1. Over time, how have members of the field of public administration examined the subject of policy and administration (has the dichotomy changed)?
The studies of policy and administration have been viewed in different ways; overtime, the pre-modern era to its now 21st century outlook has changed. In the beginning, kings had treasures and tax collector to oversee the daily business of the empire. Today these members are public servants working in all levels of government; implanting various inputs to produce their desired policies as results. New policies in public administration spurred from the peoples dissatisfaction with the government. From corruption, favoritism and self-preservation drew the attention of change; leading to the innovative ideas of Alexandra Hamilton, who pushed for a stronger federal government.
Has the dichotomy changed? Yes, I believe it has, certainly a lot more is to be done. There is a significant importance in putting policy and administration together; Waldo (1987) wrote: “Nothing is more central in thinking about public administration than the nature and interrelations of politics and administration. Nor are the nature and interrelations of politics and administration matter only for academics theorizing. What is more important in the day-to-day, year-to-year, decade-to-decade operation of government than the ways in which politics and administration are conceptualized, rationalized, and related one to the other.”
Today’s policies are essential to the development of the people; servicing the needs and interest of the citizens. Policy change builds a greater society; these revolutions are sometimes forced by external conditions “outside events or “shocks” – such as a change of government, an economi...
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...he general population. In the end, we have to keep in mind that those in government will always have their hidden agendas.
Works Cited
• Corduneanu-Huci, Cristina,; Alexander Hamilton and Issel Masses Ferrer (2012) Understanding Policy Change: How to Apply Political Economy Concepts in Practice. The World Bank: Washington DC
• Lawrence E. Lynn - Public Management as art, science, and profession.
• Paul C. Nutt, the Ohio State University-Comparing Public & Private Sector Decision - Making Practices.
• Waldo, D., 1987, “Politics and Administration: On thinking about a complex Relationship”. In a centennial History of the American Administration State, ed. Chandler R.C. New York: The Free Press
• http://photos.state.gov/libraries/korea/49271/dwoa_122709/US_Governed.pdf
• https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/11879/9780821395387.pdf?sequence=2
To truly understand my “mental story” in its entirety, it is important to look back upon my mentality when I chose to take AP Government and also what I previously knew before my first day of class. Politics was never my subject of choice. When I toured Georgetown and almost chose to pursue it, I convinced myself that the political scene and Washington D.C was not all that interesting to me. However, as the political scene began to somehow consistently appear on nearly every television channel, I decided that government and politics were areas that I might find interest in. As a naïve sophomore, I decided I would dedicate my senior humanities to studying government because I lacked a great amount of knowledge. The information I did know was limited, however. I knew Political figures are in a constant pursuit of power, and that democracy is the rule by the people. On the other
Political leaders of the United States were, at one time, thought of as crucial members of our society. Ideally, their main goal was to represent and satisfy the needs of the American people. Unfortunately, over the last fifty years, our trust in our administrative representatives has drastically declined. Beginning with the great conspiracy theory that President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 was actually planned by political leaders, America had, for the first time in history, begun to question its faith in its very own government. Consequently, the American people became extremely hesitant when it came to electing officials into office. Despite his loss to JFK in the 1960 presidential election, in 1968, Richard M. Nixon was elected as the thirty-seventh president of the United States. He was praised by many for his comeback after previously losing an election and seemed to be an admirable man. While in office, Nixon made many achievements and followed through with all of his promises made during his campaign. For the first time in what seemed like forever, the American people had finally elected a leader who seemed unquestionably trustworthy – or so they thought. Unfortunately, shortly after Nixon was elected to his second term of presidency in 1972, the Watergate Scandal changed America forever by creating a sense of mistrust toward the government for the American people because of The Nixon Administration’s actions.
Hargrove, Erwin C. The Power of the Modern Presidency. 1st ed. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1974. Questia. Web. 25 Mar. 2010.
Social Forces, 84(4), 2273-2289. DeLeon, P. (1992). The democratization of the policy sciences. (1992). Public Administration Review, 52(2), 125. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy2.apus.edu/docview/197163274?accountid=8289 Pautz, M. C., & Schnitzer, M. H. (2008).
Wilson’s focused on the importance of the separation of public administration from the political ramifications. He articulates how colleges have recognized the need for in depth studies of public administration, apart from politics.
