This article is an Inquires on the effectiveness of the tools employed by the government in realizing sustainable, effective and proficient public institutions. Early childhood education is the epicenter of the analysis, with the active integration of third parties in the public platform being one of the major emphases.
Major theme of the article and the hypothesis developed
This article examines the effectiveness of the diverse tools used by the government in the realization of proficient institutional outlook. The evaluation is pivoted on three major tools – vouchers, subsidies and contractual agreements.
The authors differentiate institutional practices into four main components – managerial potential, realistic managerial outcomes, viability of the program and the resultant program outcome- In a bid to fully conceptualize the manner in which government tools impact service delivery in federal funded institutions.
Empirical evidence shows that each of the varied tools employed by the government serves a unique role in the execution of early childhood programs, with government subsidies impacting highly on the achievement of positive outcomes. (Sandford, 2008, p. 1)
Authors’ support of the main premise
In this seminal work, the author supports the major hypotheses by reviewing the development of Public Administration policies of investing on nursery schools, reflecting the ideal expectation of a fully-fledged and performing public organization.
The author draws a broad spectrum of empirical findings from third-party, public organizations and weighs their contribution to the advancement of a better pre-school endowment- justifying the premise along the public administration theoretical framework (Sandford, 2008, p. 1).
Having noted the wide range of deviation between the intended policy projection and the realistic state of third-party public organizations, the author advocates for proper implementation of various government instruments such as monitoring services by public managers, a continuous assessment of organizational performance, observing social laws and facilitating financial empowerment to institutions.
For instance, the use of government grants to finance pre-school institutions offload families and education managers of unnecessary financial strain in implementing early childhood education (Sandford, 2008, p. 1).
Federal contracts provide another avenue of financing government enterprises and have proved to be very reliable in educating young children. The last major tool employed in pre-school institutions is the use of vouchers, which enhance parent autonomy such that they can attend to their career responsibilities without much strain (Sandford, 2008, p. 1).
Style and the substance of the article
This article takes a variety of styles; from the investigative touch of relating public administration theoretical concepts with empirical and tangible evidence accumulated from third-party public stakeholders, to its persuasive elegance in a bid to bring its recommendations to the attention of both macro-level and micro-level stakeholders of early childhood education.
Recommendation
I recommend this article to both macro-level and micro-level practitioners. This is because of its utilitarian approach not only in implementing government tools; giving viable strategies and alternatives of funding public institutions caring and educating pre-school pupils, but also in providing invaluable tenets on drawing governmental policy tools for evaluating the performance of early childhood organizations.
The article under consideration is called Post-foundational development management – power, politics and complexity and written by Christ Mowles (2010).
The author discusses the place of management theories in learning and development theories as well as how they are applied to introduce changes and improvement. Particularly, the author focuses on post-foundational management theory based on the principles of emergence.
The work combines empirical and theoretical framework for analyzing the major aspects and strategies needed to upgrading the development management. Investigating future perspectives of improvements and programs, the research also places an emphasis on such concepts as predictability, control, emergency, and system change.
All the above-described aspects are considered in regional context that provides a favorable ground for more effective implementation of theoretical approaches. In addition, the author provides some historical facts and a comparative analysis of theories for the audience to have clearer understanding of their essence.
While discussing particular theories, the author resorts to assessment of post-foundational management within the local context believing that this principle creates a number of positive perspectives for improvement of public sphere.
To enlarge on this, Mowles believes that strategies and generalized plans are always perceived in particular contexts with certain actors participating in political cooperation aimed at grouping their efforts and sharing their experience in overcoming particular problems.
In this respect, an alternative theory put forward by the research draws on the concept of emergence, a condition under which all governmental and managerial procedures can be considerably improved. This is explained by the fact that quick adjustment to changes creates a number of benefits in critical situations, especially when time is of primary importance.
Considering these concepts, the author reaches a conclusion that, even if future perspectives and strategies are idealized and, sometimes, far from reality, planning and projecting intension can better assist in meeting the future goals rather than taking no measures at all.
In the article, the author presents a well-planned presentation of arguments and approaches used to assert the validity and reliability of facts. More importantly, the author has managed to sustain the balance between theoretical and empirical information applied. It should also be stressed that the main hypothesis of the paper is quite specific and consistent with the proposed supportive arguments.
However, excessive reference to theoretical materials provides a number of ambiguities that prevent readers from understanding the connection between practical and theoretical information. Despite that, the major strength of the article lies in a multidimensional approach the author has chosen for considering one theory within different contexts.
The writing style of the article refers to scientific genre, because the researcher resorts to a great number of business and scientific terms. Nevertheless, the abundance of terminology does not distort the overall impression from the text.
The information is logical and consistent where each argument is supported by evidence and facts. Besides the explanation for the key concepts, such as emergency, development management, post-foundational management, emergence, and future perspective, is provided in a well-grounded and detailed manner.
In general, the article will be of great significance and relevance to the sphere of public administrations because it provides readers with a number of important theoretical approaches aimed at improving public infrastructure. What is more important is that consideration of local context can give a better picture of how management theories contribute to the improvement of administration policies.
Reference List
Mowles, C. (2010). Post-Foundational Development Management – Power, Politics and Complexity. Public Development and Administration. 30(2), pp. 149-158.
The article under consideration is called The Present and (Normative) Future of Public Administration and Implications for ASPA taken from the journal of Public Administration Review. Eikenberry (2009), the author of the article, believes that the ASPA future is closely connected with recent institutional tendencies in public administration that are formed by contemporary network governance. In this regard, the future implications for ASPA’s activities are quite significant.
The work in question is a theoretical analysis of problems in the sphere of public administration dedicated to the problems of morality and ethics. It is based on empirical and theoretical studies where the author attains significant attention to normative theory.
In particular, the author puts forward the idea that government authority is necessary for establishing and proliferating democratic processes and regimes. This encouragement will consist in an attempt to renew moral and ethical values of social equality and fairness. However, the contemporary government fails to understand those concepts using them for their own purposes.
Living in a post-traditional society, hence, there is a growing necessity to develop new social and political governance skills contributing to maintaining openness and transparency in society.
According to Eikenberry (2009), ASPA should focus on enhancing social and democratic equity within the government institution. In order to support this standpoint, the author forecasts the major benefits of introducing this reform to the field of public administration.
Hence, democratic orientation entails that ASPA and related associations will have greater opportunities to take part in the process of policy-making and develop political and governance skills. In addition, the author believes that encouraging democracy will lead to political fairness in decision-making.
The arguments presented in the article to support the major thesis are quite persuasive and provide a broader outlook on the current state of affaires in the American society. In order to prove the appropriateness of shifting from government to network governance, Eikenberry (2009) presents an original view on the government authorizes and contributions to the development of the contemporary society.
While exploring the problem through the prism of normative theory, the author researchers the importance of questions related to the transparency and democracy within the public sector. In particular, Ekienberry (2009) seeks to identify the method for maintaining the public’s perception of morally justified actions.
While analyzing all controversial standpoints of the article, it should be stressed that the author has approached to the problem very subtly, with full comprehension of existing problems. In general, the article is well-structured and organized as the author applies effective techniques and theories to support each component of a hypothesis.
In particular, Eikenberry (2009) begins her investigation with historical aspects of government formation and ends with viable and pivotal solutions to the challenges connected with the introduction of new democratic values and strategies. Being logical and consistent in building the arguments, the article enables readers to track the main essence of the problem throughout the article.
