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Civil servants are a-political so why would you need to fire them? A civil servant carries out whatever law is enacted by the government. The bureaucracy is a

by Yeul 2y ago

Civil servants are a-political so why would you need to fire them? A civil servant carries out whatever law is enacted by the government. The bureaucracy is a tool and tools don't have a will.

jowea 2y ago
> Civil servants are a-political so why would you need to fire them? Have you watched the British documentary series "Yes, Minister"?
- exe34 2y ago
  you mistake lethargy for strategy!
  - simmo9000 2y ago
    All place every experience in a category. One "man's" lethargy is another's strategy. Look and you see it. We all be it.
BurningFrog 2y ago
Like any other worker, they should be fired when they don't do their job well enough. Civil servants are people like you and me, and have as strong will as anyone.
gbacon 2y ago
This ignores the self-interest of civil servants, which they most definitely have and is the basis for public choice theory. Building upon economic theory, public choice has a few core tenets. One is that no decision is made by an aggregate whole. Rather, decisions are made by combined individual choices. A second is the use of markets in the political system. A third is the self-interested nature of everyone in a political system. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_choice https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_choice
lucianbr 2y ago
> The bureaucracy is a tool and tools don't have a will. As if it's not made of humans. This view is in grave error. Nobody is perfectly rational, nobody is beyond bias or subjectivty, nobody is beyond human emotions.
scott_w 2y ago
I don’t think this is strictly true. There are documented cases where, for better or worse, apolitical civil servants undermined politicians. Rory Stewart’s book has some great examples.
bjourne 2y ago
One reason is scapegoating. If a politician fucks up they can shift the blame to civil servants. Another reason is conflicts. Politician proposes a law and the head of the affected department says that the law will lead to major loss of tax revenue.
kmeisthax 2y ago
> Civil servants are a-political For certain classes of politician, this might actually be a problem.

by Yeul 2y ago

Civil servants are a-political so why would you need to fire them? A civil servant carries out whatever law is enacted by the government. The bureaucracy is a tool and tools don't have a will.

jowea 2y ago

> Civil servants are a-political so why would you need to fire them? Have you watched the British documentary series "Yes, Minister"?

exe34 2y ago
you mistake lethargy for strategy!
- simmo9000 2y ago
  All place every experience in a category. One "man's" lethargy is another's strategy. Look and you see it. We all be it.

BurningFrog 2y ago

Like any other worker, they should be fired when they don't do their job well enough. Civil servants are people like you and me, and have as strong will as anyone.

gbacon 2y ago

This ignores the self-interest of civil servants, which they most definitely have and is the basis for public choice theory. Building upon economic theory, public choice has a few core tenets. One is that no decision is made by an aggregate whole. Rather, decisions are made by combined individual choices. A second is the use of markets in the political system. A third is the self-interested nature of everyone in a political system. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_choice https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_choice

lucianbr 2y ago

> The bureaucracy is a tool and tools don't have a will. As if it's not made of humans. This view is in grave error. Nobody is perfectly rational, nobody is beyond bias or subjectivty, nobody is beyond human emotions.

scott_w 2y ago

I don’t think this is strictly true. There are documented cases where, for better or worse, apolitical civil servants undermined politicians. Rory Stewart’s book has some great examples.

bjourne 2y ago

One reason is scapegoating. If a politician fucks up they can shift the blame to civil servants. Another reason is conflicts. Politician proposes a law and the head of the affected department says that the law will lead to major loss of tax revenue.

kmeisthax 2y ago

> Civil servants are a-political For certain classes of politician, this might actually be a problem.