POLS 2250 Chapter Notes - Chapter 11: Parliamentary Budget Officer, The Resignation, Individual Ministerial Responsibility

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POLS 2250
• Professor: Nanita Mohan

Document Summary

Interactions between public servants and legislative branch are unlike any other relationship involving appointed officials and actors in the political process. When public servant deal with senior politicians in the cabinet decision process or appointment officials in other department, the relationship is usually a direct one. The public servant helps to draft a memorandum for the minister and cabinet members or engages exercise of horizontal management with counterparts in other agencies. A large part of the public servant"s relationship with legislative members is conducted indirectly through individual ministers. Constitutional conventions require that elected officials in the executive assume responsibility for the action of government and that appointed officials remain mostly out of sight. The interest of the legislative branch is to exercise a degree of control over the executive branch in order to make the latter accountable, so legislators have an interest in knowing about the efforts of public servants.