The article under analysis is of great value for practitioners as it presents clear information about the contemporary aspects of governmental polices with regard to existing public professional associations, such as ASPA.
It enables to understand the role of democracy and social equity in building transparent relations between people and the government. What is more important is that the article displays effective solutions for improving the field of public administration from the theoretical and practical viewpoint.
Reference List
Eikenberry, A. M. (2009, November – December). The Present and (Normative) Future of Public Administration and Implications for ASPA. Public Administration Review. 69(6), pp. 1060-1067.
Rational choice theory is also termed choice theory or still rational action theory. It is an approach by social and political scientists to understand human behavior. This approach was formerly applied by economists; but has recently become popular in other disciplines such as sociology, political science, and anthropology.
The spread of the rational choice theory into political science first appeared in 1962 in William Rikers Theory of political coalitions (Amadae & Amadae 2003). In his theory, Rikers took the theory of economics and the mathematics based game theory and integrated them into political decision-making. His move presented an alternative to focus on concepts such as power and authority practiced for a long time by political scientists.
Rational Choice Theory in Politics
The rational choice theory is drawn from a general approach termed rational actor theory. The general approach emphasizes that an individual who is faced with several goals but has to make a decision among competing alternatives while at the same time possessing extensive information, has a coherent preference ordering and is committed to all the principles he is interested in and would like utility maximization.
Like in many other instances, the analysis of a rational choice usually begins with a question. Accordingly, rational choice takes several steps (Amadae and Amadae, 2003). Initially, an individual identifies the pertinent agents, assumes about their responsibility, and then isolates the restrictions faced by this agent.
He defines the “decision rules” of each of the agents, concludes how the rules of the decision of various agents may be made steady, explores how the equilibrium of the model alternates in response to varying external factors, and finally examines whether his predictions are consistent with actual experience.
In recent decades, rational choice theorists have been able to explore some complex aspects of politics through qualified fundamental assumptions on individual behavior. The theory of comprehensive rationality, which is comparable to neoclassical economic models, hypothesizes that political decision-makers are excessively egotistical utility maximizers who clench stable preferences and intentions.
In order to understand politics at collective level, Peters and Pierre (2006) advice that one should strive to understand the ordered preferences of the individual agents who crowd a given organization or a political sphere and measure the prescribed rules that combine these static preferences. Such an approach will make clear that policy outcomes are a combination of both rules and preferences (Peters & Pierre 2006).
Institutions and Identities
Although significant distinctions exists between rational choice models in public policy, political science, and in economics; all rational choice models have similar characteristics in that decision makers possess constant ranked and ordered preferences for outcomes. For instance, if one is offered three possible routes- 1, 2, and 3, a practical chooser will favor each of these three alternatives differently.
The preferences depicted by this rational chooser will be transitive and will have the necessary information to link his choices to the outcomes. This implies that individuals armed with this information will tend to optimize when making decisions. Therefore, individuals will tend to make strategic choices in order reach the best-preferred result. In this case, individual self-interest is used in the determination of preferences.
Rational choice theorists rush to label utility maximization a question of self-interest without considering other underlying reasons. According to these scholars, the behavior of the individuals reflects their desire to maximize utility of their choice.
What proponents of the rational choice theory I do not understand is that decisions made by individuals under the influence of complete certainty-even if specific strategic choices are believed to result in explicit outcomes-are uncommon in political life. In many instances, theorists of rational choice look at how individuals make choices in risky situations.
This is in cases where an action may lead to several other unforeseen results whose probability of occurring is understood, or with some conditions of uncertainty-in instances where the results are known but the probability of these outcomes occurring is uncertain and can only be estimated- has led to the rise of new acumens.
Instead of making use of a clearly understood value, these theorists have opted to make use of the expected utility theory in estimating how individual voters design calculations that enable them rank alternatives.
In contemporary living, and under conditions of risk, individuals tend to make strategic preferences based on probabilities where they associate the probability that their most preferred outcome will happen, and both against the cost of making a decision. Theorists only consider that individuals calculate the likelihood that election outcomes will vary if they choose a particular action.
They (theorists) do not consider that individual voters also look at the possibility that their selection will lead to different outcomes against the possibility that their choice will not result into the identified outcome.
Individual electorates not only look at the likelihood that an incident will happen, but they must also envisage that the event is probable to happen without them. They also look at the likelihood of their least preferred event occurring in the absence of their participation.
Voting As a Rational Choice
In the rational voting model, voters with social preferences, it is argued that the expected utility of voting is independent of the size of the electorate. Rational theorists perceive that people vote because this gives them positive utility.
They consider this social benefit not just as a psychological feature felt by the individual but as a utility that is related to the likelihood of being pivotal and to the number of people being affected by the said election.
People vote not just as an enjoyable act or a democratic duty, but also as a latent contribution to the welfare of the society. It has been shown that the potential impact of the election outcome is directly proportional to the size of the jurisdiction. In this model, a voter is perceived to have “narcissistic” preferences.
It is only by separating the rationality assumption from the self-centeredness notion that the act of voting can be said to be rational. A rational voter will choose which candidate to vote for on the basis of his own judgment of what is expected of him depending on the outcome of the election and not the direct consequences of voting.
Voters make a decision on whether or how to vote with the hope of making a maximum utility with both social and selfish terms. Observation reveals that even the most selfish voter votes for what he believes to be the common good but not for his direct good. The model does not explain how rational people vote and does not indicate the social vote choices of rational voters.
Vote casting in huge elections is not explicable in terms of egotistical benefits of ballot vote to human beings as the likelihood that a vote will make any change is too low to be “worth it” in effectiveness sense. Although voting provides psychological benefits, it cannot help us predict variations in voter turnout or give guidance on knowing which candidate will be preferred by a voter.
If a voter decides to support Barack Obama for U.S. President in 2012 because he believes that Obama will be better for the country as a whole, other Americans may not see this. In this case, the voter is not updating on the basis of the opinion of others in deciding the quality or social utility of Barack Obama. The voter’s skewed social advantages are comparative to the number of civilians, but are independent from the way others vote.
A voter will be less likely to vote as the probability of his importance shrinks, but as the importance of the election increases, many voters will choose to vote. It is also true that when the cost of voting decreases, more voters will find it rational to vote.
I am inclined to suggest if other factors are held at a constant, the scope of the election will not affect the outcome in any way unless the election is very small. In the actual sense, in very small elections, the individuals are controlled by self-regarding concerns. Again, it is only rational to vote if one cares about the welfare of others.
Apart from participating in voting, a lot of people contribute cash to many political campaigns. While this could be taken as an enjoyment, contributing to national or even local political campaigns can only be warranted as offering success or the opportunity to influence policy directly.
A small cash contribution to national campaigns, just as in voting, is also motivated by the likelihood of a large social benefit rather than by direct voter benefit.
The objectives of individuals are a function of their decision not independent of the framing like rational theorists would like to put it. Individuals in rational voting theory possess severe limitations in their ability to be consistent in their probability calculations.
Rational choice theory emphasize on utility-maximization behavior only producing a concept of human rationality lacking “substantive concept” similar to a scrabble blank tile that can “assume the value of any letter” (Breuning and Ishiyama, 2010).
The theory is also skewed in both its method and theoretical perspectives. Through its deep-seated social scientific pathologies, its research possesses little or no interest in solving political issues. It has a growing reliance on formal modeling and game theories applications.
