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Study Unit 1 Introduction to Public Administration: An Overview - Coggle…
Study Unit 1 Introduction to Public Administration: An Overview
What is Public Administration
Definition
public administration can be understood as being primarily concerned with
managing
the realm of
governmental
and other
public activities
centres around government and its various capacities, policy
formulation and implementation.
Public administration is the interaction between politics and public policy and together they formulate, implement, evaluate and modify public policyQ1
White’s Four Assumptions in the Study of Public Administration
White was more interested in
studying the managerial aspect
of public administration
he defined public administration as “the management of men and materials in the accomplishment of the purposes of the state
the objective of administration was the “
efficient utilization of the resources
at the disposal of officials and employees”
concerned with
economical usage of resources and
elimination of waste
the conservation of material and energy
how public administration
impacted citizens
Other objectives include
protection of individual rights
(including welfare of workers)
the
development of civic capacity
and sense of civic responsibility
paying due recognition of the manifold phases of public opinion
the maintenance of
order
provision of a national minimum of
welfare
Assumption 2
The
basis
for study is
managemen
t, not law.
Assumption 3
Administration is still art
, but the ideal of transformation to science is both feasible and worthwhile.
Assumption 1
Administration is a
unitary process
that can be studied uniformly, at the federal, state, and local levels.
Assumption 4
Administration “has become, and will continue to be the
heart of the problem
of modern government.”
Why is the Study of “Public Administration” Salient Now?
Allows us to
Identify public preferences, goals and values,
specifically through robust understanding of publicness and rich interactions with the public
5 Core differences between private and public administration
In a nutshell,
private administration faces far less constraints than public administration
, especially when
public administration is answerable to elected politicians
and the entire society, while private administration concerns itself with satiating the demands of its profit-oriented shareholders and directors.
Profit and Loss
Public administrators are concerned with cost efficiency and resource management as they deal directly with public funds.
Private sector are also cocncenre with profit margin but their underlying cocenrns are locaclised, in relations to internal buisness target
Values
Public administrators are seen as arbeiters of values.
Private administrators are not expected to exercise the same levels of social values as their concerns are moe localacised
Ethics
Public administrators are expected to be equitable, fair and impartial across all levels of society
Private administrators exercise ethical values selectively - with shareholder interests being their primary matter of concern as opposed to the larger society.
Markets for Good
Public administrators constantly balances between the various and often time conflicting public demands for goods and services
Private administrators on the other hand attempts to create, expand and entise the public into engaging their goods and services.
Openness
Public administration are expected to be open and accountable for their actions
Private administration may operate discretely to prevent sensitive information leakage to business competitors
Positive and negatives of publuc administration
Positive Attributes of Public
Administration
Public goods and services are not provided with aims of profit maximisation
High levels of
accountability
to the public, with clarity of responsibility
Rules, regulations and procedures allow public administrators to be
fair, neutral
and accountable
Non-financial incentives
usually
used to motivate and evaluate staff (meritocracy)
Negative Attributes of Public Administration
There may be an
over-supply
of public goods and services that are not in demand
Rules, regulations and procedures may
impede efficiency
and speed of policy delivery
The Trajectory of Public Administration: Theories and Scholars of Public Administration
Studying the Evolution and History of Public Administration
Why is it important
help us “
discover incomplete understandings
, misinterpretations, or even deliberate distortion” and such endeavours will
help us
better comprehend
exactly what role public administration plays in polities.
