The Responsible Public Servant

This paper examines why there is so much uncertainty as to what constitutes responsible bureaucratic behaviour and how this uncertainty came about. It discusses the concept of public interest, and examines the duty of the public servant to adhere to the constitutional convention of political neutrality. It also addresses the two interrelated issues of confidentiality and privacy, and analyses the public servant's duty of service to the public. In addition, it looks at the issues of interpretation in the examination of conflict of interest, the public servant's duty to be accountable for her or his decisions and recommendations, and what institutional means and techniques can be used to strengthen and encourage responsible public service.

This book makes a new approach to Canadian politics, from the administrative side. It provides, first, a description of the evolution and structure of the administrative machine which, with few fundamental changes, still serves the Canadian nation, and in the process it attempts to acknowledge and appraise the hitherto unsung contributions of the public servant to the welfare of a pioneer community. A second objective is to disclose the presence in the pioneer public service of certain basic administrative issues which today still rise to perplex both the student and practitioner of public administration. And, finally, this study reveals a neglected aspect of the winning of responsible government in Canada—the author contends that the recognition of the constitutional principle on the political level, did not, in fact, coincide with its practical implementation at the administrative level. As Dr. R. MacGregor Dawson points out in his Foreword, "Few students, on suspects, appreciate how great has been the influence of the permanent officials in the years before Confederation, nor do they have an adequate comprehension of the degree to which administrative decisions of those days, both by Ministers and officials, determined many of the present practices. An astonishingly large number of the problems, moreover, will be found to have remained substantially the same for the past hundred years. The scheme of departmental organization, the delegation of authority and the allotment of responsibility, the application of financial controls, the intricate give and take between the political non-technical Minister and the technically trained specialist—these in some aspect or another have been the constant concern of the administrator: a different time, a different place, has simply shifted the emphasis a little one way or the other." Professor Hodgetts writes with humour and point; his book is a brilliant addition to the Canadian Government Series, in which it is the seventh volume to appear.

Canada's machinery of government is out of joint. In Breaking the Bargain, Donald J. Savoie reveals how the traditional deal struck between politicians and career officials that underpins the workings of our national political and administrative process is today being challenged. He argues that the role of bureaucracy within the Canadian political machine has never been properly defined, that the relationship between elected and permanent government officials is increasingly problematic, and that the public service cannot function if it is expected to be both independent of, and subordinate to, elected officials. While the public service attempts to define its own political sphere, the House of Commons is also in flux: the prime minister and his close advisors wield ever more power, and cabinet no longer occupies the policy ground to which it is entitled. Ministers, who have traditionally been able to develop their own roles, have increasingly lost their autonomy. Federal departmental structures are crumbling, giving way to a new model that eschews boundaries in favour of sharing policy and program space with outsiders. The implications of this functional shift are profound, having a deep impact on how public policies are struck, how government operates, and, ultimately, the capacity for accountability.

This timely book examines recent history and ongoing controversies as it makes the case for restoring power to where it belongs - with the people's elected representatives in Parliament.

Conflicts of interest in both the public and private sectors have become a major matter of public concern world-wide. The OECD Guidelines define a conflict of interest as occurring when a public official has private-capacity interests which could improperly influence the performance of their official duties and responsibilities. However, identifying a specific conflict of interest in practice can be difficult. And resolving the conflicting interests appropriately in a particular case is something that most people find even more challenging. The Toolkit focuses on specific techniques, resources and strategies for: Identifying, managing and preventing conflict-of-interest situations more effectively; and Increasing integrity in official decision-making, which might be compromised by a conflict of interest. This Toolkit provides non-technical, practical help to enable officials to recognise problematic situations and help them to ensure that integrity and reputation are not compromised. The tools themselves are provided in generic form. They are based on examples of sound conflict-of-interest policy and practice drawn from various OECD member and non-member countries. They have been designed for adaptation to suit countries with different legal and administrative systems. FURTHER READING: Managing Conflict of Interest in the Public Service: OECD Guidelines and Country Experiences

Very little happens in government without money. The real impact of policy pronouncements is only understood when the resources to implement them are known, secured, and spent. Canadian Public-Sector Financial Management is for the student and practitioner of public administration, not the finance specialist. Andrew Graham focuses on understanding the public-sector financial environment and the accounting framework. He moves then to the core elements of the financial management process itself (securing funds or the budget process), managing the spending of those funds (control and in-year budget management and reporting), and evaluating how the funds were spent (internal reporting, external reporting, audit, and oversight). This third edition updates the accounting framework, places a stronger emphasis on risk management skills throughout the cycle, particularly in in-year budget control, and updates external reporting as governments look for different and more useful ways to report their financial and program results.

Although it is seldom recognised as such by the public, the civil service is a profession like any other. The UK civil service employs 400,000 people across the country, with over 20,000 students and graduates applying to enter every year through its fast-stream competition alone. Martin Stanley's seminal How to Be a Civil Servant was the first guidebook to the British civil service ever published. It remains the only comprehensive guide on how civil servants should effectively carry out their duties, hone their communication skills and respond to professional, ethical and technical issues relevant to the job. It addresses such questions as: How do you establish yourself with your minister as a trusted adviser? How should you feed the media so they don’t feed on you? What’s the best way to deal with potential conflicts of interest? This fully updated new edition provides the latest advice, and is a must-read for newly appointed civil servants and for those looking to enter the profession – not to mention students, academics, journalists, politicians and anyone with an interest in the inner workings of the British government.