One of the key characteristics of the civil service is

Step 1: Analyze the question The question asks for a key characteristic (a defining feature) of the civil service. It is a positive or neutral feature of how the institution is designed to work, not a fault or a failing.

Step 2: Explain the concept The civil service is the body of permanent, full-time, non-political government employees who carry out government policies and programmes. Its main characteristics are:

• Permanence: civil servants keep their jobs when governments change.
• Neutrality (impartiality): they serve any government in power without political bias.
• Anonymity: civil servants are not publicly praised or blamed for government policies. The minister takes the credit or blame, and the civil servant works behind the scenes.
• Professionalism and merit-based recruitment: appointments and promotions are based on qualification and experience.
• Hierarchy: there is a clear chain of command.
• Rule-bound procedures: they follow formal regulations.

Step 3: Evaluate each option

• A. Mediocrity: this is a weakness, not a design feature. The service is meant to be merit-based.
• B. Corruption: this is a vice that sometimes occurs in practice. It is not a characteristic of the institution.
• C. Anonymity: this is a recognised feature. Civil servants advise and implement quietly, while ministers (political office holders) take public responsibility.
• D. Favouritism: this goes against the principle of merit and neutrality.

Step 4: Answer The correct option is C. anonymity.

Tip: Remember the civil service features as P-N-A-P: Permanence, Neutrality, Anonymity, Professionalism. When an option names a vice (corruption, favouritism, mediocrity), it is usually a distractor, because exam questions about "characteristics" refer to the ideal features of the institution.