Chapter 3 Public Administration

Woodrow Wilson

"the Study of Administration" - "the field of administration is a field of business"

Executive Departments

- There are 15 executive departments Department --> can refer to a cabinet-level agency of the US gov, can also refer to one of the three branches of gov (executive, legislative or judicial) - also used as a general term for any administrative subdivision - thus the department of the navy is within the Department of Defense - as a group, they constitute president's cabinet - newest member being the secretary of Homeland Security

Independent Public Bodies

- made up of independent establishments and government corporations to form the third main area of the US national machinery of gov! - range in purpose from public business corporations (such as IS Postal) to important regulators and watchdogs (Environmental Protection Agency, etc.) Corporation --> An organization formed under state or federal law that exists for legal purposes, as a separate being or an artificial person... can be public or private and it may be created to carry on a business or to perform almost any function - may be owned by the gov or by a few persons, or it may be a "publicly owned corporation" -- owned by members of the general public who buy its shares on an open stock market such as the New York Stock Exchange

Nonprofits

- organized and operated for public or societal purposes - reliance on voluntary action

The Hoover Commissions

- reduce the number of gov agencies during WWII 1. Unlimited discretion over presidential organization and staff 2.A strengthened Bureau of the Budget 3. An office of personnel located in the EOP 4. The creation of a staff secretary (what we now call a chief of staff) to provide a liaison between president and his subordinates

Many of the richer neighborhoods in NYC are cleaner and safer because residents can afford to pay for private sanitization services and private police

-Citizens buying the amount of "public" services they can afford - other side of privatization has government itself contracting for the private provision of public functions ... trash collected, public buildings cleaned, etc., and are repaired not by public employees but by private sector employees with government contracts... less expensive bc they're generally paid less than public employees

Three main categories of organizations in the structure of the executive branch

1) executive office agencies 2) executive departments 3) independent public bodies

Four strategies of privatization that will stop things!

1. Load shedding -- refers to gov withdrawing from the provision of goods and services and allowing them to "be supplied by the marketplace or by voluntary arrangements" 2. Alternative delivery systems ... where gov plays a relatively limited role 3. Imposing user charges for goods and services 4. Restoring competition and minimizing government monopolies

Government Corporation is the term used for a government-owned corporation or an agency of government that administers a self-supporting enterprise in the following situations

1. When an agency's business is essentially commercial 2. When an agent can generate its own revenue 3. When the agency's mission requires greater flexibility than government agencies normally have

Unicameral

A legislature with only one chamber, as opposed to a bicameral one with two - typically a house and a senate. - Nebraska is the only state with a unicameral legislature A city council is the legislative branch, typically unicameral, of a municipal government - a mayor is the elected chief executive officer of a municipal corporation, the chief ceremonial officer of a city

Micromanagement

A pejorative term for too-close supervision by policymakers in the implementation of programs, Congress has been accused on micromanagement when it writes detailed rules governing programs into legislation - thus denying line managers any real administrative discretion. But any manager is a micromanager if he or she refuses to allow subordinates to have any real authority or responsibiity

Ward

A subdivision of a city, often used as a legislative district for city council elections

State and Local Government Machinery

American subnational governments are individually smaller than the national government but collectively far larger!! - the machinery of government at the state and local levels parallels the national model with legislative, executive and judicial branches

A regulatory commission is an independent agency set by Congress to regulate some of aspect of US economic life

Commission - group charged with directing a government function, whether on an ad hoc or a permanent basis. Commissions tend to be used (1) when it is desirable to have bipartisan leadership (2) when their functions are of a quasi-judicial nature or (3) when it is deemed important to have wide representation of ethnic groups, regions of the country, differing skills and so on

Separation of Powers

Constitutional division of powers among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, with the legislative branch making law, the executive applying and enforcing the law, and the judiciary interpreting the law

The primacy of state over local law is the essence of Dillon's Rule

Dillon's Rule -- criteria developed by state courts to determine the nature and extent of powers granted to local governments .. run was posited by John F. Dillon in his 1911 volume Commentaries on the Law of Municipal Corporations - rule outline criteria developed by state courts to determine the nature and extent of powers granted to local governments - holds that municipal corporations have only those powers 1 - expressly granted in the city charter 2 - necessary or fairly implied by or incidental to formally expressed powers 3 - essential to the declared purposes of the corporation In some states, the rule has been relaxed esp in dealing with HOME RULE cities - the ability, the power, of a municipal corporation to develop and implement its own charter.. it resulted from the urban reform movement of the early 20th century, which hoped to remove urban politics from the harmful influence of state politics.. home rules can either be a statutory or a constitutional system and varies in its details from state to state

What is the machinery of government?

