Public Administration
Foreign assistance
federal governement spent over $8 billion on direct foreign aid in 2007
layer cake model characteristics
Federal role: primarily responsible for defending nation, engaging ininternational diplomacy, and regulating interstate commerce State role: primarily responsible for overseeing education and building infrastructure such as roads and bridges Local role: responsible for public safety for public safety, emergency services and waste removal clear seperation of powers
provide public services
a wide variety of public services and provided by the government, with exmples including streets, school, parks, water & sewer systems
what is public administration
administrator as impartial implementor (woodrow wilson): these scholars viewed administration as separate from politics wilson stated that the business of government was to "organize the common interest against the special interest." they sought to distinguish between politics and administration, with politicians focused on developing policy and administrators executing that policy
elite theory
assumes only a select few are afforded privilege of making decisions. governement elite (elected and cabinet members) make decisions, and the only real choice in democracy to accept or reject the ruling class.
participatory model
assumes that a diverse group of individuals or interest will have an opportunity to provide input into decision-making ~advantages: interest groups provide a wealth of information to decision-makers ~captive decision-makers: fear that decision-makers will become too dependent on interest groups. goal is to make sure all hace an opportunity to participate. ~must balance speical interests v. common interests
sturctural theory
assumes that organizations are rational in that they function to accomplish specific goals and objectives. says that most dysfunctions is because they have the wrong structure. there are 5 fundamental parts of an organizations. 1. operating core 2. strategic apex 3. the middle line 4. technostructure 5. support staff grounded in classical principles of efficiency
administractive model
attempts to describe how decisions are actually made; decision makers simplify problems due to their own limited capacity and limited resources; they act rationally within these limitations. ideas are considered one at a time and the first satisfactory option is chosen
bureaucracy functional or not
bureaucracy: the structure virtually all government organizations operate within and is characteristic of large private organizations as well. weber (1922): bureaucracy ensures goods and services can be produced in the most efficient manner possible
two kind of grants
categorical grants block grants
public decision-making
pinpoint the problem identify the causes set objectives ("musts" and "wants") formulate alternatives (brainstorming) evaluate alternative against objectives choose best alternative assess potential consequences
taxation
collected by local, state, & federal agencies to pay for broad range of services to meet citizens' needs local examples: income taxes, lodging tax, admissions tax
the nature of politics and administration
competence versus responsiveness (example of being responsive without being reactive): competence focuses on qualifications and responsiveness focuese responding quickly to constituent and popular opinion
implicit favorite model
decision-maker identifies favorite before beginning the process, so is therefore biased, everythingincluding criteria flows to confirm the bias
public choice theory
economice theory that self interest determines how decisions are made. administors make the decisions that minimize rewards for their agency. leads to increased size, budget, and respondsibility of agency
fee-based services
fees make up a smaller portion of revenue than taxes, designed to cover the cost of a specific service. collecting on something/ only use that revenue from the taxes local examples: building permits, rental registration, facility rentals
Public Administration
formation and implementation of public. An amalgamation of management based strategies that incorporates behaviorally based practives and itilized within a democratic framwork of accountability
categorical grants
funds must be used for very specific purposes help states and municipalities fund necessay programs and activities fosters working relationships among national, state and local government employees debate: too much federal government influence
rational model
grounded in economic principles, looks at the "opportunity cost" of one decision versus other options. ~doing cost-benefit analysis (CBA) before making decisions. looks at the benefit of a program divided by its costs
how do we determine the laws and regulation by which we regulate ourselves?
have laws in place
McGregor theory Y
individuals enjoy work, embrace responisablity, most are capiable of see-direction and prefer not to be micromanage. management lets their workers get their work done with self-directed efforts. descriptive words: liberating and developmental, control, achievement and continuous improvements achived by enabling, empowering and giving responsiblility.
reformers: woodrow wilson
insisted on separation of politics and administration, policy decisions coming from elected officals and administrators execute policy will in a professional fashion.
