Such is "politics" or "politicising." "Politics" as a
source of livelihood takes many forms, some less legitimate than others.
The most usual source of office-holding is the humble work of the clerk,
handyman or messenger, responsible for carrying out the nagging routine
of government. Beyond this common labor of public service are public
servants skilled in their several professions. Beyond and above them are
department heads and still higher are the appointed or elected officials
responsible for the success or failure of a given public policy.
Who are the occupants of town, city, state, and national positions of
authority and responsibility? Preferably they are elected or appointed
because of their popularity or are the successful product of civil
service examinations. At worst they are appointed as a return for favors
or else because they are relatives or friends of successful politicians
or their backers.
Whatever its source and however efficient or inefficient its
performance, the body of paid public servants increases with the
expanding life of locality, region, province, state, nation and empire.
With its growth goes corresponding accommodations in wages and salaries,
office space and equipment and other routine outlays. Frequently the
increase of the emoluments of bureaucrats, especially at the higher
levels of authority and responsibility, creates sinecures which are
filled by parasites or by individuals who are engaged in shoring up the
bureaucracy rather than rendering a public service.
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