I worked for a crown corporation (they have nothing to do with running the country, but it is a government operation that is funded by taxpayers).
My point was simply to say that not all government employees have a hand in what is being decided by the politicians. In fact, the company bosses listened more to outsiders than those who actually worked within the company. Lots of employees provided input as to how to make the job better/more efficient/safer, etc. however practically none of the suggestions (if any at all) were ever implemented. However, when an outside contractor or consultant said something, the bosses listened and often acted on it; sometimes with terrible results! It was very frustrating.
As far as legislation: We had absolutely no input there at all.