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Question

Difficulty: MediumControl of Civil Service and Bureaucratic Problems

Under political and legislative mechanisms of civil service control, which principle ensures that an executive minister remains directly accountable to parliament for the administrative errors, inefficiency, or misconduct of officials within their department?

  1. A
    The doctrine of collective cabinet responsibility
  2. The principle of individual ministerial responsibilityAnswer
  3. C
    The enforcement of civil service anonymity and political neutrality
  4. D
    The statutory disciplinary oversight of the Civil Service Commission

Answer

The principle of individual ministerial responsibility ensures that an executive minister is held politically accountable to parliament for administrative errors within their department.
The correct answer highlights the principle of individual ministerial responsibility. Under democratic governance, civil servants remain anonymous and politically neutral, meaning they do not defend policy in parliament. Instead, the political head of the ministry (the Minister) takes full political responsibility for departmental administrative performance and is subject to legislative questioning, parliamentary scrutiny, or resignation if severe administrative failures occur.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the context of civil service control
The question specifies legislative oversight over executive departments for administrative actions committed by civil servants.
Civil servants operate under political anonymity, requiring an elected executive official to answer to the legislature on their behalf.
2
Differentiate between parliamentary accountability principles
Collective responsibility applies to overall government policy solidary, whereas individual ministerial responsibility focuses on single department oversight.
Each minister is politically head of their ministry and must explain or answer for operational lapses occurring under their administrative watch.

Key Concept

Individual Ministerial Responsibility as a Legislative Control Mechanism over the Civil Service
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Topics

Control of Civil Service and Bureaucratic Problems

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