Government is accountable to the assembly by way of regular 'accountability speeches' by the president and the president holds his or her position at the discretion of the assembly. Examples are Indonesia and South Africa. Proponents claim that it combines the best of the 'national voice' notion of an executive president and the 'representational' notion of a role for the parliament in electing the president. The collective word for those who staff government, they are the government's employees. In authoritarian regimes, not only do bureaucracies reflect the values of the regime, they also press these values into all levels of society - in often completely unaccountable, dictatorial and sometimes forcible manners.
Bureaucracies are also more involved in everyday life than in democracies.
There is also not the same level of distinction between the party and the state - in fact, a state bureaucrat will often take a position in the party and vice versa. Also a lot of cross over with the military. The rest of these notes pertain to democratic regimes. The political executive comes and goes. Government gets the advice it wants to hear, not necessarily what it should be hearing.