Two different kinds of attitudes exhibited by public servants towards their work have been identified as: the bureaucratic attitude and the democratic attitude.
(a) Distinguish between these two terms and write their merits and demerits
(b) Is it possible to balance the two to create a better administration for the faster development of our country?

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Solution

Bureaucratic Attitude – Bureaucratic attitude refers to attitude possessed by the bureaucrats who roll out policies,schemes keeping in focus the targeted section and once the law or rule is brought out,there is no flexibility in terms of relaxation in norms to anyone.Bureaucratic attitude sometimes mar the spirit of Democracy because of redtape,inspector raj and corruption.The attitude of public servants to strictly follow decision making process according to the laid down rules and guidelines. Some basic attributes of this attitude involves objectivity, neutrality, secrecy, elite approach etc.

Merits
(i) Strict compliance of standard operating procedure
(ii) Since consultation with public is not needed so decision can be taken quickly.
(iii) It is easier to fix responsibility of decisions because of hierarchical decision making process.

Demerits
(i) Red-tapism, as there is no urgency in achieving targets.
(ii) They are opposed to changes in the system, leading to stagnation. 5 GS Paper 4_1 Answer Key
(iii) It is rigid; hence public service delivery may not be effective.
(iv) Apathy towards common people as rule is supreme and not citizens.

Democratic Attitude: Democratic Attitude refers to those attitudes possessed by civil servants who promote the participation of people in decision making.They promote the delegation of power or authority. In place of rule and regulation, there is more focus on compassion, tolerance and inclusiveness. Merits :

It promotes the active participation of people. So it will promote and strengthen the democratic institution at the grass root level.

It will make governance system more accountable as there is active participation of people.

There will be more transparency and efficient public service delivery.

Demerits:

As there is more participation of people in decision making. So decision making process will become slow and time consuming.

There is difficulty to satisfy every section of society. Sometimes, such an attitude becomes a hindrance to the development process

It is possible to balance the two. It can be achieved by following methods: (i) Demarcating separate areas In certain areas of governance there is a need for demarcation of democratic attitude and Bureaucratic Attitude.For Example – Areas relating to public service delivery like banks and PDS shop requires democratic attitude. Those agencies which are working at ground level should have democratic attitude so that public confidence in governance process increased. Whereas areas needing quicker decision making and there is a question of national security and Sovereignty of the country there is Need of bureaucratic attitude. Like in day to day functioning of administration at higher levels and improving the ease of doing environment in the country.

(ii) Laying down of Guidelines with provisions for flexibility At higher levels of governance there is a requirement of bureaucratic attitude so that there is faster and more efficient decision making . At micro level there should be provisions for flexibility and more focus on inclusive public service delivery. At ground level, it will also strengthen democratic process And In this way both these can be balanced for creating a better administration for faster, equitable and inclusive development of the country.

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Q. Explain the difference between Attitude and Aptitude with examples. Problem solving quality is not sufficient for becoming a good civil servant but he/she should have good attitude towards the weaker section of Society. Discuss.

Our propensity to look out for regularities, and to impose laws upon nature, leads to the psychological phenomenon of dogmatic thinking or, more generally, dogmatic behavior: we expect regularities everywhere and attempt to find them even where there are none; events which do not yield to these attempts we are inclined to treat as a kind of “background noise”; and we stick to our expectations even when they are inadequate and we ought to accept defeat. This dogmatism is to some extent necessary. It is demanded by a situation, which can only be dealt with by forcing our conjectures upon the world. Moreover, this dogmatism allows us to approach a good theory in stages, by way of approximations: if we accept defeat too easily, we may prevent ourselves from finding that we were very nearly right.

It is clear that this dogmatic attitude, which makes us stick to our first impressions, is indicative of a strong belief; while a critical attitude, which is ready to modify its tenets, which admits doubt and demands tests, is indicative of a weaker belief. Now according to Hume‘s theory, and to the popular theory, the strength of a belief should be a product of repetition; thus it should always grow with experience, and always be greater in less primitive persons. But dogmatic thinking, an uncontrolled wish to impose regularities, a manifest pleasure in rites and in repetition as such, is characteristic of primitives and children; and increasing experience and maturity sometimes create an attitude of caution and criticism rather than of dogmatism.

My logical criticism of Hume’s psychological theory, and the considerations connected with it, may seem a little removed from the field of the philosophy of science. But the distinction between dogmatic and critical thinking, or the dogmatic and the critical attitude, brings us right back to our central problem. For the dogmatic attitude is clearly related to the tendency to verify our laws and schemata by seeking to apply them and to confirm them, even to the point of neglecting refutations, whereas the critical attitude is one of readiness to change them, to test them, to refute them, to falsify them, if possible. This suggests that we may identify the critical attitude with the scientific attitude, and the dogmatic attitude with the one, which we have described as pseudo-scientific. It further suggests that genetically speaking the pseudo-scientific attitude is more primitive than, and prior to, the scientific attitude: that it is a pre-scientific attitude. And this primitivity or priority also has its logical aspect. For the critical attitude is not so much opposed to the dogmatic attitude as superimposed upon it: criticism must be directed against existing and influential beliefs in need of critical revision-in other words, dogmatic beliefs. A critical attitude needs for its raw material, as it were, theories or beliefs which are held more or less dogmatically.

Thus, science must begin with myths, and with the criticism of myths; neither with the collection of observations, nor with the invention of experiments, but with the critical discussion of myths, and of magical techniques and practices. The scientific tradition is distinguished from the pre-scientific tradition in having two layers. Like the latter, it passes on its theories; but it also passes on a critical attitude towards them. The theories are passed on, not as dogmas, but rather with the challenge to discuss them and improve upon them.

The critical attitude, the tradition of free discussion of theories with the aim of discovering their weak spots so that they may be improved upon, is the attitude of reasonableness, or rationality. From the point of view here developed, all laws, all theories, remain essentially tentative, or conjectural, or hypothetical, even when we feel unable to doubt them any longer. Before a theory has been refuted we can never know in what way it may have to be modified.

According to the passage, which of the following statements best describes the difference between science and pseudo-science?

Q. Most middle-class families' attitude towards water conservation is due to their ____________.

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