Question #1:
Public Administration and business administration can be described as being two different faces of the same discipline. There are several areas where a comparison between the two can be made, the most apparent being efficiency. Attention to profit and the bottom line is more the area of business administration, the less human focused of the two. Business administration is more dependent on other corporations and uses other companies to help deliver its product. Public Administration, on the other hand, is somewhat harder to define, it is interdependent and is motivated by the common good rather than by profit.
The public sector faces an increasing pressure to run government like a business; to be more cost efficient, as small as possible, competitive, entrepreneurial, and focused on customer satisfaction. When the focus shifts to incorporating business practices in public administration, the quality of the public service decreases and the interaction becomes less about a commitment to public service and more like the manufacture and marketing of a product.
Since the Regan era more and more people have taken the idealistic political stance that governments should act more like a business with President as both CEO and Commander in Chief and voters as costumers and shareholders. There are three main reasons that adopting this ideology and borrowing the principles and practices of business undermines the essence and core values of Public Administration. The first reason is the most obvious to the casual observer, businesses are based on profits and governments are based on people. Success in the business world means profit, therefore asking government to run more like a business is asking the government to start maki...
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...lic is restored to it’s ownership position and citizens engage with the institutions of governance to create public outcomes.
Despite these criticisms, the reforms in public administration have had a widespread impact across this country and around the world. The principles underlying these reforms have enhanced government performance and accountability, public administration has employed various strategies to streamline management and enhance pubic service. It is important to keep in mind that while there may be significant improvement in productivity as a result of technological advances or reform, the most meaningful long-term gains will come about as a result of attention to the humans side of the organization. Successful public administration demands a successful balance between the concerns of the technical side of the agency and paying attention to people.
Many public agencies in recent years have followed the trend of privatization, or contracting-out. Activities and functions that were once performed, or services that were once provided, by public employees are now being performed by private sector employees (Lyons). Vehicle towing, health services, police protection, and solid waste collection are among the many services and functions that government has contracted out. A survey in 1995 that was sent to mayors or city managers of America's largest cities (based on population) revealed that only three of the 66 cities that responded to the survey had not privatized any city services. http://fpac.fsu.edu/parbaby/pdf/1997/janfeb/dilger.pdf This trend translates to not only an administrative concerns but a staffing concern faced by many managers.
The main aim of public service is to deliver services that are of need to its people. How fast a public manager can address its people’s problem and concerns indicates its effectiveness. Responsiveness of the manager develops trust between him, the government, and the people. According to (Rainey, p106) bureaucratic responsiveness implies two things; responsiveness to the people’s wishes or responsiveness to the interest of the government.
Woodrow Wilson’s purpose in writing “The Study of Administration” is to bring awareness that the government systems in place need to be re-evaluated and improved. Wilson encourages we need to examine the history of administration set forth by others in determining certain needs to be accomplished in effective ways and methods. Wilson’s desirable outcomes for research within the public administration field are for government systems to become more productive and organized.
As, Goodnow has iterated the functions of politics communicate and addresses the state’s will however, he articulates that there is no boundaries or limitations to one or more authorities when managing politics, thus eluding to no appointed organization who handles political matters and the interest of the people. Perhaps, a contributing factor to complexities in the political and government systems and the functional roles of politics and administration. Woodrow Wilson essay “The Study of Administration,” he stresses that government systems and methods are in need of great improvement. (Woodrow. 1887) However, Wilson believes politics should be separated from administration, for administration should be a “field of business.” (Woodrow. 1887) Possibly speaking, if administration was separated would politics become more organized and an authority given to
“If you can write it and you can say it, you can do it.” In a single sentence Professor Eric Claville succeeded in attracting me to the study of public administration. Sitting in Introduction to Public Policy class, I was instantly fascinated by the idea that through effective communication I could improve policies and programs to better serve the public. Professor Claville’s lessons enabled me to think analytically as I developed a scholarly policy brief entitled “Enforcing a State-wide Texting While Driving Law in Arizona”. Soon, I was faced with the notion that public administration was not only an agent for change, but a tool to fulfill my passion. It is a possible pathway to take on a leadership role that would make a difference for disadvantaged groups.
In the future I would like to see myself, as a continuously promoted public official who could possibly become a pro-active politician in today’s demanding political arena. To achieve this, I would like to gain more knowledge which can help me reach intellectual maturity to the latest practices adopted in the field of Public Administration. My desire for self-development in this area and curiosity to learn past and contemporary developments in different societies will help me to solve the problems easily.
