ABSTRACT
Civil servants are traditionally expected to be autonomous within their own administrative role. Amidst post-1997 demands for increased accountability and reduced autonomy, civil service faces a political crossroads. In their search for a clearer constitutional identity, the muddled nature of the political system has not helped to steer a way forward. A process of ‘administrative absorption of politics’ was pursued whereby ‘the government co-opts political forces, often represented by elite groups, into an administrative decision-making body, thus achieving some level of elite integration’. The period from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s can be broadly described as one of bureaucratic rejuvenation by the civil service, mainly under the leadership of the reform-minded Governor Sir Murray MacLehose. Attempts at establishing some degree of political accountability were aligned with further initiatives to enhance integrity. The advent of ‘representative government’ and its concomitant process of political representation of societal interests has not resulted in any loosening of administrative power in the real sense.