Understanding the 'Emerging approach'
the public administration field has also
undergone
several identity crises and
numerous transformations
This is known as the emerging approach
which emphasises
government’s promotion of public values
the polity’s reception of such public values
ensuring that public administration revolves around public service delivery and
how the government administrative structures can enhance democratic accountability in the polity
emerging approach
can only be studied
or adopted
by examining prior
dominant perspectives in
public administration
What is Public Administration History
Administrative history is understood as “the
study of the origins and evolution
of administrative ideas, institutions and practices”
specifically, it is the “
study of structures and processes
in and ideas about government
as they have existed
or have been wanted in the past and the actual and ideal place of public functionaries therein”
Aims of studying History
examine public administration theories and philosophies developed by eminent historical scholars
gain insight into trends and developments in public administration
understand what the field of public administration essentially is concerned with
Evolution of Public Administration: Three Models of Public Administration Systems
These models are significant in that they help to define the breadth and essence of public administration
Conflict of Factions model
the polity is full of groups of individuals who are in constant conflict of interests
elitist interest vs populist interests vs corporate interest
The
goal of public administration
in such a polity, is to
ensure parity
i.e. that “no one interest or related interests alone could determine policy” as this would be unfair
Those in positions of authority could either moderate these demands and respond accordingly, or themselves be subject to checks and balances such as separation of powers to ensure that no public official is captured by any of these factions
Key Points
response to a variety of societal interests
separation of powers
Rule of Factions model
the polity now begins to see
numerous political parties rising
, the electorate burgeoning (as a result of
universal suffrage
) and an increase in the number of elected offices
Government policy was now to reflect results of the election
as a result of the dynamics of electoral systems, many
politicians
elected appeared to have
“little regard for the impact of public programmes
This in turn
necessitated the expansion of the bureaucracy
, consisting of individuals who possessed specific technical knowledge in public policy to support the elected politicians
Public Interest model
in this model, the expansion of the
bureaucracy is imminent
,
but it is to be staffed by those who possess technical and scientific knowledge as “the efficacy of
science formed the cornerstone of governance
”
Public administrators
were also supposed to be rational
, which scientific management encouraged
Technocracy
The bureaucracy, which supported the political appointees with “expert advice”, was staffed by experts with technical knowledge (
technocrats
), who would then “
exercise all administrative authority
”
Three key assumptions
Assumption 1
People are inherently corrupt or susceptibility to
corruption
Checks and balances are necessary
Assumption 2
Limits and control
must be put on officials to avoid tyranny
Impact
Create small government
Decentralise the power distribution between administrative offices
Assumption 3
Individuals and groups of individuals act out on their
conflicting interest
Government should balance between these conflicting factions
History of Public Administration
Pre-modern period
1880s as the period in which
public administration began to gain traction
among scholars and government
1930s public administration and many public administrators were seen to use
a combination of government research and scientific management principles
to administer local government programmes
One of the most
significant trends
in this era was the insistence to
delink public service problems from political influence
and
focus instead, on administrative techniques
.
Frederick Taylor
Frederick Taylor’s writings on scientific management were instrumental in the popularity of “
technology-based management
”
Taylor believed that scientific management and analysis would result in
time and cost efficiencies
As scientific management became more popular, so did the need for training and education for public service officials as
Taylor’s techniques were subsequently introduced to both private industrialists as well as government organisations
both government officials and academics were beginning to recognise the significant contributions of “professional training and informed analysis
Gulick
In line with the Rule of Factions model, critics – particularly Gulick –
increasingly called for a combination of political influence and scientific management
- a leadership that would now be supported by staff
who were public administration experts
This is because a
strong executive
would then have
command and control and
would have the authority
to deliver orders
to subordinates.
Identity crisis of Public Administration: Early academic debate
The doctrine of a strong executive continued to permeate much of the literature on public administration in the next few decades, with scholars debating on
which was the best academic direction in which public administration should develop
Recognising the flaws of the classical, orthodox public administration scholars, Dwight
Waldo and
Max
Weber
entered the debate,
broadening the perspectives
of the field of public administration
Waldo
Waldo concluded that the principles of public administration had been too rigidly applied and the
over-emphasis of the depoliticisation of administration had contributed to the debate
Waldo advocated that
public administration should be a part of the democratic governmental framework
, rather than dominate it.
Weber
Weber introduced a new dimension of public administration which
incorporated sociological and psychological-oriented views
to the study of governance and public administration.
1950: Broadening of public admin and decision-making .
