In political theory, the traditional model of state power was that elected officials make policy decisions which are then faithfully executed by a lower cadre of public servants. The complexity of the modern state, however, leaves this model outdated. The vast number of economic and social problems it confronts is such that a great deal of rule-making power is now delegated to a class of civil servants. Yet many political philosophers have not taken this model up, and the field has ignored the important role played by the class of "permanent" state officials--the "deep state" as some call it--in liberal states.In most liberal democracies for example, the central bank is as independent as the supreme court, yet deals with a wide range of economic, social, and political issues. How do these public servants make these policy decisions? What normative principles inform their judgments? In The Machinery of Government, Joseph Heath attempts to answer these questions. He looks to the actual practice of public administration to see how normative questions are addressed. More broadly, he attempts to provide the outlines of a "philosophy of the executive" by taking seriously the claim to political authority of the most neglected of the three branches of the state. Heath both provides a corrective to the prevailing tendency to underestimate the contribution of civil servants to the success of liberal-democratic welfare states, and suggests a more satisfactory account of the principles implicit in public administration.

1. Taking Public Administration Seriously1.1 Inside the machine1.2 Beyond discretion1.3 Administrative power1.4 The permanent civil service1.5 Political neutrality1.6 Liberalism or democracy?1.7 Conclusion2. A General Framework for the Ethics of Public Administration2.1 Preliminary clarifications2.2 Three models of accountability2.3 The hierarchical model2.4 The popular model2.5 The vocational model2.6 Conclusion3. Liberalism: From Classical to Modern3.1 Before liberalism3.2 The rise of classical liberalism3.3 The triumph of classical liberalism3.4 The decline of classical liberalism3.5 The rise of modern liberalism3.6 Conclusion4. Efficiency and the Rise of the Welfare State4.1 The egalitarian model4.2 The communitarian model4.3 The public-economic model4.4 Assessing the models4.5 Wagner's law4.6 The rent-seeking view4.7 Conclusion5. Cost-Benefit Analysis as an Expression of Liberal Neutrality5.1 "Embedded" CBA5.2 Provision of a public good5.3 Imposing a regulation5.4 Assessing safety5.5 Rationing health care5.6 Environmental goods5.7 The three-step procedure5.8 Conclusion6. Administrative Discretion and the Rule of Law6.1 Discretion6.2 Varieties of discretion6.3 Discretionary enforcement6.4 The morality of law6.5 Administrative law6.6 Conclusion7. Paternalism and Individual Freedom7.1 Mill's argument7.2 Bureaucratic paternalism7.3 The Harm Principle7.4 Hyperbolic discounting7.5 Cognitive bias7.6 The nudge framework7.7 Conclusion