Public Administration
Bradley Shelburg
Ashford University
PPA601 (NBS1430A)
Dr. Leah Raby
July 28, 2014 Public Administration
Public administration has grown through the years into the independent course of study as it is known for today. What was once known as a purely political environment has expanded to include business, legislative, and judicial influence. Many claim public administration lacks the same disciplinary unity found in other fields while others claim it includes a diversified background gained through the application of an interdisciplinary approach to the study of administration. Public administration has grown far beyond its initial boundaries of political science to embrace theories, concepts, and tools from
…show more content…
Managers in both the private and public sectors are concerned with the three broad functions of management. Strategy which involves setting organizational objectives and priorities, as well as planning to achieve those objectives. Managing internal components, which involve establishing organizational structures and procedures for coordinating actions, staffing, directing personnel, and the personnel management system. It also includes monitoring organizational performance. Finally managing external constituencies, which involve interacting with different units and managers within the same organization, interacting with other organizations, and interacting with the press and the public at large. To be successful in either public or private organizations, managers must be competent in all three functions. While these functions are common across both sectors, significant differences exist in terms of the opportunities and constraints managers face in successfully performing these functions (Cropf, …show more content…
Many believe the Master’s in Public Administration degree is the central element of academic public administration’s efforts to educate public managers. Specialists are still needed in accounting, contracting, finance, personnel, and other fields. Administrators with competence in the techniques and methods of organization and management and with the understanding of the political, social, and economic environments in which they operate are currently and projected to be needed (Cleary,
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.
Modern Bureaucracy in the United States serves to administer, gather information, conduct investigations, regulate, and license. Once set up, a bureaucracy is inherently conservative. The reason the bureaucracy was initiated may not continue to exist as a need in the future. The need or reason may change with a change in the times and the culture needs. A bureaucracy tends to make decisions that protect it and further it’s own existence, possibly apart from the wishes of the populace. It may not consistently reflect what might be optimal in terms of the needs and wants of the people. Local governments employ most of the United States civil servants. The 14 cabinet departments in the U.S. are run day-to-day by career civil servants, which have a great deal of discretionary authority.
Wilson described public administration as “the most obvious part of the government; it is government in action; it is the executive, the operative, the most visible side of government, and is of course as old as government itself.” Furthermore, public administration is efficient and detailed implementation of public law. Every particular application of general law is a demonstration of administration.
The study of public administration only continued to grow over the course of the next two decades. As the study of public administration expanded, so did the development of s...
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.
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.
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
Public administrators face extraordinary pressure to operate in manner that is accepted by Americans. This is an impossible task forces administrator to act in ways that may lead to unethical decisions, abuse of power or misuse of public assets, which leads down the path of illegitimacy. America is a country of free choice that is contrary to government mission of deciding what is best for Americans. Until government is decentralized and stripped of its vast authority as seen through the lens of the Constitution, a negative pub perception of government will continue to exist.
Public sector reforms adopted in a number of countries such as USA, UK and New Zealand in the last fifteen years and characterised by efficiency units, performance management, contracting out, market type mechanisms, and agency status have come to be known as the New Public Management or NPM. Appearance of the NPM as shifting the paradigm from the old traditional model of administration has been promoted by a remarkable degree of consensus among the political leadership of various countries and is presented today as the major tool for public sector management reforms.
Pfiffner, J. P. (2004). Traditional Public Administration versus The New Public Management:Accountability versus Efficiency. Unied States: George Mason University.
Two years ago, I was writing my letter of intent for my application to the Master of Public Administration (MPA) with a concentration in Healthcare Administration revealing my failures, and most significantly, that I lost my passion and didn’t know where to start. I also conceded that I was relatively unaware of the field of Public Administration (PA). Little did I know, examining PA theories would enable me to connect the final dots in the big picture of my life, where I came from, who I’d come to be, what choices I’d made, the relationships I nurtured, and my dreams and desires for the future. Although confidence came slowly and awkwardly, I discovered my desire to contribute to the advancement of public health policies. I am writing to express my interest in continuing to the Doctoral program in the School of Public Administration at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO). I am absolutely interested in the commitment to the advancement of knowledge, and confident my experience in higher education and academic research will contribute to my successful completion of the Ph.D. program, in the specialization area of public policy.
This essay discusses the radical transformation of the principles and foundations of public administration from traditional to New Public Management. Firstly the essay will attempt to define the key terms of traditional public administration and the doctrine of New Public Management. Rabin J. (2003) explains that New Public Management embodies “a process in public administration that uses information and experiences obtained in business management and other disciplines to improve efficiency, usefulness and general operation of public services in contemporary bureaucracies.“Traditional Public Administration progresses from governmental contributions, with services perceived by the bureaucracy.
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.
...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.
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.