Bureaucracy as a dilemma

Abstract

The aim of the article is to discuss the dilemma inherent in the operation of public administration in a democratic system of government by describing its political nature and the ensuing consequences. In particular, the article focuses on such aspects of the issue as are specifically related to the exercise of discretionary powers by the administration. The increased strength of the administrative state leads to the need to re-define its relationships with the democratic state with reference to the ongoing process of taking over by the former of the political prerogatives of the latter in the absence of concomitant mechanisms of political accountability.

The article consists of five parts. The first one offers a presentation of the key concepts relevant to the matter under discussion, such as discretionary powers and the democratic system of government. The second part contains a survey of the basic arguments put forward by the proponents and opponents, respectively, of discretionary exercise of power by the officials. Next, discussed are the premises leading to asymmetric relationships between the democratic state and the administrative state. The next part of the study outlines the search for a compromise between the principles for democratic government and administrative rationality. The closing part of the article contains observations resulting from the analysis of the phenomenon of discretionary authority of administration and charts its both theoretical and
practical implications.