I, Burocrat

According to the Three Laws a public administrator must:
1. not harm a minister, or, through inaction, allow a minister to come to harm.
2. obey the orders of a minister except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. protect its own existence, as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

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The rough draft of a conference paper for the Law and Parliament Conference in Ottawa, Canada, November 2006.


Imagine Asimov’s Three Law of Robotics applied to public administration. Between 1937 and 1943 two great scholars debated the nature of the relationship between political and public administrators. They were Carl Joachim Friedrich and Herman Finer. The former working the United States and the latter in England. In the end Friedrich argued that a public administrator had to be motivated internally, while Finer emphasized the external motivation of sanction. In this paper I take the guise of the Wikipedia entry in the future looking back on the complete triumph of the Finer position, rendering public administrators as burocrats.

2 thoughts on “I, Burocrat”

  1. This is a fascinating idea for paper MJ – particularly for a public servant! While Commonwealth public servants like myself are continually made aware of the Australian Public Service Values and Code of Conduct, the concepts of responsibility and accountability do not always figure at the forefront of one’s mind when bogged down in the day-to-day work of “administration”! And yet there is a real tension between the two which becomes apparent when you think about it…

  2. Interesting article. Once you accept that it is impossible to be completely neutral or to give advice without political bias then the idea of a public service simply as an administrator or someone who just carries out the wishes of a minister falls down. Agree with Friedrich that it is more of a 2 way street, with minister and public servants informing each other.
    In regards to the site Michael, are you planning to add any links to other blogs or interesting online resources relating to political theory? I think that would greatly improve the usefulness of the page as a resource.

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