what is common interest
interest everyone shares
what is special interest
interest that a few of the majority wants, but is out spoken about it
political model
intra-organizational coalitions complete for influence. the most powerful coalitons win out, and the participants are most focused on building alliances and conolidating power in order to exert influence over future decisions
the quality circle
introduced to the japanese the concept of statistical quality control, which was immediately adopted by the union of jaanese scientist and engineers as the cornerstone of their improvement programs. participative decision-making. says that quality begins in the design stage and ends after satisfactory services are provided to the customer
system theory
is based on the premise that the organization is comprised of several interconnected parts, each of which is designed to achieve broader organizational goals and objectives. looks in terms of inputs, processes, outputs, and feedback mechanisms
characteristics of bueaucracy
jurisdictional boundaries: what or where a function or organization has jurisdiction, typically prescribed by laws or regulations. examples include geographical jurisdiction like city limits, or subject matter jurisdiction over certain types of crimes. hierarchy: vertical control within an organization in which there is a chain of command. ex: includes city of sandusky org chart and recent charter changes reliance on written documents and preservation of files expertly trained managers prescribed rules
how goverment serves others
nonprofit sector- tax status (501(c)(3)), public-privet parterships and funding. EX. ohio city inc., second harvest, lake erie shores & islands, victory kitchen research- examples: national institute of health, national science foundation, national instiute of food & agriculture
group think
occurs in higly cohesive groups that operate in environments with feeling of security. primary goal of decision-making is to maintain power and cohesiveness. characteized by exterme conformity getting in way of critial analysis.
regulations to protecting quality of life
ordinances, regulations and laws are passed and enforced by the public sector to ensure the public safety, health and well-being examples: traffic, clean water and safety las
humanizing theory
parker-follett, maslow, McGregor
McGregor theory X
power goes from top-down. motivates workers by economic factors, threats, and punishments. resembles a quasi-military structure. some descriptive words: authoritarian, repressive style, tight control, no development, produces limited, depressed culture
economic theory
primarly concern with ensuring that managers and rank-and-file emplyees are working for the beterment of the organization. strives to ensure that workers interests coincide witht he organization's interest ex. satistfactory delivery
managing human resources
productive human resource management requires: ~an open system considering internal and external factors ~understanding that people are an organization's most valuable asset ~awareness of need to attract top talent ~commitment to understand employee motivation & to the development of employees ~willingness and ablility to tailor different strategies for motivation and development to unique individuals ~attention to providing a quality of work life ~creating a cooperative workplace culture of teamwork
national perforamce review
provides recommendations for improvements. government should: act as a catalyst, wmpower rather than simple serve, be competitive, be mission-driven as opposed to rule-driven, be result-oriented, be customer-driven, be enterprising, anticipate social problems, be decentralized, and be market-oriented.
contemporary human resource elements
public managers must consider: ~creating & maintaining a diverse workforce that is representative of the communities served ~affording workers a measure of power in the workplace ~enabling workers to fulfill and balance work and family responsilities ~enabling workers to hold managers accountable for merit principles ~take into account different ways of motivating workers ~identify ways of fostering culture of coorperation & teamwork in the workplace
garbage can model
public-decision making consits of three separate "streams" which are the problem, political and policy streams. Together, they steer decision-making, when the 3 streams are aligned: 1. problem stream-understanting why a specific problem rather than others comes to a public officials' attention 2. political stream-pulse of the nation as conveyed through public opinion, election results, special interests 3. policy stream- where staff formulates proposals
organizational theory
refers to shared notions that bind together members of an organization, some of which include: ~behavioral regularities when people interact: this could include greeting a coworker with a "good morning" or asking about someone's family or weekend. ~group norms and values ~a guiding mission and formal rules that dictate what is and is not appropriate behavior ~climate and environment. This typically refers to an organization's physical layout ~shared skills and modes of thinking
what do we get for all of these resources
regulations to protect quality of life provide public services
neo-classical era
simon, merton, waldo, selznick, barnard
intersection of politics and administration
spoils system: Andrew Jackson ~challenges: created inefficiency, loyalty over competency, profiteering, corruption & scandals need for reform: industrialization meant the need for competence was more important. led to a reform movement
block grants
states have more freedom in how funds may be used allows power to shift away from the nation government (do have to report but are more lenient)
organizational theories
structural, systems, the quality circle, economic, organization culture, and national perfomance review
where do government resources come from
