Civil service

There are many types of civil service, but the most common are career civil servants who are recruited on the basis of their professional qualifications rather than being appointed or elected, and whose institutional tenure usually lasts through changes in political leadership. Any individual working in the public sector by a government department or agency, as well as public sector enterprises, is known as a civil servant. Employees of the federal government and state governments are subject to the authority of the federal and state governments, not a political party. Countries differ in the degree to which public employees of the state are considered to be members of the "civil service." Civil servants are defined as those who work for the Crown (national government), whereas workers of Local Authorities (counties, cities, and similar administrations) are usually referred to as "local government civil service officers," who are public officials but are not civil servants. The distinction between a civil servant and a public servant is important because a civil servant is not always a public servant.

In the area of public administration, the study of the civil service is included. Workers in "non-departmental public bodies" (also known as "QUANGOs") may be classified as civil servants for the sake of statistics as well as for the purposes of their employment contracts and benefits. The civil service, often known as the public service, is comprised of all of a state's civil employees collectively. The idea originated in China, and the modern civil service was established in Britain in the 18th century, according to historical records.