Alternative Perspectives
Although it is predicted lesser elections to have lower turnouts, it turns out that other conditions combine to keep the turnout at a considerable level. This is an indication that voters are irrational. Trying to assume that voters systematically overestimate their influence on the outcome of the election will not be compatible with the underlying assumption of the rational behavior (Kirshassner, 2008).
Modern rational choice theorists led by WILLIAM H. RICKER have tried to reformulate the voter rational model where they argue that utility is not only derived from a certain electoral outcome, but also from taking part in the process itself. What rational theorists fail to address is the fact that the act of casting a vote is mainly a sociological factor and is not dependent rational voting behavior.
In this model, rational action is seen to produce unintended, unwanted, unexpected and unstable outcome-the opposite of social order as this outcomes lack meaning and structure. There is no any social order that has the capability to endure the unintended consequence of its actors (Lichbach, 2003).
In the rational choice theory, a choice is said to be “rational” meaning that an agent’s choices echo the most preferred viable alternative inferred by the preferences that are often complete and transitive. This definition is very narrow for rationality. The theory limits a “rational” choice on the basis of reason. It defines “reason” as the process of making logical deductions. In this paper, two kinds of question arise.
First, should the conclusion arrived at arise from a given set of premises? Second, are these premises justifiable? A choice can only be rational if it is consistent with utility maximization. An irrational choice is consistent with utility maximization based on irrational preferences. This is taken to imply that choice arise from maximization of utility given preferences (Shapiro, 2007).
Recommendation and Conclusion
Recent years have shown great interest by political researchers to find the meaning and application of rationality. Research has shown that there are limits in the application of rationality in choosing public policy.
Alternative conceptions of rationality are necessary to address among other issues the idea that politics and government can be better understood by the use of the economic leaning model of individual and organizational decision-making and behaviors. Policy formulation, and government decision making are not simple structured processes as one may think.
Politics cannot be reduced to simple self-centered, utility maximizing political actors. Bound rationality assumptions and attention to the impact of public policy should be developed. It is paramount that principles that allow the selection of the most useful decision-making model be developed for other purposes other than economic rationality.
In conclusion, it is evident that the study of rationality in public administration and public policy will be shaped by the criticism, theory development, and empirical research in the future. The heat generated against rationality in public administration arises from the methodology in political science solely because of its theory of human action.
Reference List
Amadae, S. M., and Amada Michelle S. (2003). Rationalizing Capitalist Democracy: The Cold War Origins of Rational Choice Liberalism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Breuning, M., and Ishiyama, T. (2010). 21st Century Political Science: A Reference Handbook, Vol1. Los Angeles: SAGE.
Kirchgassner, G. (2008). Homo Oeconomicus: The Model of Individual Behavior Its Applications in Economics and Other Social Sciences. London: Springer.
Lichbach, I. M. (2003). Is Rational Choice Theory All of Social Science? Michigan: University of Michigan Press.
Peters, G. Pierre, J. (2006). Handbook of Public Policy. Los Angeles: SAGE
Shapiro, I. (2007). The Flight from Reality in Human Sciences. New Jersey: Princeton University press.
Most governments have embraced the e-government initiatives to argument; service delivery, reduce corruption, spread information, support transparency and increase democratic involvement. The e-government involves two approaches in attaining e-government initiative. These approaches are internal and external. Internal approach involves government dealing with its employees and the government itself.
External approach involves government engagement with its citizen and businesses (Hussein et al, 2011). E-governments has transformed the external government interactions by enabling the public unswervingly receive government services at their suitable time without making visits or getting the services through bureaucratic processes.
Introduction
Rapid development in the technology has largely altered the way modern governments engage with their citizens and eventual service delivery. Most governments have recognized the technology by shifting from traditional service administration to digital or e-governance dispensation. E-governance has made governments services accessible to its citizen at their convenient time.
Therefore, this has increased citizen participation, transparency, accountability in government operations and common participation by citizens in decision making. The shift towards e-government has altered the structure of governments, the mode of government information transmission and decision making processes. Thus, these changes have had a trivial effect on the services, which states needs to plan and harmonize.
This research paper explores the shift in public administration because of e-government. Through literature review, the writer discusses e-government and how it has heightened accountability in governments with e-enabled technologies. Also, the writer evaluates e-governments technologies such as social media and their roles in heightening government accountability.
Though, the e-governments technology has simplified service delivery and information access from government and it’s agencies, some challenges has been observed. Such challenges include; accessibility by wider public, redefining government boundaries and cultural issues among others.
The E-government
E-government is a popular word in Information Technology. It refers to the general practice of using electronics in government. This may encompass using the internet, telephones, fax machines, surveillance systems and tracking systems by the government. Television sets and radios are used by governments to pass on information. Hussein et al (2011) offers another definition for e-government.
He asserts that e-government is where governments use information and technologies to support or improve the activities of public sector organizations. For many years, governments have used radio waves to broadcast warnings in times of disasters or even during election processes. Thus, e-government is not a new phenomenon in present governments (Davison, 2005).
E-governments and Accountability
Information Distribution
Government managed media strengthens pro-government broad casts and messages forming e-government (Reddick, 2011). This is achieved by influencing effective information distribution and fostering accountability. Government procedures and improved functionalities of governments are being realized by using new non-internet applications of e-government.
Information technologies embraced by e-government encompasses Government tracing structures of citizens, biometric documentations and surveillance information systems. Hussein et al (2011) argues that with the fast evolving and access to internet technology among many people, the government has an opportunity of managing business online.
Besides, most governments, like the United States, embrace the integrated e-government information systems to manage government projects. The integrated systems provide valuable information which aids in online payments and tracking of social security payouts.
According to Reddick (2011) government as also employed the use of mobile phones. The mobile telephones are essential in providing useful information and simplify transmission of government information between the government and its citizens.
By using text messages, governments can is able to provide up-to-date information on request, send out mass and region-wide messages, sounding alert or specific emergency warnings. These ensure government accessibility by the people at any given time from anywhere.
Efficiency in Information Storage
E-government also implies the use of information and communications technologies to better transparency and increase efficacy in public institutions. With this technological advantage, Governments may make use of technology in several ways. One of it is storing information in digital format to lessen the paperwork used which in turn makes access to the information easy (Srivastava, 2011).
Besides, electronic platforms pave way for better accounting, data collection, and better planning of public sector spending. Internet portals, help in saving time going through government processes. For instance an entrepreneur may gain a business permit through these portals. This reduces the waiting time and walking the distances to physical government offices.
Reddick (2011) explains that E-government has created convenience to citizens. People are expecting more government services to be online. With services being online, people don’t worry about where to find information as it is available anytime and anywhere. E-government usually focuses on the activities that people usually need help with.
Hence, through online services a person can get explanations on complex policies and how they work (Srivastava, 2011). Online tools also provide language translations; this is a major benefit considering that not all the people understand one given language. Besides, updating information on the social media sites is easily and fast therefore the agencies can ensure users get up-to-date information from the government.
Information Access 24/7
E-government services are not limited to the traditional working hours. Accessing information hosted on the site is available for 24 hours a day all through the week. E-government also come with some standards that allow people to search for particular information and is user-friendly (Flensburg, 2010). Most of them provide a search function to help trace information that may be available from other sources.
With E-government, many companies reports saving more money. Traditionally citizens had either to drive to government offices and perhaps wait to get information; this meant that a citizen productive time was wasted. By governments using the information online, less time is used accessing it as opposed to driving time and the queuing time (Flensburg, 2010).
For organizations to make future strategies they need to have more Information Access. The e-governments has granted this wish by providing a wide range of services and information online; it has become easier for organizations to decide which information impact positively on their growth and success.
