The End of the Civil Service?
| Author | Richard A Chapman |
| Published date | 01 September 1992 |
| Date | 01 September 1992 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/014473949201200201 |
| Published By | Sage Publications, Inc. |
Teaching Public
Administration:
Autumn
1992
vol.XlI
no.2
pp.1-5
The
End
of
the
Civil
Service?
RICHARD A CHAPMAN
Department
of
Politics,
University
of
Durham
Until
recently,
the
British
civil
service
was
generally
thought,
by
those
who
served
in
it,
to
be
the
best
in
the
world.
Citizens,
too,
in
so
far
as
they
knew
anything
about
the
institutions
of
British
public
administration,
tended
to
be
proud
of
it.
Anyone who
doubted
this
confidence
had
only
to
compare
British
experience
with
other
countries
and/or
talk
to
many
foreigners
who
came
to
Britain
to
study
it
and
consider
how
some
of
its
best
features
could
be
copies.
By
comparison,
in
other
countries
there
was
often
corruption;
political
influence;
a
lack
of
ethical
standards;
no
tradition
of
public
service;
and all
sorts
of
ineffiCiency,
especially
in
connection
with
recruitment
and
the
management
of
public
finance.
In
Britain
the
civil
service
was
recruited
on
the
basis
of
publicly known
criteria,
by
open
competitions,
administered
by a Civil
Service
Commission,
under
Commissioners
whose
independence
was
ensured
because
they
were
directly
appointed
by
the
Queen.
The
service
was,
for
many
years,
politically
neutral
in a
partisan
sense:
officials
did
not
change
with
governments.
Over
a
considerable
period
of
time,
they
developed a
professional
pride
with
ethical
standards
that
were
generally
learned
not
from
formal
training
sessions
or
from
codes
or
statements
that
had
the
status
of
law,
but
from
socialisation
and
learning
from
experience.
They
were
sensitive
to
the
constraints
of
the
political
environment
in which
they
worked
but,
whatever
their
personal
ideologies,
they
believed
in
the
values
of
a public
service
which
put
the
interests
of
citizens
before
their
own
or
those
of
political
parties.
They
also
received
personal
satisfaction
from
the
management
techniques
they
pioneered
and
developed
and
from
providing
services
that
gave
citizens
generally,
and
not
just
customers
of
particular
services,
good
value
for
the
taxes
and
other
revenues
raised
by
government.
There
were
a
number
of
practical
reasons
why
this
civil
service
was
so
respected.
The
absence
of
corruption
and
political
influence
in
the
executive
operations
of
government
were
thought
to
be
consistent
with
the
highest
aspirations
of
democratic
government,
and
especially
well
suited
to
the
British
political
and
administrative
culture.
The
ethical
standards
put
the
interests
of
citizens
foremost
and did
not
result
in
personal
glory
or
financial
benefits
to
particular
officials;
instead
the
officials
remained
anonymous in a
system
which
made
politicians
publicly
accountable.
The
civil
service
was
seen
as
a
highly
developed
organisation
containing
many
outstandingly
able
people
whose
achievements
justly
earned
admiration
and
praise,
especially
in
comparison
with
the
lesser
achievements
and
significant
failures
of
comparable
work in business
or
industry.
Many
of
these
good Qualities
were
achieved
piecemeal,
over
long
periods
of
time.
They
were
not
the
result
of
major
statutes
or
great
constitutional
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