In the science of the state, a large place is occupied by the concepts of its apparatus and mechanism. All the activities of officials are based on these phenomena. Depending on the features of the mechanism and apparatus of the state, its legislation, the executive branch and the judicial system are changing.
The concepts
The mechanism of the state is a system of interconnected state bodies necessary for exercising power and solving the tasks of the state. It is a material and organizational force with the help of which this or that policy is carried out. The mechanism of the state is hierarchical and subordinate. It includes a layer of officials - people who execute decisions of the authorities.
The term "state apparatus" has two interpretations. More broadly, it is similar to the concept of a mechanism. In a narrower state apparatus it is a management apparatus, a system of managerial authorities. She has her own multi-stage structure, which will be discussed below.
The correlation of the state apparatus and the state mechanism still causes a lot of controversy among lawyers. Often they offer completely opposite interpretations. For example, the popular idea of the identity of the apparatus and mechanism.
Principles
The modern state mechanism and state apparatus are based on several key principles. The first of these is the separation of powers (executive, legislative and judicial). Thanks to him, the state maintains a system of checks and balances. Within this framework, not a single branch of government can receive a primary privileged position.
Not only the system is important, but also the people inside it. Officials must meet the principle of competence and professionalism. In public administration, you cannot use unskilled administrators. This rule indicates another pattern. Each professional has his own narrow field of activity, and he must work precisely within its framework. This means that a specialist in the field of agriculture cannot stand at the head of the Ministry of Finance. If such a personnel rotation nevertheless takes place, the official will surely do great harm, even guided by the best wishes for the country and those around it.
The next principle is the principle of openness and transparency in the activities of the state. It may include the right of citizens to participate in general referenda and thus annul the decisions of the authorities. The principle of legality is no less important.
Hierarchy
Within the framework of an effective system, the state mechanism and state apparatus must function according to the principle of centralism and strict hierarchy. This means that each authority implements the decisions of higher authorities and reports to them on its successes. Submission can only be vertical, but can be vertical and horizontal. An example of the latter case: a sectoral territorial body is accountable to a higher territorial body and at the same time to a higher sectoral body.
The state mechanism and the state apparatus can work according to the collegial and sole principle. If decisions are made by one person, this greatly speeds up the procedure and reduces costs, but makes them more one-sided. In a collegiate discussion, the approach becomes balanced and compromise. At the same time, such government bodies face many organizational difficulties. The decision is made longer, bureaucratic delays make the process more expensive. Therefore, each state in different proportions combines these two principles (sole and collective).
Authorities today in most countries are formed according to the principle of democracy and popular representation. Access to positions and elections is the same for everyone, regardless of nationality, religion, or other personal characteristics. If the state mechanism embodies all of the above principles, it acquires additional integrity, unity and purposefulness.
Structure
Any state apparatus has its own structure - the order of the structure and location of hardware units, which clearly demonstrates how the administrative machine is formed. In each country, it is an integral system consisting of many subsystems. These are government bodies that have their own functions, immediate goals, internal structure, etc.
These subsystems can be divided into several groups. The most important are the government, the judiciary and the prosecution. They are carriers of three main types of power: judicial, executive and legislative.
State bodies (a subsystem of the general state apparatus) are isolated links in the chain, but at the same time they have the same features. These institutions have their own legal status, which determines their competence and authority and operates within certain legal limits. Since each body carries out public work, the government gives it the material resources defined in the line in the budget.
Democracy and the rule of executive power
The concept of “structure of the state mechanism of the apparatus” does not imply universal solutions. Each country has its own order of administration and bureaucracy, based on the historical and legal features of a particular society. There is no unity among theoretical scientists. There are different models: in some, government bodies are equal, in others strict subordination is adopted.
One of the solutions to the problem of the state apparatus is the idea of democracy. Theoretically, the modern democratic model was described and explained by the English materialist thinker John Locke, who lived in the 17th century.
The mechanism, apparatus of state power in totalitarian countries is different. For example, in fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, the principle of the supremacy of executive power over all its other branches dominated. Such a configuration necessarily leads to dictatorship and destroys the democratic foundations of the state.
Today, the concepts of “state apparatus”, “state mechanism” have many interpretations. This is due to the fact that each country has its own political system. One of the most popular concepts of the state apparatus is the identification of power and the state. This idea was once formulated by the German thinker Friedrich Engels. He believed that at first society creates a state for itself to protect its own internal and external interests, and then the state becomes independent in relation to this society itself.
