Burke, John P. <br/><br/>
Reconciling public administration and democracy: the role of the responsible administrator 

 -  1997 
 - p.1017-036 
 - Apr-May 
<br/><br/> This article considers whether the individual responsibilities of bureaucratic officials provide a useful means for reconciling the tension between democracy and bureaucracy. Three questions central to the proper definition of bureaucratic responsibility are examined: (1) What is the relation of bureaucratic responsibility to the view that proper bureaucratic conduct is essentially a matter of ethics and morality? (2) If the appeal to moral values does not ordinarily offer an acceptable guide to proper bureaucratic conduct, upon what principles does a theory of bureaucratic responsibility rest? (3) What issues arise in putting responsibility into practice within a complex organizational setting? The article concludes that a democratic, process-based conception offers the most useful way of thinking about the responsibilities of bureaucratic officials. - Reproduced 
<br/><br/><label>Subjects--Topical Terms: </label><br/>Democracy - United States<br/>Public administration - United States<br/>Civil service - United States<br/>Bureaucracy - United States<br/>Bureaucracy