Public Administration involves the development, implementation and management of policies for the attainment of set goals and objectives that will be to the benefit of the general public. Since Public Administration involves taking decisions that affect the use of public resources there is often the question of how to utilize public resources for maximum public good. The National Association of Public Administration has identified four pillars of public administration: economy, efficiency, effectiveness and social equity. These pillars are equally important in the practice of public administration and to its success. This paper seeks to explain the role of each of the pillars in the practice of public administration.
According to Sapru R.K. (2008) p370-371 the traditional ideal of public administration which inclined to be firm and bureaucratic was based on processes instead of outcomes and on setting procedures to follow instead of focusing on results. This paradigm can be regarded as an administration under formal control of the political control, constructed on a firmly ranked model of bureaucracy, run by permanent and neutral public servants, driven only by public concern. In emerging nations the administration was true bureaucracy meaning government by officers. In this perspective Smith (1996) p235-6 perceived that“the bureaucracy controls and manages the means of production through the government. It increases chances for bureaucratic careers by the creation of public figures,demanding public managers, marketing boards.
Traditional public administration is traced back to the works of scholars like Max Weber, Woodrow Wilson and Fredrick Taylor. This form of administration was mostly influenced by Max Weber with his bureaucratic model and theory. Max Weber was a well-known sociologist born in Germany in the year 1864. He came up with his bureaucratic model as a way to try to improve management in organizations. ‘Weber emphasized on top-down control in the form of monocratic hierarchy that is a system of control in which policy is set at the top and carried out through a series of offices, whereby every manager and employee are to report to one person in top management and held accountable by that manager’ (Pfiffner, 2004, p. 1).
Public administration as a field of study and as a practice has continually evolved with American society. The United States has survived and thrived through major cultural shifts, varying degrees of economic climates, and both civil and world wars. Through out all these changes in our country, one thing has always remained the same, the fact that we are an ever evolving and always changing nation. Theories and forms of practice of public administration have also evolved parallel with the history of the United States. There have been numerous events in American history have lead to changes in society and the practice of public administration has both led and followed in the adaptation process of such monumental changes.
Since its emergence as a field of study, there have been some important contributions to public administration. Its goal has always been to improve productivity which then improves workplace performance. All of the contributions have been aimed at completing the work with the highest level of efficiency and at the lowest cost.
Ohemeng, Frank, L.K. and Leone, Robert P. “Should Public Sector be RUN like a Business.” Approaching Public Administration. Edmond Montgomery Publications Limited, (2011), P. 1-362.
Today in the present world, most countries have the core object of governance in the “public good provisioning ” leitmotif. According to the main principles ; accountability, participation and transparency, from the governance ecology interaction between the State, Civil Society and Market –place, within the global-village environment, (Higgot and Ougaard 2002; Stiglitz 2003; Woods 2006) “Governance Deteriorate the Economical Progress of the Developing Countries”(Box 15.4 Kaufmann, Kray, and Mastruzzi, 2008 p 291 Governance Matter Vll: some leading findings). In my opinion governance on itself without parametric recognition is doomed to fail, instead of reflecting to new mechanisms of responsibility to steer and guide the social and economical issues, which I will try to clarify in the upcoming body breakdown. Governance is supported as structure through institutions, as process through instruments and as agenda through elements of good governance, generating the capacity to improve significant development and positive impact of economic growth and to cut back destitution. Despite of the fact that developing countries can come in line with the quality of governance by accepting it as a crucial determinant of developmental performance, it didn’t came into effect. The underlying fact of weak and poor governance was identified as a result, for not effectuating the measureme...
Another theory that could fit to describe about the New Public Management (NPM) is Street Level Bureaucracy (Lipsky, 1980). This theory mentioned about the policy makers from the bottom-up or interpretive approach. It is a process of interpretations, assuming out what to do and delivering concrete services to policy recipients on diverse situations by “street-level bureaucrats” within different organizational setting.
...ot function properly. Politics and administration should be seen as very interconnected. It is worth reiterating just as the structure of governments has changed over the years, the structure and role of public administration have also changes dramatically. Furthermore, it is important to state that public administration has grown from its traditional role of merely implementing policies adopted by the “political” branches of government to playing very significant role in the formation of public policies. This is definitely more evident in regards to professional expertise bureaucratic officials provide during problem identification, agenda setting, policy formulation, and evaluation that shape the content of public policy today. Overall, the idea that Wilson has proposed gives an accurate idea of what the relationship should be between politics and administration.