Tuesday, 1 July 2014

Role of civil services in a democracy

Democracy is a means for the people to choose their leaders and to hold their leaders accountable for their policies and their conduct in office. In a democracy the supreme power is vested with the people and is exercised directly by them or their elected agents. The elected agents have the authorization to govern the society for a specific period. The elected representatives cannot work alone or on their own and here the role of the civil services comes into play. The civil services with the deepest knowledge, experience and understanding of public affairs lends a helping hand to the elected representatives in formulating the policies and in turn implementing these policies. The changing needs of the society have led to an evolution in the role played by the civil services.