This assumption, like many others, serves to simplify our models. However, it was been observed over the years that it is invalid for many kinds of policies, most notably those formulated in many Third World nations. Third world governments often formulate broad, sweeping policies, while the bureaucracy, charged with their implementation, lack the capacity to do so effectively. Meanwhile, the opposition as well as affected individuals and groups attempt to influence not the formulation of the vaguely-worded policy, but its implementation. While India, a relatively newly industrialized country, can no longer safely be referred to as a Third World country (at least not without encountering vehement opposition), the presence of “broad sweeping policies” has been strongly felt in our Five Year Plans, at least in the past.
Policy and management networks are widely used around the world at both the national and international levels. These networks are conceptualized, perceived, and studied in different ways around the globe. Major examples of applications of networks in other countries are the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), United Nations (UN), and International Space Station (ISS). This concept paper will increase understanding of policy networks from a global perspective and offer specific examples.
Public Administration, as a field, had always captivated me right from my undergraduate days. I believe my curiosity for this field comes from my family. Both my father and my uncle were politicians. During my early days, I used to go to my father’s office where I had a great chance to observe different kinds of people with various jobs and interests. This was the first time I learned how mutual interests bring people together. When I understood how public relations work naturally, it forced me strongly to study and comprehend the complex theory of politics. After finishing high school, I made up my mind to pursue a career in Political Science. For this reason, I was enrolled to Istanbul Bilgi University’s Political Science program. After having completed my Bachelor’s Degree, I decided to excel in this field by completing a Master’s degree.
...r pillars of public administration are equally important in the process of public administration and complement one another in the provision of quality public service. When public administrators have economy in mind they focus on the best combination of available resources to provide optimum public service. To ensure that public service is not limited to only a section of the public, the issue of equity is taken into consideration so that public interest is realized. Efficiency and effectiveness additionally go hand in hand in ensuring that allocated resources are used in the best possible manner to attain set goals. Thus whereas the first three public administration pillars – Economy, efficiency and effectiveness are concerned with how public service is provided the fourth and most recent addition (Equity) concerns with for whom public service is provided.
What this book aims to achieve is to give the reader an introductory education in public policy analysis. It also aims to give the reader a different viewpoint of public policy making. The economic standpoint of the book is an addition to the argument that differentiates this book from others on the same topic. Readers wanting to understand this process need to take into consideration multiple perceptions of the process. Adding more viewpoints will only increase the knowledge and understanding of public policy.
Pfiffner, J. P. (2004). Traditional Public Administration versus The New Public Management:Accountability versus Efficiency. Unied States: George Mason University.
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.
In the political approach, political authority is divided between a central government and the provincial or state governments. This means that some provinces or states are accorded a substantial measure of constitutional or legal sovereignty, although they still remain subordinates of the central government in certain constitutional or legal respects. The political approach promotes the political values of military strength, economic development, union, and representation. In addition, it is characterized by three central features: state sovereignty, bicameralism, and multiple layers of representation.
Politics-Administration Dichotomy essentially has a two part meaning; there are two functions of government for this idea, as the name implies politics, and administration. The argument about the dichotomy between politics and public administration has been around for several years with no overall consensus on why they should be distinct from one another. Looking critically at both sides of the idea, there are ways to demonstrate an accurate presentation of the administrative agencies working and there are also ways they have proved to be inaccurate. There are just as many downfalls to a politicized bureaucracy. There will be more benefits to the politics-administration dichotomy view with the concept put in place by Woodrow Wilson. He simply promotes a clear distinction between politics and administration and supports the idea that they are interdependent of one another, and they require one another for the appropriate balance between democracy and efficiency. The idea of Wilson’s concept will allow agencies to gain the most efficiency through interdependence of politics-administration.
You ever wonder how the government goes about choosing candidates for specific agencies in the government? Well that’s what public personnel administration is for. Public personnel administration can be defined as the totality of government organization, policies, procedures and processes used to match the needs of public agencies with the people who staff those agencies. It is a branch of human resource management that is concerned with the acquisition, development, utilization, and compensation of a public organization’s workforce. The term includes three key words in which each has their own specific meanings. First, "public" refers to regional and local governmental agencies as well as non-profit ones. "Personnel" refers to both employees of an organization and to the function and administrative unit that is responsible for hiring. "Administration" refers to the way human resources manages public organizations in an effective and efficient way that helps the organization reach its many objectives and goals.