Abstract: The first decade following the transfer of power to successive new nations from within the colonial empire was characterized by a glow of mutual congratulations on one feature above all in the imperial governmental legacy. This was the inheritance of a sound civil service derived from many years of the finest British traditions of efficiency, dedication, loyalty to whatever elected government was in power, and total incorruptibility. That at least was the image, promoted and generally perceived. The fact that different circumstances and needs had meant that Britain's successor civil services were not necessarily the same thing as the metropolitan Home Civil Service, in responsibilities as well as recruitment, was beside the point. The message, a two-way donor-receiver one, was clear and for the most part genuine: in the legacy of the British connection, 'we' gave 'you' the democratic model of a civil service second to none. In return the other 'we' are grateful to the other 'you' for such a priceless bequest. Parliamentarianism might need a little longer to take root. In the wake of a government which was by definition 'imperial', democracy might need a little longer yet. But the rule of law and its instrument of an upright, impartial and trained civil service were already in operation, ready loyally to serve the new government. Localization of the bureaucracy was as transparent a symbol of the transfer of power as was the new national flag.
Publication Year: 2000
Publication Date: 2000-01-01
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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