Isabelle Caron (Dalhousie University) , Karine Levasseur (University of Manitoba) , Andrea Rounce (University of Manitoba)
Our work connects the literature on representative bureaucracy with that on democratic governance, using a survey of 1,000 Canadian public servants enquiring how different groups of public servants see their roles in democracy. We assess the impact these understandings have on applying values and ethics in public service, managing relationships between elected officials and public servants, and managing a diverse workforce in the public sector.
We found that public servants are generally satisfied with Canada’s democratic system of government and strongly support the traditional relationship between public servants and elected officials. In addition, public servants still adhere to the traditional role of impartial officials in the Westminster tradition (Boyd et al, 2023). These results reveal a solid attachment to traditional values related to the democratic system.
Over the past 40 years, representative bureaucracy has become entrenched in Canadian public administration and it has raised several debates, including the fine line between active representation and the abandonment of administrative neutrality and distance (Lim, 2006; Groeneveld & Van de Walle, 2010).
Thus, we asked : Do the identity factors specific to public servants shape their conception of the democratic system and their perceived role(s) within it?
Initial findings show that various diversity criteria shape some components of public servants’ conception of the democratic system and their perceived role within it in some surprising ways. There are some marked differences regarding perceptions of core components of Westminster-style governance and the advocacy role of public servants.