Abstract
M.A.
The central problem of this research is to highlight the question of whether the public service should be subject to political control and how such control should be exercised. The objective of this dissertation was mainly to explore, describe and analyse the role of the institutions, mechanisms and processes of political control over the public service including perspectives in terms of the functional dependence of public servants in relation to these institutions, mechanisms and processes. It was also a purpose of this study to establish the nature of political control over the public service and the practical actions that could be taken at an institutional level to promote the balance of political control, political principles and the functional dependence of public servants in the state bureaucracy.
The study also explored the variables influencing the meanings, foundations and processes of political control over the public service through the application of a literature study in terms of a conceptual and institutional overview of the state related concepts, phenomena, institutions, structures and processes that influence control over the public service. Furthermore, the variables influencing the meanings, foundations and processes of control, accountability and responsibility in terms of control over the public service in a democratic system of ministerial responsibility were also explored. The study also provided an integration and validation of the determinants of the hierarchical position of public servants in relation to political control over the public service as an essential ingredient of representative democracy.