E-governments collect and store huge amounts of information related to economy, demographic research and other inclinations (Davison, 2005). Thus, when organizations access volumes of information to simplify decision making, it gives them a competitive edge against their rival in a similar business venture. This leads to development of strategies on how to devise ways of increasing profits to swell economically.
Paperless “Office”
E-government Increases efficiency by reducing the time needed to carry out online transactions. This is aided by automation which significantly reduces paperwork and fixes a paperless “office”. The process removes overheads, time and risks that can is associated with clerical duties.
Through benefits associated with e-governments; better, reliable, accurate and timely information and communication is spread to the public by building transparency between the government and its citizens (Carter and McBride, 2010). Besides, efficiency enables citizens to contribute and offer needed support to the government because of direct and personal communication with the government.
Public Feedback Mechanism
Karunasena et al (2011) illustrate that most governments have widely embraced the e-government in carrying out external affairs. The e-government technology fixes a two-way interaction between an organization, citizen and the government. Through two-way communication accountability is increased through a process known as “public feedback mechanism”.
Public feedback mechanism ensures the government responds timely to citizen issues or challenges. The public feedback mechanism achieve this through; ensuring the information is spread to the suitable party rather than at indistinct point of contact, and the information circulated is easily tracked internally. This makes the recipient of the response accountable for processing it (Karunasena et al, 2011).
The public feedback mechanism ensures the information disseminated is tracked by increasing the government simplicity in e-governments undertakings. It also unleashes the e-governments true identity to alter the system that governments interrelate with citizens, and the organizations.
The process gives everyone, despite of religion, gender, race and class the opportunity to interact unswervingly with the government (Carter and McBride, 2010).
E-Government Technologies
Most government has employed e-government technologies which are instrumental in fostering accountability and transparency with the citizens. The citizens have continuously used these technologies to ensure the governments do live to its promise and better service delivery (Flensburg, 2010).
Social Media
Social media refers to the use of technology for social purposes. Social Media technology and Web 2.0 describe undertakings aimed towards integrating technology, social contact, and content design.
Flensburg ( 2010) elaborates that social media has largely encouraged members of the public to involve in activities of the governments though producing, organizing, commenting or sharing of contents in a more personalized form. Through this, the government’s transparency and its constant contact with its citizens are increased.
The technology has presented a great potential in public capacity to transform governance. This is because of the interactivity, instantaneous, pervasiveness nature of social media technologies.
They can be used to provide avenues for democratic involvement, create pressure for new institutional arrangements, and result in practices and frameworks that ensure an open and transparent government on an exceptionable measure (Flensburg, 2010).
These great abilities of social technologies also present some challenges especially when it comes to policy development, governance, process design, and formations of democratic commitments. A clear example is the influence of social media in the Arab world.
The citizens of these nations held the governments responsible for social and political ills affecting the society. Issues in context were high rate of unemployment, corruptions and bureaucracy with the ruling class.
Government services are often reinvented to adapt new and innovative applications of information technology. These efforts by governments mainly focus on creating efficient and effective governments besides continuing to better citizen services by strengthening procedures and technology.
In strengthening the way government conducts its work, makes policies or promotes and performs solutions, it is important to look at the technological, social and policy aspects of social media as well as raising participation (Goldkuhl, 2011).
The social media provides room for innovative ideas that try to bridge the gap between technology, people and the government. Besides governments increasing their efforts in using social media technologies to perform their business and request participation, several efforts are also running concurrent on the grassroots level outside government.
By using social technologies by governments to increase service delivery it is important to take a closer look at several points. First, in improving service delivery it is essential that Co-production be encouraged, this involves the public and the governments collectively developing, designing, and increasing the government services quality.
Second, the governments’ transparency in its operations which strengthens accountability; this is important in the governments’ search to build trust and foster accountability with the citizens.
Social Media and the Citizen Engagement
Public engagement in policies and roles by the government is done in different ways. This may involve the government information and services being available online, seeking responses on expected controls to pursuing a constant dialogue to find solutions in matters about critical areas of governance. Government bodies are continually expanding and developing their interest in the use of social media technologies.
Several agencies interact with people through social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube for divergent purposes which include increasing participation and improving transparency.
Other agencies use new platforms in social media to enable access and distribution of government information, services, and resources. These include: The General Services Administration (GSA) which uses technologies like Facebook. This help people to access and learn more about government services offered (Homburg, 2008).
Several avenues exist that affirm the governments’ efforts to engage public participation in democratic processes (Goldkuhl, 2011). These include Blogs, applications and mobile resources. Blogs are websites that are updated regularly and preserved by an individual or organization.
They contain regular entries, commentaries, news, descriptions and other material such as videos and graphics on a particular subject. Blogs are interactive in the sense that they allow people to comment or message each other. This is seen as an effective way to get feedback on government services as opposed to static websites.
Applications and mobile resources are developed to promote public involvement on mobile devices, offer instantaneous location-specific information among other services.
For instance, The Environmental Protection Agency and General Services Administration have created mobile platform websites to ensure further interaction with the public. These efforts clearly outline the rising pervasiveness in the use of applications through social media technologies by the government.
Role of social Media and Accountability
With integrating Social media technologies into government and community matters, a great shift is defining the future of democratic models. As seen above, social media technologies can significantly alter how the public and government interrelate, develop solutions, and deliver services (Heeks, 2001).
On many occasions there has been a need for citizens to engage in or report on matters happening or affecting their neighborhoods, communities region or county. Local reporting is made possible through social media such as Twitter, Facebook and similar technologies.
These channels are not only fast but are also efficient in reaching out to like-minded people and relevant authority (e.g., local, state, or central government). The reporting may cover a wide range of areas such as power outages, traffic situation and even accidents (Margetts, 1999).
Social media technologies enable local problem solving by communities and the government. Because of the government procedures and operations being revolutionized by social media technologies traditional limits of time and space for government processes are being broken. In other words, social media technologies have a major influence on government-public community interactions.
Challenges of E-governance
Beynon-Davies (2007) notes a challenge of understanding e-government whether it is accessible to wider public or incorporated in state governance. Seeking participation and response is one thing while incorporating the received public participation into government rules, legislation, and services is another thing (Lam, 2005).
Mechanisms are therefore necessary to check whether remarks, responses, and other forms of participation are either assimilated into the government organization or are turned into actions. And help in making the government deliver the change sought by the public in the shortest time possible.
E-governments have simplified government engagement with its citizens. However, with their impression, significant challenges have occurred. And they include: redefinition of government boundaries. Halaris et al (2007) notes that with a change in democratic boundaries the relationship between governments and communities also changes.
This makes it difficult to define where the governments leave off and communities start. It is therefore important to consider what roles continue to be of governments’ concern and what is left for communities to resolve and find suitable action.
With the fast pace at which e-governments are growing there is a need for new policies, procedures, frameworks and structures to take care of this.
Though there are various reasons policies exist, in information communication and technology, guidelines are drafted to offer protection, trust, safety, ownership privileges, social attachment, participation and maintenance of records. Of importance are areas related to privacy, e-participation and democratization, right to use, and commitment (Ibrahim and Irani, 2005).
Lack of a strategy for using these new tools poses a major challenge to government agencies (Degenne and Forse, 1999, p.136). With many agencies viewing the use of e-governance technology as a technological issue, many decisions are made based on technological considerations (Goldkuhl, 2011). This leads to agencies focusing more on what can’t be done instead of embracing openness and transparency.
