UPSC Mains 2020 GS2 Q7 — Civil Service Reforms
"Institutional quality is a crucial driver of economic performance". In this context suggest reforms in Civil Service for strengthening democracy. (Answer in 150 words)
Question Decoded — examiner's intent
- Directive verbs
- suggeststrengthening
- Scope keywords
- Institutional qualitycrucial driver of economic performancereforms in Civil Servicestrengthening democracy
- Implicit sub-parts
- Establish the causal link between civil service efficiency (institutional quality) and economic outcomes.
- Identify specific structural and functional bottlenecks in the current civil service that hinder democratic values.
- Propose administrative reforms that specifically target the 'democracy-strengthening' aspect (transparency, accountability, neutrality).
- Explain how these reforms eventually translate into better economic performance.
- Common pitfalls
- Focusing only on economic reforms (like Ease of Doing Business) without linking them to 'democracy' or 'institutional quality'.
- Providing a generic list of administrative reforms (like lateral entry or 2nd ARC recommendations) without explaining how they strengthen democratic foundations.
- Ignoring the first sentence of the prompt and failing to justify why institutional quality matters for the economy.
- Writing a generic essay on civil services rather than a targeted 150-word policy suggestion.
- Dimensions required
- Economic-Institutional nexusPolitical-Administrative accountabilityCitizen-centric governanceEthical and Professional integrityStructural and Procedural reforms
- Marks allocation hint
Allocate 30 words to link institutional quality with economic growth. Use 100 words for the core 'reforms' section, categorized by accountability, professionalism, and citizen-centricity. Reserve 20 words for a concluding statement on how a robust bureaucracy safeguards democratic dividends.
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