ABSTRACT

The classical view of constitutional democracy does not have much to say about bureaucracy and public administration. Congress and other legislative bodies, we are told, follow the wishes of the citizenry and make the laws, while the president, governor, mayor, and other executives, under the watchful eye of the courts, implement laws. To the extent they are recognized at all, public administrators are understood to be somewhere in the background, working under the direct control of the executive to carry out the technical details of legislation. Elected officials make policy; administrators simply administer it.