Political Executive vs Permanent Executive
Notes
The executive has two parts: the political executive (the elected ministers) and the permanent executive (the civil servants).
Basis | Political Executive | Permanent Executive |
|---|---|---|
Composition | President/Governor, PM/CM, Council of Ministers | Civil servants (IAS, IPS, IFS, Central and State services) |
Selection | Elected (or appointed from the elected legislature) | Recruited on merit through UPSC/SPSC |
Tenure | Temporary; changes with elections | Permanent until retirement |
Function | Policy-making and direction | Policy advice and implementation |
Accountability | To the legislature and voters | To the minister (ministerial responsibility) and law |
Nature | Partisan | Neutral and anonymous |
Expertise | Generalist, political judgement | Administrative and technical expertise |
Relationship
- Ministers decide policy and answer to Parliament for their department (ministerial responsibility); civil servants provide advice, implement and remain anonymous.
- A Secretary heads each ministry; the Cabinet Secretary coordinates; in States the Chief Secretary; in districts the District Collector. The Allocation of Business Rules and Transaction of Business Rules govern the work.
- Politics-administration dichotomy (Woodrow Wilson, 1887): politics sets policy, administration executes; in practice the boundary blurs.
Issues: politicisation and a "committed bureaucracy" (a debate from the 1970s), interference in transfers, lack of fixed tenure, civil servants' reluctance to take decisions, and the dilution of neutrality. Remedies: fixed tenures, Civil Services Board (T.S.R. Subramanian, 2013), transparent postings, codes of ethics, and training.
Key Points
- Political executive: elected, temporary, makes policy.
- Permanent executive: merit-based, permanent, implements policy.
- Ministerial responsibility to Parliament; anonymity of civil servants.
- Politics-administration dichotomy (Wilson, 1887).
- Key issue: politicisation and transfers.
MCQs
Q1. The permanent executive consists of: (a) Council of Ministers (b) Civil servants (c) Members of Parliament (d) Governors Ans: (b).
Q2. The principle that ministers answer to Parliament for their departments is called: (a) Ministerial responsibility (b) Anonymity (c) Neutrality (d) Federalism Ans: (a).
Q3. The politics-administration dichotomy was propounded by: (a) Max Weber (b) Woodrow Wilson (c) Henri Fayol (d) Luther Gulick Ans: (b). 1887.