3 ms·
I recall that in one of my first lectures in my 'public administration' course the teacher explained how a number of high level public servants, practically spe
by mercer 10y ago
I recall that in one of my first lectures in my 'public administration' course the teacher explained how a number of high level public servants, practically speaking, have a lot of power, perhaps more even than the politicians they work for, because they hold the institutional knowledge and have the ear of the politicians who (generally) trust their expertise, across administrations.
It was something I'd never thought about before and it also made me think about term limits and how things are not as simple as they seem.
- FireBeyond 10y agoThe British TV series, "Yes Minister" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes_Minister https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes_Minister) and "Yes Prime Minister" was a satirical series based around exactly that premise - a clueless politician who felt he was making all the decisions, and the actual power-behind-the-scenes bureaucrat who did. Although aging, it is still scarily accurate, if not more so.