The interaction between federal, state and local levels of public management is designed to create defineable measure of checks and balances while maintaining the powerbase of authority at each specific levels of administration (Agranoff, 1998). The main caveat between federal and state is the ideal of the republic (Suksi, 2012). The federal government is comprised of departments. These departments act on behalf of the president (Cropf, 2008). The president has oversight over the departments (Cropf, 2008). All of this structure is stipulated within the constitution. Congress set the agenda to formulate the policies, laws and mandates that govern the republic (Agranoff, 1998). Congress’ institution of the law has been adjudicated and reinforced by the Supreme Court’s rulings as just when challenged with corrupt or unpopular ideas that try to change status quo. The delegation of law and the constitution allow states to govern within the jurisdiction of their boundaries (Cropf, 2008). The states must manage much more bureaucracy with all of the elected state legislatures and courts to decipher the policy formulation, legitimation, and implementation (Kraft & Furlong, 2010). The layered effects of bureaucracy ensure that governance has defined measures of variance between the 3 levels.
The city or local government relies on local resources to keep law and order on a daily basis (Brake, 2013). Local government demonstrates their authority through the police, fire and town hall running the gamut on local issues. The public administrator is the center of gravity in ensuring issues and concerns that require resources are administered, received and executed in a more direct manner. Any budgetary constraints or outliers that exist ...
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...mitigate problems the less likely state and federal public administrators are forced to make strategic decisions that will not help those who need it the most.
Works Cited
Agranoff, R. &. (1998). Multinetwork management: Collaboration and the hollow state in local economic policy. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 8(1).
Brake, M. &. (2013). Public order and private lives: The politics of law and order. . Routledge.
Cropf, R. A. (2008). American Public Administration: Public Service for the 21st Century. Longman.
Kraft, M. E., & Furlong, S. E. (2010). Public Policy: Politics, Analysis and Alternatives. Washington, DC: SAGE.
Suksi, M. (2012). Sub-State Governance through Territorial Autonomy: On the Relationship between Autonomy and Federalism. Political Autonomy and Divided Societies: Imagining Democratic Alternatives in Complex Settings.
Often, when the discussion of American bureaucracy is broached in conversation, those holding these conversations often think of the many men and women who operate behind the scenes within the government. This same cross section of Americans is looked upon as the real power within the federal government and unlike the other branches of government, has little to no oversight. A search of EBSCO resulted in the following definition, an organization “structure with a rigid hierarchy of personnel, regulated by set rules and procedures” (Bureaucracy, 2007). Max Weber believed that a bureaucracy was technically the most efficient form of organization, one structured around official functions that are bound by rules, each function having its own specified competence (2007). This wide ranging group of Americans has operated within the gaps, behind the scenes, all under the three core branches of government: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The division of government into three branches and separate powers gives each branch both exclusive powers and some additional power...
Hall, Daniel E. Administrative Law: Bureaucracy in a Democracy. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2012. Print.
Garner, R., Ferdinand, P., & Lawson, S. (2009). Introduction to politics. Oxford, England: Oxford UP.
Wilson, James Q., John J. DiIulio, Jr., and with Meena Bose. American Government: Institutions & Policies. 12th ed. Boston, MA.: Wadsworth Publishing, 2011.
Wheelan, C. (2011). Introduction to Public Policy (1st ed.). United States: W.W. Nortion & Company, INC. (Original work published 2011).
The United States of America is one of the most powerful nation-states in the world today. The framers of the American Constitution spent a great deal of time and effort into making sure this power wasn’t too centralized in one aspect of the government. They created three branches of government to help maintain a checks and balance system. In this paper I will discuss these three branches, the legislative, the executive, and the judicial, for both the state and federal level.
Kevin B. Smith, Alan Greenblatt, and John Buntin, Governing states and localities: First Edition (Washington, D.C.: CQ Press), 2005, 95.
Then there is the state government which are responsible for governing affairs within their borders, and carrying out federal laws and programs at the state level. They are governed by their own constitutions and retain any rights that the U.S. Constitution does not exclusively grant to the federal government. The state government is limited as they cannot form alliances with other states and must honor and respect the laws and institutions of the other states. And finally there is the federal government which is the central and highest level of government in the U.S. It is divided into three branches and each branch has its own rights and power to check and balance the powers of each branch. The federal government has the power to regulate taxes, establish federal welfare programs and make laws in the interest of the nation as a whole. There are also limitations set to the federal government’s authority, as they cannot ask local law enforcements agencies to do minor administrative jobs. Although all levels of government have their own responsibilities there are limits to interfering with other governments
The U.S. Constitution creates a unique system of federalism. It is a system of government that divides power between a central governmental unit and local administrations. In this way, both central and local governments enjoy sovereignty. However, because the two governments share authority over the same territory, it may be problematic to establish the division of their powers. The central power needs to exercise its authority without infringing the authority of a local government while local governments should not encroach on national interests. The American federalism is defined by the Constitution which establishes the separation of power between federal and state governments, but throughout history, federalism has experienced a number
All solutions fall under some form of regional government, but there are disagreements as to which is best. The easiest to implement is creating a Regional Planning Body, or regional council, in which city and suburban governments send delegates to discuss issues within the region. However, this type of regional government has little actual power. The lack of power makes it more likely to be accepted by local governments, because it is not threatening their power. A less common and more involved regional government is the consolidation of multiple local governments into one large regional government. The easiest merger to pull off is city-county consolidation. It is easier because the city and county cover the exact same territory, thereby eliminating overlap and increasing efficiency. The hardest consolidations are those that call for merging of a city, county, and the suburbs, as all three governments lose power to one regional government. Similarly, there is annexation of local governments, where cities annex their suburbs. Suburbs normally are vehemently opposed to this idea, as they lose the freedom of lower taxes and more specific regulations. Probably the best form of regional government is to have two levels; One with the cities and the suburbs as they already are, and a regional government that’s a level above the cities and suburbs. This allows the regional government to handle services like transit authorities and infrastructure, leaving cities and suburbs to their individual zoning plans, taxes, and regulations. Each government has power and each can be happy, since there aren’t overlapping responsibilities. Unfortunately, many metro areas in the United States that could benefit from regional governments do not have them. This is due to a resistance from local governments to give up any power to another government. To handle this, metro areas are forced to
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.
Rabin, J. (2003). Encyclopedia of public administration and public policy: K-Z. United States: CRC press.
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.
To examine what state formation is and how it has occurred the logical route seems to assess from where they have evolved. The notion of the state is a relatively recent concept, for example in 1555 there existed only two national states, England and France. With otherwise the existence of disorganised and corrupt empires, federations and protectorates. It appears states have formed despite the many obstacles facing their development. Not only did the challenges of securing territory exist but ri...
...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.