taxation and fee-based services
classical era
taylor, weber, gullick and urwick, fayol
efective delegation
~Role of manager in delegating: communicate goals & tasks clearly; set performance standards; know the employees strengths and interests; allow them to participate in developing objective; keep lines of communication open.; provide necessary support, and provide regular feedback ~role of employee; employees must understand the goals, resources available, performance standards, obstacles, communication and feedback system, complete delegared tasks and not to surpise the manger ~why some supervisors choose not delegate
tension between politics and bureaucracy
~bureaucracies are synonymous with a managerial approach, which is formal, hierarchhical & uniform. politics places emphasis on transparency and accountability ~expertise is prioritized in bureaucracy, while politics prioritizes respinsiveness to public opinion and the will of the people ~judicial system: the court system is a reluctant check on bureaucatic power, so if congress and the executive branch are unable or unwilling to hold the bureaucracy accountable, the judicial branch ensures its actions are within the letter of the U.S. constitution
picket fence model characteristics
~characterized by close fiscal relationship between federal, state, and local government ~assumes often times that federal government is best and most equitable place to collect money, and that states and local government are in a better position to spend the resources and to deliver services ~relies on grants and aid from federal government
congressional power over administration
~congress sets budget for bureacratic agencies ~sets the framework for their authority and can limit authority and ability to issue rules and orders ~challenges in congressional oversight: iron triangle, discusses mutual benefit of partnerships between the bureaucracy (which recieves funding and support), special interests (which recieve favorable policies from congress and bureaucracy) and congress (which receives political support from special interests and faoriable execution from bureaucracy)`
marble cake model characteristics
~fewer hard and fast lines of distinction between federal, state, and local government ~education, for example, has applications at the rederal, state, and local level ~infrastructure also has federal, state, and local components ~domestica safety has increasing state and federal implicaions due to homeland securtiy
traditional human resource elements
~hiring the right workers to achieve an organization's goals and fulfill it's mandated ~training and developing workers ~rewarding workers using monetary & non monetary rewards, thereby creating an organizational environment that engenders lotalty and cooperation
symptoms of group think
~illision of invulnerablitity: believe they are right or special ~stereotyping: us versus them ~rationalization: rationalize negative feed back ~moral high ground: believe they are right and other are wrong (no grey areas) ~self-censorship: individuals keep doubts to themselves ~illusion of unanimity ~pressure applied to dissenters: those who dissent are pressured (shut down if you have a diff. idea) ~mind-guarding: protection of leaders from ecternal criticism
21st century human resource demands
~increased demand for new services and higher productivity ~tightening budgets ~demand for more transparency and public involvement in decision-making ~changing and higer expectations of workforce ~building a diverse workforce that is representative of community served
problems with current hiring in public sector
~overly bureaurcratic hiring process: ~Long Forms-difficult applications, not enough actual recruitment. the application process is burdensome and formal and often doesn't sell the exciting part of public sector work ~Long Hiring Process-it often take longer for public sectors to get throuh hiring process, and there is often little communication between when individuals apply, are interviewed and ultimately hired ~Focus on process and rules rather than on identifying and arrecting talent ~Lack of Discretion on salary and benefits: often there are many rules as it relates to starting salary, benefits, vacation that don't leave much room for negotiation or matching a potential employees existing package to entice them to switch positions
Executive branch bureacracy
~presidential appointments: small percentage of workforce. often unfamiliar with their agencies, dependent on the civil sercants with knowledge. also, (agriculture department example), often bring an agenda separate from president ~ideology as litmus test- in 70s and 80s, the appointment made by presidents shifted toward to ideology as opposed to skill, expertise or experience ~executive office of the president has difficult time manaing bureauctacy becuase it lacks specialixed knowledge, is more transitional, and has less resource. there are pros and cons to this, less political but less likely to implement change.
bureaucratic politics
~recognition that appointed administrative positions often take lead in making policy, and lower level officials are responsible for interpreting policies. ~welfare state: refers to policies provided for the general welfare of the citizenry. government became much more complex in mind to late 20th century ~"public administration is the sum of politics plus management" holzer and gabrelian
attracting & retaining talent
~sustaining a quality workforce involves identifyig & hiring the right people, preparin them, keeping them motivated & evaluating them fairly ~recruiting talent: attracting a strong workforce is difficult due to attacks on public servnts. rganizations must: ~educate potential workers onimprtance of public service ~offer competitive salaries and benefits ~increase employee discretion ~employee development training employees starts upon hiring and continues throughout their tenure with the organization