Also, government need to be aware of the social and cultural results for the use of e-government will have in present-day. Despite of governments organization embracing the advantages of e-government, the government should streamline and improve its e-government to promote and encourage transparency and dependability in today’s e-governments (Carter and McBride, 2010).
Conclusion
Transparency and accountability is vital if government’s wants to win the trust of its citizens while accessing e-government services, and carrying out transactions with the government. When people access government services in a secure environment, transparency and accountability is enhanced.
According to Ibrahim and Irani (2005) the power of technology has helped to improve efficiency in public administration by strengthening citizen interaction with government agencies. Through e-government, citizens are able to take part in government decision making process through active involvement. This is a shift from traditional initiative, which compelled citizens to travel for long miles seeking government services.
Presently, citizen can access government services provided they have technology tools such as computer connected to the internet, mobile phones among others (Ibrahim and Irani, 2005).
However, the technology has elicited new challenges. This has been in terms of accessibility of technology to the wider society, lack of strategy and culture constrain among other challenges. The governments need to address these issues to facilitate wider accessibility of public services by citizens.
References List
Beynon-Davies, P. (2007) “Models for e-government”, Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, (1), 1, pp.7 – 28
Carter, L., McBride, A., (2010) “Information Privacy Concerns and E-Government: A Research Agenda”, Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, (4), 1, pp.10 – 13
Davison, R. M., Wagner, C., and Ma, L.K., (2005) “From Government to E- Government: A Transition Model”, Information Technology & People, (18), 3, pp.280 – 299
Degenne, A., and Forse, M., (1999) Introducing Social Networks. London: Sage
Ebrahim, Z., and Irani, Z., (2005) “E-government Adoption: Architecture and Barriers”, Business Process Management Journal, (11), 5, pp.589 – 611
Flensburg, P. (2010) “Handbook of Research on E-Government Readiness for Information and Service Exchange: Utilizing Progressive Information Communication Technologies”, Online Information Review, (34), 5, pp.819 – 821
Goldkuhl, G. (2011) “Generic Regulation Model: The Evolution of a Practical Theory for E-Government”, Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, (5) 3, pp.249 – 267
Halaris, C., Magoutas, B., Papadomichelaki, X., and Mentzas, G., (2007) “Classification and Synthesis of Quality Approaches in E-Government Services”, Internet Research, (17), 4, pp.378 – 401
Heeks, R. (2001) Reinventing Government In The Information Age: International Practice In IT-Enabled Public Sector Reform. New York: Routledge
Homburg, V. (2008) Understanding E-Government: Information Systems in Public Administration. New York: Routledge
Hussein, R., Mohamed, N., Ahlan, A.R., Mahmud, M., (2011) “E-Government Application: An Integrated Model on G2C Adoption of Online Tax”, Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, (5), 3, pp.225 – 248
Karunasena, K., Deng, H., and Singh, M., (2011) “Measuring The Public Value Of E-Government: A Case Study From Sri Lanka”, Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, (5),1, pp.81 – 99
Lam, W. (2005) “Barriers to E-Government Integration”, Journal of Enterprise Information Management, (18), 5, pp.511 – 530
Margetts, H. (1999) Information Technology in Government: Britain and America. New York: Routledge
Reddick, C. G., (2011) “Citizen interaction and e-government: Evidence for the managerial, consultative, and participatory models”, Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, (5), 2, pp.167 – 184
Srivastava, S. C., (2011) “Is E-Government Providing the Promised Returns?: A Value Framework for Assessing E-Government Impact”, Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, (5), 2, pp.107 – 113
Partisanship within the workplace has never been welcomed with open arms in the democratic system of modern enterprises. Although it is obvious that avoiding favoritism in its various forms completely is impossible, there are still efficient ways to reduce the instances of partisanship in the workplace.
In a recent case study Monitoring Merit, Natasha Caverley considers the problem of partisanship within the realm of the BC Public Service. Despite the fact that Caverley addresses the problem adequately, the choice of tools and mechanisms with the help of which the merits is not complete yet.
One of the most obvious questions that need an urgent solution is who should monitor the Canadian business companies to detect the instances of politicization within the business sphere. While the existing code of conducting an audit offers exhaustive descriptions concerning the requirements for auditing process, it is still not clear who should monitor the entire process. It seems most reasonable, however, to appoint an independent observer who should check the audit. Thus, it will be possible to achieve maximum objectivity.
When dealing with the re-appointing people for the positions of commissioners for checking the companies for the instances of politicization, one must take proper precautions against the instances of partisanship among the members of the committee as well. The given goal can be achieved by establishing the policy of absolute clearness among the PSERC members on all levels, as well as providing a quality check system with strict requirements for the members of the PSERC to meet.
Hence comes the necessity to reorganize the current structure of the Office of the Merit Commissioner. It is important to note that at present, it is not efficient enough to prevent the instances of partisanship within companies because of the lack of cooperation and connection between the members of the office.
Therefore, it is highly recommended that the number of assistants should be reduced to one (since at present, there are two assistants), as well as the number of development specialists. In addition, it is desirable that the system of knowledge sharing should be introduced into the Office. With the help of the given system, a more accurate evaluation of the data becomes possible.
While Caverley does provide extensive discussion of the current standards for an audit process, as well as evaluates the work of the Merit Commissioner and the PSERC Commissioner, it seems that the report could have used more focus on the politicization issue. Although Caverley states clearly whose job it is to control a company to prevent the politicization issues from occurring, she does not provide the means to avoid the given phenomenon.
One of the possible changes to the current policy, according to Caverley, is assigning the Merit Commissioner with the duties of a PSERC Commissioner as well. According to Caverley, the given change will allow to track the instances of politicization in the workplace more efficiently by “conducting random audits of appointments in the public service to assess whether selection processes were properly applied and resulted in meritorious appointments; and whether successful candidates possessed the required qualifications for government positions” (Caverley, 2002, 2–3).
However, the given decision seems a bit rushed. To start with, it is doubtful that one can handle the responsibilities of both the Merit Commissioner and the PSERC Commissioner.
Secondly, once there is a single person at the helm of the entire process of system check, the risk of corruption increases proportionally. In addition, the qualifications that are needed to figure out whether “appointments are based on merit and whether the individuals appointed have the required qualifications for the positions” (Caverley, 2002, 3), which is the duty of a Merit Commissioner, do not match the duties of a PSERC manager, who is supposed to deal with the complaints regarding specific instances.
While the former presupposes conducting a range of general procedures, the latter involves the analysis of a specific case, which requires a more detailed consideration of the issue. Hence, it would be a reasonable suggestion to authorize the PSERC Commissioner to delegate the case to the Merit Commissioner if there is the need to consider the issue concerning a specific company more carefully.
Finally, speaking of the tools that should be used in the course of a company analysis, data collection and its further evaluation, not only random audits, but also anonymous surveys and questionnaires should be provided. Thus, it will be possible to obtain objective data.
Even though making the policy completely bulletproof to any instances of partisanship is hardly possible, it seems that with the help of the strategy outlined above, it will be possible to drive the instances of partisanship within the realm of the Canadian business world to minimum. Once the responsibilities and the strategy for the further actions of the Merit Commissioner and the PSERC Commissioner are outlined, it can be expected that the rates of politicization in the workplace are going to drop substantially.
Reference List
Caverley, N. (2002). Monitoring Merit. Toronto, Canada: IPAC.
