system of internal promotion emphasizes the nature of the hierarchical pyramid.Early systems - historical backgroundPublic administration has ancient origins. The principal office holders were regarded as being principally responsible for administering: Justice Maintaining law and order Providing plentyRomans developed a more sophisticated system under their empire, creating distinct administrative hierarchies for: Justice Military affairs Finance and taxation Foreign affairs Internal affairsAn elaborate administrative structure, later imitated by the Roman Catholic Church, covered the entire empire, with a hierarchy of officers reporting back through their superiors to the emperor. Apart from justice and treasury departments, which originated in old court offices, modern ministerial structures in Europe developed out of the royal councils, which were powerful bodies of nobles appointed by the monarch. From the division of labor within these bodies the monarchs' secretaries, initially given low status within a council, emerged as perhaps the first professional civil servants in Europe in the modern sense. Modern developments The foundations of modern public administration in Europe were laid in Prussia in the late 17th and 18th centuries. The electors of Brandenburg (who from 1701 were the kings of Prussia) considered a rigidly centralized government a means of ensuring stability and furthering dynastic objectives. Their principal effort was devoted in the first instance to the: Suppression of the autonomy of the cities The elimination of the feudal privileges of the aristocracy. Civil servants were therefore appointed by the central government to administer the provinces.The management of crown lands and the organization of the military system were combined in a "Office of War and Crown Lands". Subordinates to these offices were the TAX COUNCILLORS, who controlled the administration of the municipalities and communes. These official...