As a result of the academic contribution from Waldo, Weber and others, public administration was now beginning to take on a
more interdisciplinary identity
a significant development in public administration was the identification of
decision-making as central to public administration
Lindblom 'root/branch method'
Lindblom identified the root (rational-comprehensive) and branch (successive limited comparison) method of decision-making, whereby
he
discredited the root method
as it was
time-consuming and exhausting
given the extensive evaluation of all available resources and policy options.
Lindblom instead,
advocated the “branch method”, which allowed for incremental decision-making based on past experiences
.
The entire point of
Lindblom’s research was to identify a method of policy formulation for complex policy issues that would be “superior
to any other decision-making method available for complex problems in many circumstances” and as practical, rational actors, public administrators should follow the branch method, otherwise known as the “science of muddling through”
Simon
Simon studied decision-making from a
behavioural perspective
.
Together with another scholar, James March, Simon explained that
decision-makers in real-life were confounded with a multitude of problems
such as
a lack of information about policy alternatives;
a lack of background information of the problem, which was often “ambiguous and poorly defined”;
and limitations of timelines, skills and resources.
As such, it is concluded that
a more realistic way to make decisions in public administration was to “satisfice” by choosing the most satisfactory option available
to him - in some cases, the more easily a solution is found, the higher the standards of public services would be and vice-versa
The Modern Period
This modern period saw the face of
public administration shift to accommodate growing problems
in a rapidly changing polity, experiencing modernisation, urbanisation and post-materialist values
public administration also faced several crises in the existential sense (the physical world) as the
legitimacy, ethics and morale of the public service were questioned.
frequent government stalemates
on formulating and implementing legislation were
viewed as breakdown
in public administration and
required public administration to promote and ensure ethical conduct among public administrators
Regulations
In the pre-modern period, not just in the United States of America, but in many industrialising countries, the
government often played a strong role in regulating businesses as economies grew.
(i.e. regulating policies to manage foreign investors and home-grown businesses)
However, in the Modern period, particularly, from the 1960s right up to the 1980s (and beyond even), deregulation was the order of the day.
Deregulation
refers to the “removal or scaling down of regulatory authority and regulatory activities of the government”
in a bid to remove inefficiencies associated with government
and increase efficiency and profit associated with private enterprise.
Addressing deregulation
another development in the Modern period saw government and public administrators adding “
new legislation and agencies” to regulate business
, to ensure social good
i.e. 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment and the introduction of policies which promote environmentally responsible behaviours including amongst economic actors.
Reform
The final major development in public administration in the modern period is one that is ongoing - reform
widely believed that public administration reform commenced in 1905 with Teddy Roosevelt’s Keep Commission in a bid to reduce red-tape
each of the reform
campaigns had
identified different target areas
and had different goals
but the common thread
linking them all is that they had labelled government as problematic and
aimed to reimagine how public administration should solve the persistent administrative issue
s that affected the electorate’s confidence and trust in government
Critical Issues in Public Administration: A
Selection
The Politics- Administration Dichotomy and Debate
Woodrow Wilson and the Politics-Administration Dichotomy
According to Wilson’s dichotomy, the government consisted of
two distinct domains
politics
was the exclusive dominion of elected officials, politics was about
(1) who makes the law, and
(2) what that law should constitute.
while
public administration
was exclusive to public administrators
Wilson’s logic was that if the administration was kept separate from government, it would still be able to
function in a neutral, efficient and effective manner,
regardless of how government functioned or what type of government it was
Wilson also believed that it placed them in a “
hierarchical (superior-subordinate) relationship
”
Other Approaches to the Politics-Administration Dichotomy (European view)
Several other scholars have included the
politics-administration dichotomy
in their research on the field but
formed a different view, unlike Wilson
To the European scholars,
politics and administration existed in a symbiotic
relationship and “each could be used to improve the organic state”
administration
was but one form of power and worked in tandem with other powers such as legislative power and judicial power (i.e.