For every sovereign state, there is a functioning government, which is responsible for the administration of the state’s affairs. The government comprises of the legislative, executive, and the judicial. The three arms of the government have the responsibility of managing the affairs of the country. However, each arm of the government has separate and indispensable role in the purpose of the government.
The executive government usually comprises of the president and cabinet ministers while the legislative branch comprises of the senate and House of Representatives. The judicial branch members include the Supreme Court and other subordinate federal courts. The main aim of the three arms of the government is to offer checks and balances to avoid cases of monopoly in the administration affairs.
For instance, the legislation has the crucial role of creation and passing of laws that will be applicable to the state. On the other hand, the judicial branch has the primary function of hearing cases that challenge legislation or requiring interpretation of the law made by the legislation. In this sense, there are minimal chances of public administration monopoly. This study paper seeks to explore the issue of governance in governments1.
The introduction of the paper will explore whether the governments know what they are doing and more so, whether the citizens should trust their actions. For the past years, the demand for skilled governance has been on the rise with various states engaging in debates and even war.
The increased quest for authentic governance is evident in the uprisings, in different countries and oppositions that come up after a certain government has been in power for some time. This study paper will have an in-depth look at the need for governance and not governments.
In understanding governance, one has to realize that this does comprise what the government does. Governance of a state is a wide subject, which covers various aspect of the government’s public administration. Apart from what the government does, governance also comprises of the decision making process. Every decision made by the government undergoes a given procedure that must engage the citizens of the state.
When the government exercises its power as stipulated under the constitution of a state, acts, rules, and created procedures we can term the process as governance2. In this case, governance cannot exist without governments or governments cannot function without governance. Governance is the process through which the government functions.
Governments have the role of managing the resources of the state by ensuring that their equitable sharing of the resources in the society. Under public administration, governance will also include the decision making process in terms of exercising power and taking other organizational actions. Most people relate governments with governance and democracy.
This is significant because democracy involves valuing individual citizens regardless of his or her economic and social status. People consider governments democratic because they have the role of providing citizens with the best care in terms of their needs, well-being, and aspirations.
Just as any other form of management, governments face various challenges in their administration process. This makes people have little trust in their actions and decisions. However, there is a need for citizens to have trust in the government because the citizens have the responsibility electing the political leaders to office.
The rife of dissatisfaction and disillusionment comes in when we elect leaders basing on the wrong and improper grounds. Electing political leaders call for choosing the best people who can be efficient in the management and administration of the state affairs. More so, the main objective of elections is so that citizens can decide on individuals who will have their needs at heart and ensure their well-being is at par.
For this reason, there is no reason for having governments without governance and there will be no point in having governance alone. Issues linked to altruistic governance vary in scope and from nation to nation.
The term expedient governance is broadly employed to show the practices and processes that endorse enhanced functioning of the governance mechanism. There are outstanding characteristics, which describe the procedures by which various activities connected to governance are carried out.
The following eight characteristics are the leading indicators of sound governance in any state administration. Equity and inclusiveness, accountability, participation, and consensus orientation form the qualities of exemplary governance. In addition, we have effectiveness and efficiency, rule of law, responsiveness, and transparency
. In the event, the above qualities lack in a given government, then there is no appreciable governance and the state’s citizens will rebel their administration. It is necessary for citizens to ensure that their government possesses the above qualities in order for their needs and well-being to be catered for fully.
Background
The concern of development administration is how thoughts and mechanisms of general administration can be used as elements of social and financial advancement. Public, administrative way of life is transforming to be more flexible, problem solving, innovative, and enterprising. The change in public administration occurs mainly in the ideas and mechanisms that are responsible for the various activities.
In the modern public administration, the focus is on the processes of the different implementations and more so, how the concerned parties will receive and feel about the information. The new ideas and mechanisms look at the processes of actions and these will have a great impact on the financial and social development of the relevant organization.
Social and economic developments are the paramount concerns of individuals and public administration should always strive to achieve these expectations. Social development is equally a broad subject that comprises of multifarious and multifaceted phenomenon. In this aspect, there are both internal and external factors affecting the development of social change.
The public administration ideas and mechanism will have an impact on the environmental, biotic, cultural, demographic, ideological, and technological factors. Proper public administration ideas and mechanisms will have a positive impact on the above aspects of life hence the society’s contentment3.
In the past years, the traditional phenomena of public administration were efficiency, budgeting, effectiveness, and administrative techniques. The development administration is similar to the traditional public administration. However, its concerns are how the government implements its rules, norms, and policies. The two types of administration vary in their objectives, complexity, and scope.
Traditional public administration lacked consistency the implementation of actions and processes. The major features of traditional public administration include monopoly of service provision by a government system of administration. This monopoly had a negative impact on the implementation of the governments’ norms, rules, and policies.
Moreover, the traditional public administration led to bureaucratic administrations with a strong bent on control by rules and guidelines. The similarity in the new public administration comes at the appointment and promotion on professional merits basis. The current society is keen on the performance of its political leaders and in order for this to be possible, the elected leaders have to be professional.
A growing culture of appointing and electing professional leaders is symbolic of people’s need for proper governance. Both traditional and new administrations have clear delineation of authority and jurisdictions that is an indispensable element in governance.
The development administration is the term that usually describes the way a country’s government acts to be able to progress in the development by achieving certain goals. According to its definition, development administration is action oriented goal oriented, and change oriented. The implementers of development administration suggest that the process focuses on plans, policies, programs, and projects.
This focus becomes influential on state building and socio-economic improvement. In addition, application of development administration aims at attaining socio-economic objectives through the talent and proficiency of civil servants. In the past years, traditionalist approach to public administration created delay, rigidness, and procrastination amongst law implementations and creators.
Development approach to state affairs ensures that the change focus is towards a defined direction. There are various reasons, which make development administration more positive than the traditionalist approach to administration. Notable is that every development operations have an objective to attain in a defined period and with allocated resources.
The achievement of these objectives should equally be followed by appropriate management and sharing of available resources in the state. Public administration ensures that every citizen has access to a better life that encompasses all the basis needs like education, shelter, and food.
Analysis in to the administration revealed that this approach linked the means to the ends. This means that for the public administration to be a success, the relevant authorities have to plan and chronological dimension that makes the most prominent feature of the approach4.
Planning is helpful in choosing the resources needed for the objective together with determining the period for the goal. Just as, the definition of public administration implies, the approach has innovative aspect meaning it is flexible. Public administration allows for the creation of new procedures, policies, and methods that would save time; add to usefulness and eminence of the outcomes.
There is the popularity of public administration in governance of varied nations because of its positive approach. Managers in this context ought to have devotion to the set policies and programs.
This should not, however, be confused with the leaders dedication to their political parties who have the obligation of enacting policies. The managers under public administration are majorly led by values that should uphold the individual’s profession and qualification. Without forgetting, public administration has an emphasis on the state’s citizens making it client oriented.
Focus on people comes in when the state ensures engagement of people in the administration of the state affairs. This is the only possible way to ensure the administration approach remains client focused.
In the modern society, which comprises of an ever increasing need for proper governance, the best administration approach is one which is people centered. The traditionalist approach had an emphasis on the production and outcome of the administration that led to its failure.
Problems of Government Action
In administration, there are various aspects of government actions, which make satisfactory or inappropriate governance. In this section, we focus on the problems of government actions, which form the basis of people’s judgment. Every government requires guidance in relation to development objectives.
Development objectives require a procedure starting with the creation of the objectives to the implementation and enforcement of the objectives. The reason behind purposeful guidance to government action toward development objectives is so that the state can remain in line to the set actions. Any objectives without purpose have a way of failing to meet the needs of the society.
