The public sector
I. What is Public Administration?
II. Why is Public Administration Difficult to Define? III. Public Administrators
A. Who Are They?
B. What Do They Do?
C. What Should They Know?
IV. Public Administration and Business
A. How is PA Similar to Business?
B. How is PA Different From Business?
I. What is Public
Administration?
Denhardt: Public Administration is concerned with the management of public programs
Wilson: Public Administration is the detailed and systematic execution of public law (administrative study is to discover first what government can
Wilson, continued
Administration is a field of business
Administration lies outside the proper
sphere of politics
Administration must be at all points
sensitive to public opinion
I. What is Public
Administration?
Fesler and Kettl
: Public Administration includes
the shaping of policy on the way up, execution of
policy after it has been made, and as a necessary
part of the execution, decision making about
policy matters on the way down
Simon et al
: In its broadest sense, administration
can be defined as the activities of groups
I. What is Public
Administration?
Dimock and Dimock: In simple terms,
administration is securing cooperation in order to get the work of the world accomplished . . .As a career, administration is an exciting challenge, for it calls on many aspects of a man’s nature and abilities and
applies them to sticky social problems.
Starling: Public Administration is the process by
I. What is Public
Administration?
• Which of these definitions best captures your personal definition of PA?
II. Why is Public Administration
Difficult to Define?
Rosenbloom
: Central problem of Public
Administration theory is that is derived
from 3 distinct approaches of what PA is
and each emphasizes different values,
Rosenbloom, continued
Managerial
(
what PA ought to be
)-grew out of
civil service reforms; PA was to be geared toward
the maximization of effectiveness, efficiency and
economy
efficiency-most important value
structure
-hierarchical, functional specialization,
jobs merit based, politically neutral competence;
Rosenbloom, continued
Political (what PA was in practice)-PA is a problem in political theory, the fundamental problem in a democracy is responsibility to popular control; the responsibility and
responsiveness of the administrative agencies and the
bureaucracies to the elected officials is of central importance in a government based increasingly on the exercise of
discretionary power by the agencies of administration;
responsiveness, representativeness, and accountability through elected officials to the citizenry are key values structure-advantages of pluralism; enable faction to
compete against faction; political participation by a variety of interested parties
Rosenbloom, continued
Legal-administrative
law, judicalization of PA,
and constitutional laws are three components
procedural due process, individual substantive
rights, equity are key values
structure
-designed to facilitate the use of
adversarial procedure; independence of hearing
officer critical;
Rosenbloom, continued
The three approaches cannot be synthesized
because they are an integral part of a political
culture that emphasizes the separation of powers
rather than integrated political action; each
associated with a different branch of government:
managerial
(executive) implementation of rules;
political
(legislative) making rules
representativeness;
Peters—Models of Governance
Market Models
Participatory State
Flexible Government
Deregulating Government
Structure
III. Public Administrators
A. Who Are They?
PAs of the future:
operate in a world shaped by high public
expectations,
public-private and intergovernmental
collaboration,
technological complexity,
cultural diversity,
feel of home,
III. Public Administrators
--A. Who Are They continued
encouraging interaction between employees, no excessive staff,
immediate products, cutting red tape,
quick service delivery: variety, fragmentation, and brevity
information age: quality and innovation are chief goals; need ability to synthesize the data in order to make effective decisions; have to be team players
III. Public Administrators
B. What Do They Do?
Interpersonal—relationships with others
a. figurehead-handling ceremonial and symbolic activities b. leader-relationships with subordinates, including
motivation, communication, encouragement, and influence
c. liaison-development of information sources both inside and outside an organization
III. Public Administrators
B. What Do They Do, continued
Informational—managers as nerve center
of the organization
e. monitor-seeking current information from many sources
f. disseminator-transmits current information to others, both inside and outside of the organization g. spokesperson-official statement about the
III. Public Administrators
B. What Do They Do, continued
Decisional—information is only a means to an end-the decision
h. entrepreneur-initiation of change—willingness to scan
broader environments for approaches that suit their objectives, not captives of sectoral conventions, carve out new and
personal missions for their organization, they are
opportunistic, taking advantage of available resources, willing to take risks, have a bias toward action
III. Public Administrators
B. What they do: Decisional, continued
j. resource allocator-decisions about how to allocate people, time, equipment, budget
k. negotiator-formal negotiations and informal bargaining
l. policy maker-all organizations have policies that are statements of goals and objectives
III. Public Administrators
C. What Should They Know?
They need to know the process by which public policies are conceived and implemented
Political knowledge alone is not enough, they must also have political skills
Need skills to analyze and interpret political, social, and economic trends
Need skills to evaluate the consequences of administrative action, and skills to persuade and bargain
Levin—Management Matters
Discovery is not enough
Point decisions are not enough
IV. Public Administration
and Business
Why should you be able to
discuss the similarities and/
or differences between public
administration and
IV. Public Administration
and Business
A. How is PA Similar to Business?
Both sectors are concerned with issues of
organization design, the allocation of
IV. Public Administration
and Business
B. How is PA Different From Business?
Work in public organizations
is distinguished by its
pursuit of democratic values
and this affects nearly
IV. Public Administration
and Business
B. How is PA Different From Business? Denhardt:
Ambiguity, pluralistic decision making, and visibility - all stem from pursuing public purposes
Responsibility in PA is blurred-different structures
Incentive to satisfy parties that provides the resources-different incentives
Public’s right to know what goes on/external forces-different settings
Welfare roles of government
Provision of a basic economic infrastructure: institutions, rules and arrangements.
Provision of various collective (public) goods and services. Resolution and adjustment of group conflicts.
Maintenance of competition. Protection of natural resources.
Provision for minimum access by individuals to goods and services of the economy.
