Bureaucracy plays a key role in running the Public Administration e by performing the following functions:
- It is the responsibility of the bureaucracy to carry out and implement the policies of the government. Good policies and laws can really serve their objectives only when these are efficiently implemented by the civil servants.
- Policy-making is the function of the political executive. However, the Bureaucracy plays an active role in this exercise. Civil Servants supply the data needed by the political executive for formulating the policies. In fact, Civil servants formulate several alternative policies and describe the merits and demerits of each. The Political Executive then selects and adopts one such policy alternative as the governmental policy.
- One of the important functions of the Bureaucracy is to advise the political executive. The ministers receive all the information and advice regarding the functioning of their respective departments from the civil servants. As amateurs, the ministers have little knowledge about the functions of their departments.
Bottlenecks faced by bureaucracy
Shortfall in personnel
Overall shortage of personnel, especially in mid-level and higher level services as highlighted by the Baswan Committee Report (2016) leads to delay in service, burden on existing staff, etc.
Undue political interference
This often results in frequent transfers of those who challenge the political executive, de-motivating others from taking a stand, thus undermining the public’s faith in bureaucracy.
Lack of specialized skills among bureaucrats
In decisions regarding promotion and staffing, general competency is valued. However, lack of specialised skills can make them redundant in a fast changing world.