Guidance in the setting of the objectives will help the government remained focused on its course. This will also help equitable sharing of the resources amongst the people. Countries have wide needs and setting the objectives in administration without planning and guidance may lead to unfair sharing of resources.
For instance, guiding the government’s actions will be helpful in identifying the needs of people in different parts of the country. In so doing, the government will also identify the resources to help meet the identified needs of the society. This guidance comes from various sections of the society.
Non-governmental organizations, groups, associations, international organizations, and even individuals can be instrumental in checking the government’s actions in terms of public administration. The arms of the government can also play as checkers of each other in terms of their administration. In this case, the judicial branch of the government has the mandate to advise and correct the executive in the event of any wrongdoing.
The government actions face the challenges of taking in to account the many and complex interdependencies of societal change. As discussed earlier, societal change is a complex and multifaceted process that may be difficult even for the government. Societal changes come with varied reliance on the government.
These reliance’s on the government maybe through requiring financial support and even material resources to facilitate the societal and economic change. The factors influencing societal change maybe internal or external all these will look up to the government for support. In this case, various areas and regions of the country will call for these supports.
The major issue in this occurrence is the decision process the government will have to make as it decides which regions to support and which ones not to. Complexities in resource allocation make the government have challenges in terms of developmental change. Taking in to account the factors influencing societal change will call for several intelligences of professionals in the administration.
Societal change can come with the other side effects such as war, ethnic tension, trade unionism, competition for resources, and human rights movement.
These negative side effects will mean that the government increases its input in the public administration in order to curb the occurrence of these influences. Public administration will have to increase its labor and resources, but this will also be a challenge for the government to provide5.
Finally, another problem of government actions is to insure that governmental administration is dynamic and innovative. Governmental administration needs to be self-motivated and groundbreaking in order to meet the society’s needs. For the process, of public administration to be effective and successful the relevant authorities will have to involve the citizens in its laws and regulations.
This involvement ensures that people understand the purpose and usefulness of the governmental administration. Dynamism of the governmental administration ensures that developmental changes can occur without the full involvement of the government. People will be responsible in innovation and creation of new developmental changes and reduce the reliance on the government.
In this case, the burden of implementation and enforcement of developmental change will reduce making people be responsible for their own needs. Giving people the power to enforce and implement their own developmental changes poses several challenges to the government.
The government has to put in place proper mechanisms to select the proper individual who can assist in the dynamism of governmental administration. This will, however, call for more resources such as financial and material resources to maintain the employed people.
Program Analysis
There are various functions of the development administration, and in this section, we explore at the functions. Development administration is instrumental in identification of skilled labor. In an effort to ensure dynamism and innovation in development administration, the government has to identify and make use of skilled labor.
In every country, there is the resource of skilled labor, which the administration should employ in the development of its administration. This can available in different aspects of administration, and it is necessary for the government to further train labor that is more skilled. The presence of skilled workers in a country assures the government of implementation and enforcement of developmental administration.
For the process of development administration to be a success, there must be sufficient financial resources. Finances are necessary to facilitate the development of different administration objectives. For instance, the skilled manpower will require remuneration and this will come in monetary terms. Therefore, the government has to equip itself with sufficient finances to oversee the operation of development administration.
On the other hand, finances will enable the acquisition of other relevant resources to facilitate development administration. In addition, the government has to explore logistics of the development administration.
This is an equally necessary element as it ensures the smooth flow of ideas and mechanisms in development administration. Logistics can be from the skilled labor that are in the field and can give clear guidance on the progress of development administration.
The aspect of communication is also necessary in the development administration. For this process to be effective and useful to the users and administrators there, has to be free of flow information. Information department facilitates the physical transmission of data from one region to another. A state is made up of various regions and administration development will have to occur in all these parts.
For this to occur, then there has to be communication between the said parties and regions. Just as, established earlier in the discussion, participation of individuals and groups in the development administration ensures familiarity of the process to every individual. Allowing every citizen to take part in the process will create considerable awareness and hence appropriate help and activation in the process.
Lastly, the government should hand over legitimate power to the relevant parties in the development administration. Delegation of power to different people in the process helps in the enforcement of developmental administration.
Conclusion
It is clear that governments and governance go hand and in hand when it comes to public administration. The transformation of public administration from the traditionalist aspect to the current public administration has been instrumental in improving the governance of various governments.
For this reason, there has been increased demand for skilled governance from citizens, as they understand the relevance of this governance. Good governance is mainly one that allows the participation of people in the state affairs. Public administration allows for the citizen participation that improves the trust people have in their governments and their governance.
Bibliography
Brewer, Lucy. Public works administration: current public policy perspectives. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications, 1997.
Otenyo, Eric Edwin, and Nancy S. Lind. Comparative public administration: the essential readings. Amsterdam: Elsevier JAI, 2006.
Petroni, Giorgio. New technologies in public administration. Amsterdam: IOS Press, 2005.
Rathod, Rahul Development administration. New Delhi: Commonwealth Publishers, 2006.
Ripley, Randall B. Public policies and their politics; an introduction to the techniques of Government control. New York: W.W. Norton, 1966.
Footnotes
1 Rathod, P. B. Development administration. New Delhi: Commonwealth Publishers, 2006.
2 Ripley, Randall B. Public policies and their politics; an introduction to the techniques of Government control. New York: W.W. Norton, 1966.
3 Brewer, Lucy. Public works administration: current public policy perspectives. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications, 1997.
4 Petroni, Giorgio. New technologies in public administration. Amsterdam: IOS Press, 2005.
5 Otenyo, Eric Edwin, and Nancy S. Lind. Comparative public administration: the essential readings. Amsterdam: Elsevier JAI, 2006.
The field of public administration has constantly evolved. In the middle of the twentieth century, sociologists and theorists of public administration focused on imperfections of the government. They also looked into the role of individuals within the system. Some of the most influential theorists of that period were Robert K. Merton, V.O. Key, Jr., and A.H. Maslow.
Major Theorists
Thus, Robert K. Merton concentrated on the imperfections of bureaucratic structures. The theorist claimed that bureaucracy was associated with a variety of downsides (Shafritz & Hyde, 2012). The theorist admitted that this structure could be helpful at the beginning of the twentieth century, but he also stressed that it became outdated (Cox et al., 2010). The society is constantly developing and bureaucratic structure (quite often) does not meet the new requirements.
The researcher also noted that bureaucracies were associated with certain conventions and methodologies aimed at training newcomers to fit in the system (Shafritz & Hyde, 2012). Remarkably, the theorist’s ideas had a considerable impact on the development of public administration. The theorist unveiled major issues concerning the bureaucratic system. Admittedly, when problems are identified, it is easy to come up with effective solutions.
V.O. Key also considered issues related to imperfections of public administration. However, the theorist was more concerned with economic issues. Key considered imperfections (or rather absence) of budgeting and the theory of budgeting (Shafritz & Hyde, 2012). The researcher noted that administration was just like any other organization so it had to develop certain budgeting strategies.
The theorist also claimed that administration was functioning ineffectively due to the lack of proper budgeting (Shafritz & Hyde, 2012). Notably, Key emphasized that development of the theory of budgeting could help solve numerous issues and make administration more efficient (Shafritz & Hyde, 2012).
According to the theorist, proper analysis and assessment of projects helps allocate funds properly (Shafritz & Hyde, 2012). Such ideas were valuable for the development of the field of public administration as researchers acknowledged the need to focus on economic issues (e.g. budgeting).
