Representative Bureaucracy: Some Reflections of the Colonial Civil Service Administration in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Bureaucracy plays a vital role, which is similar to that of the other major stakeholder in the field–politicians, in the policy making process. Therefore, likewise political representatives, bureaucracy should be characterized by the societal make-up in order to ensure democracy in the administration. In this context, the concept of representative bureaucracy has been significantly employed in both developed and developing countries to address the problems of diversity and particularly, guarantee the inclusiveness in the governmental services for a more responsive public administration. This paper examines the representative characteristics of the colonial bureaucracy following the structural and functional adjustments introduced to the early civil service administration of Sri Lanka. In this process, the main focus given towards redefine the concept of representative bureaucracy following the broad interpretations available over the notion of representation and concluded into two interrelated formations as passive and active representative bureaucracy in which bureaucrats share same demographic origins and policy outputs produce benefit for the people. Even though in a colonial context of administration, this study observed some commendable steps taken to ensure the passive-representative features of bureaucracy mainly through the system of recruitments and promotions, local administration and the process of Ceylonization of the Civil Service in Sri Lanka.