy to change
  administrative policy by creating a new law, or
  revoking a departments or agencys powers.

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• Auditor General/Provincial Auditor see (p.
  188-189, 192). They are known as the govt
  watchdog.
• Courts have final authority to interpret the law
  and to rule on proper administration and
  enforcement of laws in societyany private
  citizen or corporation can seek legal remedy to
  the courts.
• There is now a legal capacity to blame ministers
  (after 2 cabinet ministers were found guilty of
  contempt of court because of the behaviour of
  their officials in an immigration case) the
  courts have greatly enhanced the direct control
  and accountability of bureaucrats in their
  official functions.

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• Office of ombuds advocates, investigates, and
  publicly criticizes on behalf of citizens who
  complain about unfair bureaucratic treatment.
  (All provinces except PEI have an ombuds. The
  federal govt does not.)
• Pressure groups (Ch. 11) attempt to reform
  bureaucracy. CFIB has prompted many other
  organizations to use public opinion as a way to
  reform tax collection methods of Revenue Canada
  Taxation. (In US, Ralph Nader)
• Mass Media is another avenue for taming an
  unresponsive bureaucracy.

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AUDITOR GENERAL

• Provides a critical appraisal of the
  effectiveness of both public spending and
  accounting practices.
• Is directly responsible to Parliament. In the
  provinces, the provincial auditor is directly
  responsible to the Legislature in the city, the
  city auditor is directly responsible to City
  Councilno auditor is accountable to the
  executive.

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FREEDOM OF INFORMATION and PROTECTION OF PRIVACY
ACT

• Right to examine records which were previously
  kept secret by govt institutions.
• If access is refused, appeal to the Information
  Commissioner, then if necessary to the Courts.
  (p. 189, 192)

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CANADAS PUBLIC SERVICE

• Mostly recruited by Public Service Commission or
  Civil Service Commission, who conduct interviews
  merit is the determining factor.
• Not appointed or removed from their positions for
  political reasons

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• Are directly responsible, through a chain of
  command, to their administrative chain
• Political favouritism sometimes plays a part in
  the choice of job assignments and speed or delay
  in promotion, even though the public service in
  theory rules out politics.
• In 1988, Federal Court of Appeal struck down the
  law that restricted the political rights of
  federal public servants, on the grounds that it
  infringed on their freedom of expression and
  association.

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• Federal Civil Service has 26 departments (June
  1998) Provincial Civil Service has 17
  departments (1998) the key political actor is
  the Cabinet Minister, next in line is the deputy
  minister who is appointed by the PM/Premier and
  does not enjoy permanent tenure. Those at
  subordinate levels are almost exclusively civil
  servants who stay on over the years in contrast
  to those above them who come and go with each
  changing govt or Cabinet shuffle.

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CROWN CORPORATIONS

• An important aspect of public administration in
  Canada
• Are public enterprises in which the govt has the
  controlling interest, and which provide goods and
  services to the public on an administrative or
  commercial basis
• Come about when private enterprise and investment
  are not ready or willing to take the risk to
  promote economic growth

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• Eg. Canada Post, Bank of Canada, CWB, Man.
  Hydro Centra Gas, Autopac, RRC, Wpg. Hydro,
  GWWW, etc.
• Private sector corporate behaviour is
  profit-motivated govt owned corporations
  consider factors such as the unemployment rate,
  welfare, market failures, and national standards
  when operating in a community.

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CROWN CORPORATIONS

• Are government owned

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Mixed Enterprises

• Ownership is shared by the government with
  private enterprise.
• Eg. Canada Development Corporation, Telesat
  Canada.

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Joint Enterprises

• Are public companies such as Nfld. Labrador
  Dev. Corp., North Portage Dev. Corp., in which
  ownership is shared between govtsusually a
  provincial and federal govt

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• All share common criteria
• Majority ownership is held by a govt.
• There is arms-length management strategy
• independent from government.
• Corporate goods and services are directed
• at the private sector, not the govt.
• Prices for goods and services provided by
  
• crown corporations must be fair and
• competitive.

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• Canadian society may be ruled by the politicians,
  but it is governed by the bureaucrats.
• Bureaucracy makes many interpretive decisions
  each daythey have an enormous amount of
  supplementary law making power after bills become
  laws.

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THE END

• Read Chapter 8