As has been mentioned above, imperfections of the system were not the only topic of discussion. The role of individuals within the system was one of the most disputable at that period. A.H. Maslow was one of the most influential theorists in this respect.
His hierarchy of needs has become one of the milestones in numerous fields. He also contributed greatly to the development of public administration. Maslow stressed that public administration was an organization where individuals cooperated (Shafritz & Hyde, 2012).
The theorist also noted that it was crucial to take into account people’s needs to make employees cooperate effectively. Of course, many theorists revealed the importance of considering the role of individuals within the system. However, it was Maslow who provided a specific method to help individuals cooperate efficiently. Maslow’s contribution can hardly be overestimated as he outlined some of the major concepts within the area of interpersonal relationships within the system.
Conclusion
To sum up, Robert K. Merton, V.O. Key, Jr., and A.H. Maslow contributed greatly to the development of public administration. The three theorists concentrated on three different aspects of the theory. Thus, these theorists considered issues concerning bureaucratic system, theory of budgeting and individuals’ needs within the system. They revealed major imperfections of the system. They also suggested their ways to address the existing imperfections.
Reference List
Cox, R.W., Buck, S.J., & Morgan, B.N. (2010). Public administration in theory and practice. New York, NY: Longman Publishing Group.
Shafritz, J.M., & Hyde, A.C. (2012). Classics of public administration. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Public administration has developed for many decades. It is necessary to note that the period between the 1930s and 1950s was one of the most remarkable in the history of the field (as well as the history of the USA).
That was the period of a severe economic crisis, called the Great Depression, and the World War II. These two major events shaped the development of the society and brought certain issues to the fore. Major public administration theorists of that period were Luther Gulick, Louis Brownlow, Charles E. Merriam and Chester I. Barnard.
Major Theorists and Their Contribution
One of the most significant theorists that contributed greatly to the development of the field of public administration was Luther Gulick. He emphasized that administration was all about human beings cooperating (controlling and assisting) other human beings (Shafritz & Hyde, 2012).
The theorist focused on development of proper strategies aimed at managing human resources within the governmental bodies, which were seen as organizations. At present, a lot of attention is paid to the points highlighted by Gulick as these points help understand the structure and role of public administration.
Louis Brownlow was one of the theorists who had to come up with ideas to address the issues associated with the Great Depression. Geopolitical situation was also very insecure. Louis Brownlow believed that creation of the generalized society could be the answer to all the issues (Cox et al., 2010).
As far as the field of public administration is concerned, the theorist stressed that only effective cooperation between intergovernmental bodies (i.e. local, state and federal) could help create effective government (Shafritz & Hyde, 2012). The major contribution Brownlow made is his ideas about effective cooperation which were later brought to life.
Unlike the theorists mentioned above, Charles E. Merriam was trying to combine theory and practice, scientific research and administration. One of the greatest contributions Charles E. Merriam made was his attention to scientific research within the field of public administration.
He believed that scientific method was essential for development of public administration (Shafritz & Hyde, 2012). Merriam’s findings and methods also helped public administration theorists identify major aspects to address within the field of public administration.
Finally, Chester I. Barnard also had a profound impact on the development of public administration. Being an executive of a company, Barnard understood the importance of proper management within an organization. The theorist stressed that any governmental body was an organization which was to be managed properly (Shafritz & Hyde, 2012).
Barnard’s concept of the formal and informal organizations has also become one of the milestones of public administration. At present, theorists as well as practitioners understand the importance of creating proper environment and relationships within organizations. More so, a variety of strategies have been developed to address the issues mentioned.
This attention to particular relationship within governmental bodies (as well as the field of public administration) is, to a significant extent, raised due to the concepts articulated by Barnard.
Conclusion
On balance, it is possible to note that Luther Gulick, Louis Brownlow, Charles E. Merriam and Chester I. Barnard had a profound effect on the development of the field of public administration. These theorists focused on different facets of public administration and came up with valuable concepts to address the issues that existed between the 1930s and 1950s. Notably, the concepts developed are still up-to-date and valuable for the present-day public administration.
Reference List
Cox, R.W., Buck, S.J., & Morgan, B.N. (2010). Public administration in theory and practice. New York, NY: Longman Publishing Group.
Shafritz, J.M., & Hyde, A.C. (2012). Classics of public administration. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Public administration focuses on the functioning of public service and its relations with people. Numerous theorists analyzed different facets of public administration and contributed greatly to the development of the discipline. Thus, Wilson, Goodnow, Addams and Taylor are some of the most influential theorists who made a profound contribution to the development of the public administration.
Major Theorists
Woodrow Wilson is one of the most influential theorists in public administration. He believed it was crucial to divide administration from politics (Shafritz & Hyde, 2012).
Wilson stressed that people who were elected were often incompetent in many spheres and they could not govern the country properly; and the theorist noted that only people competent in specific areas can make sure laws are implemented effectively (Shafritz & Hyde, 2012). This approach had an immense impact on development of public administration. It is possible to state that the field obtained the necessary from and particular issues were identified.
Frank Goodnow shared Wilson’s views and stressed that the dichotomy of the US government should be addresses by dividing politics and administration. Goodnow stressed that the government consisted of the judicial, executive and administrative branches (Shafritz & Hyde, 2012). The theorist noted that the administrative branch should be free from political influences of the executive branch (Shafritz & Hyde, 2012).
Goodnow claimed that the administrative branch should carry out particular, ‘commercial’ activities and he also stressed that administrative branch could ensure adequate implementation of laws, if the administrators were not influenced by specific political views (Shafritz & Hyde, 2012). Therefore, the theorist unveiled the dichotomy of the US government and developed the approach. Remarkably, the approach has shaped the development of public administration.
Frederick Taylor also contributed greatly to the development of the public administration (Cox, Buck & Morgan, 2010). The theorist introduced the idea of scientific management. This concept focused on structuring and organizing efficient work of the government as well as organizations. Taylor focused on the structure and functioning of the administrative branch.
The theorist claimed that the administrative branch is also an organization where employees should be chosen accurately to be able to fulfill particular tasks (Cox, Buck & Morgan, 2010). According to Taylor, the organization could function effectively if each employee understood his/her functions and carried out activities assigned properly (Cox, Buck & Morgan, 2010). This approach had a profound effect on the development of the theory as it revealed imperfections of the then-government.
Notably, Jane Addams had a totally different view on public administration. Addams argued that the focus on efficiency of the structure and functions of the administrative branch was, ironically, ineffective (Shafritz & Hyde, 2012). The theorist claimed that empathy is central to effective public administration as administrators had to serve people; therefore, they had to know their needs, fears and aspirations.
Jane Addams believed that public administration should be based on principles used in communities and even homes (Shafritz & Hyde, 2012). This approach had an immense impact on the development of the theory of public administration in the long run as people understood that perfect structure does not guarantee proper government.
Conclusion
On balance, it is possible to note that numerous theorists have contributed to the development of the field of public administration. The theorists mentioned above put questions which revealed really serious issues. Solving the issues enabled the researchers to develop the theory of public administration and to describe the structure and major functions of the government. It is also necessary to note that the development has not stopped as there are lots of areas to develop and improve.
Reference List
Cox, R.W., Buck, S.J., & Morgan, B.N. (2010). Public administration in theory and practice. New York, NY: Longman Publishing Group.
Shafritz, J.M., & Hyde, A.C. (2012). Classics of public administration. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.