The term executive, in its broadest sense, includes not only the head of the State, but also the entire body of administrative officials, high and low.
The real work of administration is done by the permanent members of the government. In fact, the work of government would never be done, if there were only the Ministers.
It is true that each department of administration is headed by a Minister, but it is not his, business to run the department. His business is to see that the department pursues a definite policy and runs in a certain direction. Those who actually run the department and implement the policies of the government are known as members of the permanent Civil or Administrative Service.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
They have a permanent status and tenure and are selected for their administrative capacity alone. They have no interest in party politics and do not go out of office when a Ministry changes. Permanency of tenure gives to the Administrative Services security of service, and specialisation in their field of work.
Permanent civil servants are the reservoir of experience and knowledge. They furnish to Ministers and legislature all information necessary for shaping and enacting policies on a multitude of subjects. Laski says, “Every State is enormously dependent upon the quality of its public officials.”
The term Civil Service, therefore, covers the large number of officials necessary to run the machinery of government. This enormous mass that goes into hundreds of thousands in a large State is divided into various ministries or departments, together with a multitude of field officers.
At the top is a Minister, an amateur and a political head of the department, and immediately below him are the departmental Secretaries and Deputy Secretaries, who share with him the direct framing and execution of departmental policy.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Then, there are persons of different categories, at the bottom the most junior clerks, employed in the carrying out of ministerial orders and doing all routine work connected therewith. These orders are implemented by officials of the relevant department spread throughout the country.