Machinery of government consists of all the structural arrangements adopted by national, state or local governments to deliver their legally mandated programs and services means the interconnected structures and processes of government, such as the functions and accountability of departments in the executive branch of government

Municipal Government

Municipal -- refers to something of local government concern ... implies that the thing it modifies is of internal concern to a state

Metropolitan Government

Pennsylvania known for its incredibly fragmented system of local governance

Executive Office Agencies

The Executive Office of the President (EOP) is an umbrella office consisting of the top presidential staff agencies that provide the president help and advice in carrying out major responsibilities

constitutional architecture

The administrative arrangements created by gov's constitution - from the separation of powers to the requirement that specific departments be created or services performed

The Brownlow Committee

The classic example of government reorganization, the one that to this day is still the most significant, is the structuring of the executive branch recommended by the President's Committee on Administrative Management in 1936-37. - This committee was popularly known as the Brownlow Committee

County Government

The county is the basic unit for administrative decentralization of state government - county seat is the capital of a county, where the courts and administrative offices are located

Whenever government seeks to address a major issue, it leaves new machinery in its wake

World Trade Center --> 9/11 Civil Rights Movement --> Commission on Civil Rights Environmental movement --> Environmental Protection Agency

Divided Government

a government in which different political parties control the legislative and executive branches

Frank J. Goodnow

a leader of the progressive reform movement and one of the founders and first president (in 1903) of the American Political Science Association. Good now is now best known as one of the principal exponents, along with Woodrow wilson of PA's politics-administration dichotomy

At-large

an election in which one or more candidates for a legislature are chosen by all of the voters of a jurisdiction. This is in contrast to an election by legislative district, in which voters are limited to selecting one candidate to represent their district - makes it hard for minorities

bossism

an informal system of local government in which public power is concentrated in the hands of a central figure, called a political boss, who may not have a formal government position. The power is concentrated through the use of a political machine, whereby a hierarchy is created and maintained through the use of patronage and government largesse to ensure compliance with the wishes of the boss.. it was a dominant system in American city government after the Civil War and was the main target of the American urban reform effort

Ombudsman

an official whose job is to investigate the complaints of the citizenry concerning public services and to ensure that these complaints will reach the attention of those officials at levels above the original providers of service

"We the People"

asserts source of its authority is the people as opposed to the states... it then assigns powers to the various branches of gov and in doing so, structures the gov - Is it constitutional?

City Charter

document that spells out the purposes and powers of a municipal corporation. to operate, a municipal corporation must have a charter like another other corporation - the municipality can perform only those functions and exercise only those powers that are in the charter - otherwise it is limited to statutory charters spelled out by the state legislature

The Obama Revolution - the return of big government

economic recovery effort/enormous fiscal pressures

Some states severely limit executive powers while others give their governors powers such as the ITEM VETO , that are greater than those held by the POTUS

executive power to veto separate items in a bill all known as item line veto

The Pressure for Privatization

generally 3 basic forms of government privatization 1. sale of gov assets (such as a railroad to a corporation or public housing units to their tenants) 2. The private financing of public facilities (such as toll highways in Cali) 3. The private provision of services (such as trash collection)

Government Accountability Office

important because allows Congress to exercise financial oversight of the executive branch

Margaret Thatcher

leader of conservatives in Great Britain who came to power. Pledged to limit social welfare, restrict union power, and end inflation. Formed Thatcherism, in which her economic policy was termed, and improved the British economic situation. She dominated British politics in 1980s, and her government tried to replace local property taxes with a flat-rate tax payable by every adult. Her popularity fell, and resigned.

The Ash Council

led to transformation of the Bureau of the Budget into the Office of Management and Budget ... really ambitious in calling for a major reconstruction of the cabinet agencies

Parliamentary System

means of gov whose power is in the legislative, which selects from among its members a prime minister and his or her cabinet officers

Executive Branch Machinery

most complex part of the machinery of gov!! - headed by the president - contains the machinery that serves to implement national policies established by both constitutional and legislative means

Third sector

organization that don't fit public sector of government or private (business) - nonprofit

The National Performance Review: 'Reinventing Government"

started in 1933 by the Clinton administration... National Performance Review ... President Bill Clinton

Gubernatorial

strange word that refers to things pertaining to the office of governor

British machinery different than that of the US

system of cabinet, rather than presidential government

Bureau movement

the efforts of progressive reformers early in the 20th century to apply scientific methods to municipal problems. Their efforts led to the creation of research bureaus, which in turn created PA

State Government

the elected chief executive of a state government is the governor - the responsibilities of a governor usually parallel those of a US president, on a smaller scale, but each governor has only the powers granted to the office by the state constitution

marketplace failure

the inability of a society's free markets to provide a needed service