What Does Public server Mean
We explain what a public servant is and what is its relationship with governments. In addition, the public servants par excellence.
What is a public servant?
A public servant is the person who is in charge of performing a task in order to generate well-being among society . With this we do not affirm that their work is ad honorem, but that regardless of the salary received, their main characteristic is that their task is not intended for private activity but for the service of society .
Public servants are working in the service of the State , generally in the public administration . As we can see, civil servants are a variant of public servants but not every public servant is an civil servant. For example, a firefighter is a public servant, since his work involves a great contribution to the well-being of society. One of the most outstanding features of a public servant is his ethics , since the consequences of his actions usually reach a larger group of society. To this is added the social prestige they have, since in many cases they tend to manage state economic funds (therefore they are the result of the contribution of all citizens ), in addition to the fact that they tend to represent institutions with a long tradition . The regulation of public servants is a state matter, generally contained within the constitution of each country, accompanied by other lesser legislation .
See also: Public law
Your relationship with governments
The size and quality of public services is not something that is defined in advance, but will depend on the size of the state apparatus and the funds available . The countries that defend the policies of a welfare state , typical of European countries during the 70s, and taken over by some Latin American countries, tend to have a large number of services and public servants, since a good part of the services It is monopolized by the state. The education public and public hospitals , for example, are bastions of the welfare state. With this we are not affirming that a doctor in a private clinic is not a public servant, but there are differences. For example, between a private security service and the state police. Although both can be considered public servants, the level of responsibility that a police officer has is much higher.
One of the problems that neoliberal governments have is the reduction of funds allocated to public servants , mainly the administrative and bureaucratic sector. This "reduction of the State", understood as a necessary process to eliminate unnecessary expenses , entails the relegation of public functions to private sectors. This is one of the strong criticisms of the sectors most defenders of the welfare state, arguing that it is nothing more than a way of favoring the richest sectors of society.
The public servants par excellence: politicians
The policy has historically been regarded as one of the main ways to serve society. In fact, it is the end in itself of politics. This finds its maximum point of expression in democracies and not in other political systems, since during monarchical and totalitarian governments the rulers did not have any explicit responsibility with those they represented, but vice versa. Every person dedicated to politics must have the goal of developing his task to achieve a common good , beyond prestige and personal ambitions.
The need for faultless conduct and rigorous ethics is often demanded of the political class, since they are the representatives of the popular wills. However, we all know that this rarely happens. Different professionals from the most diverse areas have addressed the issue of politicians as public servants, such as Machiavelli or Max Weber. While the first of these authors have insisted on the need to make the concept of political vocation more complex , Max Weber specialized in the influence of Western rationalization on politics. These are just two examples of a large number of intellectuals who have addressed this problem.