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how is it possible to get on with the business of governing. The quest for transparency will
produce volumes of information for scrutiny. Is the result inevitably stasis?

How does the modem public servant proceed? How is he or she prepared for their

role in public service?

Increasingly matters are referred for resolution to the courts where public input is
seldom an issue. the use of conflict resolution approaches or Arbitration is on the increase.
Royal Commissions or Boards of Inquiry continue to be established. and so-called "expert
Opinion" is employed.

Some of you are elected officials. some bureaucrats. and some academics. Govern-
ing today for the politician or the bureaucrat requires not only new skill sets. and a new
paradigm. but also a new mindset.

Democracy. if by that we really do mean accountability to the public. transparency
in all the transactions of government. access to information by the public. involves for the
bureaucrat giving up control.

Democracy. if by that we mean responsibility to the citizens to reflect their views as

expressed in public participatory processes. involves for the politician ongoing. meaningful
consultaion with their constutuents.

Demoncray for the politician and the civil servant alike involves service to the
public from whom they each derive their mandate.

Why then are these to important arms of government so often at odds?

And what do we actually mean by Government? Who defines it?

Who is the Government? What are the essential elements of a democratic govern-
ment? How does the citizen exercise their rights in a democratic system. and what makes it
democratic?

Thechnical and legal answers are easy. Almost every democratic government in the
world has adopted Trendy' public sector reform initiatives.

But in the real world in which you govern. how will the new breed of public servant
(elected and administrative) be trained? What makes for a suitable education for the role in
today's transparent. but complex. government setting?