Question

Discuss your view about the modern bureaucracy, particularly regarding the size of the bureaucracy, its role in daily public life, and characteristics of the civil service workforce. In particular, discuss whether it should be easier to hire and terminate civil servants based on their performance, and whether high-performing civil servants should receive merit-based compensation similar to their counterparts in the private sector. In addition, speculate about differences between the private sector and the public sector, and to discuss which characteristics of the private sector could be imported into the public sector to improve performance and quality

Answer 1

The bureaucracy is a perfect example of inefficiency in common eyes. The larger the size of the bureaucracy more will be a mess in decision making and it is an indication crowding out effect in the economy. This is because the bureaucracy wields power in decision making often vulnerable to lobby pressure or corruption. Further, in most of the countries bureaucracy enjoys too many benefits such as higher pension and job security which disincentivizes them for performance-oriented goals.
Centralizing powers in the hands of few often results in strategic blunders. This has happened in former USSR, in China while the time of 'Cultural Revolution' and in India. This is not in the optimum interest of society or any country.

As per the law of economics, people react to incentives and there should be simple 'carrot and stick' policy to manage the bureaucracy. The bureaucracy must be subjected to termination of service without any pension benefits if it does not perform well or fail to do the duty accordingly. Similarly, there should be faster promotion and bonus incentive for performance within the framework.

There is no direct comparison between the private sector and the bureaucracy because the latter is not a profit-oriented organization and it should act in the common interest of the public at the end of the day. However, as mentioned above there is a need to take away some benefits and dilute the powers for the greater welfare of the society and country.