another tool/ state institution
)
Organising the dichotomic schools
Demir (2009) developed a framework that categorises various scholars’ understanding of the dichotomy according to three schools of thought
The political school
The Political school
envisions a more collaborative relationship
between public administrators and other political actors to create a
mutually-beneficial, democratic society
The interaction School
Interaction school
suggests a delicate balance between the elected officials and public administrators
, where the two sets of actors engage in a reciprocal, cooperative relationship even though the
public administrators “remain accountable and responsive to their elected officials”
(i.e. a hierarchical acknowledgement)
The seperation
The Separation school emphasises separating politics from administration, as
per the Wilsonian tradition
, resulting in the elected officials directing public administrators, who professionally perform their duties with expertise
Which should it be: “Politics vs Policies” or “Politics and Policies”
It is difficult to cleanly and absolutely separate policy and politics because “policies do not exist in a vacuum” but “start with a political objective
In general, one of the most significant arguments borne out of the politics-dichotomy argument, is that the dichotomy
promotes political neutrality
Svara's Critique
Svara argues that there is little value in this approach as
neither does it effectively illustrate the interactions
between elected officials and public administrators
nor does it determine “how they should interact
to have a constructive relationship to serve the public interest”
Svara explains that a
dynamic view
of the politics-administration relationship is necessary
argue that
political neutrality is possible
to achieve
without the politics-administration dichotomy
Complementarity As opposed to dichotomy
In this case, a model of complementarity would be more useful, where it provides for the
ability to distinguish
between politics and administration,
while concurrently describing how politics and administration are intermixed
and how this relationship of complementarity should look like.
This would
allow public administrators to be insulated from political interference
but also provide “for
extensive interaction and shared functions with elected officials
and considerable independent decision-making by administrators”
Problems with the PoliticsAdministration Dichotomy
Lack of reciprocity
in the relationship between the elected official and public administrator
Uncertainty
and confusion
about the
scope and
meaning of
the
dichotomy
Dichotomy need not undermine political neutrality
More labels and definitions required to be understood effectively
Towards a More Nuanced Understanding of Public
Administration
Why apply Public Administration Concepts to Southeast Asia?
examining public administration simply from a theoretical or an Americaninfluenced perspective is
not as useful and comprehensive
we also need to examine how these trends can and should be successfully transplanted and subsequently adapted in non-Western contexts
Key concerns for public admin
public administration concerns itself with “how politicians in government and non-elected public sector employees devise policy, sustain machinery of government and ensure policies are put into practice”.
there are
three major concerns
that have an impact on this process and these three
differ between countries
Organisation
Second, the institutional organisation of the
public service and the values it is based on
, is another important consideration - public services may be influenced by more traditional, conservative values or shaped by more liberal forces
Environment
Finally, the environment in which public administration functions in also impacts the public administration system - the public service agencies and their administrators may have a close, amicable
relationship with elected officials
, they may be “impervious” to political control and unchanging in their “values, traditions and methods of operation” or be subject to politicians’ attempts at restructure, reform and control
Bureacrats
First, the
characteristics, behaviour, motivations and conduct of public administrators
, particularly career bureaucrats who have close contact with elected officials, affect the process of policy formulation and implementation.
Contextual difference.
These 3 considerations will play out differently in various countries
Governments differ
from country to country
politicians within governments differ
from election term to election term
These are influenced by several country-specific factors such as
the historical trajectory,
societal cleavages,
political culture,
values,
levels of socio-political and
economic development,
and population size among others.
Why apply Public Administration Concepts to Developing Countries?
Another consideration is the development of
public administration systems in developing
, less wealthy countries which may have
weaker public institutions and structures
- this will severely impact successful policy formulation, implementation and public service delivery.
the United Nations believes that the importance of public administration in developing countries is to address
“sustained economic growth, the promotion of social development
facilitating infrastructure development and protecting the environment
promoting public private partnerships
managing development programmes and
maintaining a legal framework for development”