Legislation and Executive
What is the peculiarity of each of the main systems of government agencies that are part of the state apparatus? The legislature formulates and adopts new laws. Representative bodies are endowed with this opportunity . In democracies, they are the core of the state apparatus. Representative bodies can be divided into higher (parliament) and local territorial. They have different competencies and resource bases. Parliament has the right to transfer part of its powers to bodies under its control. This is how a system of delegated legislation appears.
The state mechanism and the state apparatus cannot be imagined without the executive branch, the bodies of which carry out executive and administrative functions. They act in accordance with the requirements of acts and laws. At the same time, these bodies dispose of bodies and organizations subordinate to them and have a certain independence necessary for their own work. This autonomy is a great responsibility to society. It is the executive bodies that exercise legal regulation and direct vital processes within the state. Their tasks are enshrined in ordinary and constitutional legal acts.
Governing bodies
In modern society, the mechanism, the structure of the state apparatus cannot do without government bodies. They are divided into two groups. The first is the central authorities that have authority over the entire country. Their decisions are common to each administrative entity (oblast, state, territory, etc.). These are ministries, government, committees, etc. The state mechanism and the state apparatus of any country include these bodies.
The second group is local self-government. The authorities responsible for a specific administrative-territorial unit are ranked among it. These are municipalities, as well as their departments and divisions, administrations of important state institutions and enterprises.
The main place in the management system is occupied by the government. This is the highest administrative and executive body of the state. The government directs the economy, social and cultural life of the country, develops a budget plan, protects the interests of the state, protects public order, etc. Its activities are regulated by the constitution. The mechanism, the apparatus of the state, state bodies - all this is somehow connected with the government.
Courts and prosecutors
An important part of the state apparatus is the judicial system, which administers justice and protects the legitimate interests of citizens. It is independent of any other authority in the country; its decisions are independent. Together with the judicial system, there is a system of prosecution authorities. What is this concept? The state apparatus, the mechanism of the state and the whole society must comply with the legislation of the country. This is precisely what the prosecutor’s office is monitoring. It oversees the implementation of laws by state bodies, institutions, enterprises, public organizations, citizens and officials.
The prosecutor's office is also necessary to comply with the law in the preliminary investigation and in places of imprisonment. This department monitors the legality of the execution of sentences imposed by the court. The mechanism of the state and the state apparatus are a complex interweaving of functions of different bodies. But it is thanks to this multilateral interaction that the right and effective decisions are made.
Problems of the state apparatus
At the turn of the XX-XXI centuries. the traditional model of government began to experience a deep crisis. It is caused by the distrust of citizens in their own power and officials. At the same time, the prestige of public service is falling. These related trends have several key reasons.
Firstly, in a market economy, the private sector offers society services of a higher quality than those provided by public services. We are talking about medicine, education, urban amenities, housing. Public service suffers from red tape, waste of money, outdated technology.
The ineffective correlation of the mechanism of the state and the state apparatus is especially noticeable against the background of private companies, characterized by flexible management, decentralized management, and small hierarchies. In such a system, the lower echelons of employees take the maximum part in the life of the corporation. Traditional governance in government is the exact opposite: it is known for its many extra rules, instructions and procedures that make the work of government agencies obsolete.
New trends
Throughout the world, the pressure of civil society on the state is becoming more noticeable every year. This trend appears even in authoritarian countries. The reason for the changes lies in the increasing integration of the world, in the information and digital revolutions. It is against this background that society requires greater transparency and openness, which the state machinery and state apparatus need so much. The correlation of concepts has not changed, but the attitude of people towards officials has changed. An increasing number of people do not like the bloated scale of bureaucracy.
The rethinking of what public service should be is ongoing. If before the administration was treated as a power, today - as a service. And this principle is embodied in many constitutions, which state that the state primarily serves people, and does not rule them. New concepts of restructuring bureaucratic organizations are emerging. Sometimes they are called innovative. The mechanism of the state, the concept, structure, state apparatus - all this is not static, these phenomena are changing and faster every year.
According to experts, the new bureaucracy differs from the previous one in that it focuses not on its own interests, but on the interests of society. If earlier the activity of officials was evaluated according to the amount of funds spent by them and the number of tasks performed by the authorities, then in the future the main criterion will be the value of the result of their activities for citizens. And if the state controls the costs of the bureaucracy, then society controls what remains "at the exit." The new state should not follow bone instructions, but change from the inside according to the trends and requirements of the time. To do this, fast and affordable two-way communication with voters is already being established in advanced countries today.