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Democracy and Public Administration

Democracy requires mechanisms for both participation and accountability, ensured by an independent judiciary, uncensored media, and free elections. Public administration, however, poses problems for that type of system. It does not fit with the idea of elected public officials because most bureaucrats are not elected, and professional values usually emphasize expertise, limited access, knowledge, and secrecy over accountability, participation, transparency, and democratic control. Growing societal complexity and increasing administrative responsibilities require more specialized bureaucratic professionals, as well as new and varied forms of administrative activity like contracts, grants, and regulation. At the same time, disadvantaged groups and others have turned to government bureaucracy more frequently for various kinds of aid and to demand a greater role in making policies that affect them. Often, the result has been a conflict between the need for professionalism and technical competence, and insistent demands for citizen participation in more aspects of policy making. Bureaucratic accountability in this type of system must be achieved through indirect popular influence through the legislature and chief executive. When technical expertise is required, it is difficult to achieve both popular control and administrative discretion at the same time. In addition to accountability and participation, bureaucracy is also concerned with representativeness. The tendency of bureaucrats and bureaucracies to operate behind a veil of secrecy has triggered efforts to open their activities to public scrutiny. Two such efforts are state and national FOI laws and the so-called sunshine laws requiring that public business be conducted in open forums. Holding government officials accountable for their actions and that of others is crucial to democratic governance, even more so when substantial responsibility is entrusted to nonelected (administrative) personnel.