A Case of Amateurs and Professionals: The Role of the Greek Senior Civil Service

Abstract

‘Under normal conditions, the power position of a fully developed bureaucracy is always over-towering. The “political master” finds himself in the position of the “dilettante” who stands opposite the “expert”, facing the trained official who stands within the management of administration’ (Weber 1946: 232; emphasis added). This famous quote, written by Max Weber at the beginning of the twentieth century, may still be a valid working hypothesis as long as ‘normal conditions’ last. Under such conditions, civil servants are professionals. In comparison to civil servants, politicians remain amateurs. Today, almost a century later, have these ‘normal conditions’ changed sufficiently as to render ‘political masters’ less amateurish when they face ‘trained officials’? Are any changes in the balance of power between the civil service and the political elite accounted for by the three-way pulling exerted on the modern public administration from above through governing parties and international organizations, from below through local and regional authorities, and from the side through professional organizations and judicial bodies?