Chapter 3: The Meaning of Public Administration

Public Administration Size and scope of public administration: government bureaucracy encountered everywhere Administrative responsibility: efficient program implementation with accountability to elected officials and the people

Public Administration as the Administrative State Waldo notes that the expansion of the “administrative state” began post–World War II. Citizens have demanded more, and thus government has provided more. Compared with the governments of other industrialized nations, the American government is among the smallest.

Public Administration: The Study of Public Bureaucracy The study of public administration Public bureaucracy refers to public organizations: the formal, rational system of relations among persons vested with administrative authority to carry out public programs Public bureaucracy is too inefficient to accomplish much of anything but at the same time is made up of all-too-efficient users (and at times abusers) of power

Public Administration and Money The federal government spent $3.7 trillion in 2010. The federal government has more customers than any private company: over 300 million: the American people.

A Common Definition of Public Administration? Suffers a “crisis of identity” Is distinct from private administration Role of public authority Characteristic organizational processes Contributes to policy execution and formation Emphasizes administrative responsibility

Public Organizations vs. Private Organizations: The Rule of Law The federal Antideficiency Act forbids government officials from spending on all not explicitly authorized by law. Private organizations can spend on all not forbidden by the law. Steven Kelman: Organizations must balance goals and constraints (public orgs are heavy on constraints; private orgs heavy on goals).

Processes: Public Organizations versus Private Organizations Career service Measures of performance: any direct way of evaluating an organization’s outputs in relation to the cost of the inputs to make them Competing standards Public scrutiny Persuasion Oversight: public administrators’ exposure to public scrutiny

Public Organizations and the Profit Motive Public and private activities cannot be distinguished by profit motive. Private, nongovernmental organizations can be nonprofits and advance a social agenda.

Policy Execution verses Policy Formation Public and private organizations share basic features of policy execution. Public organizations also contribute to policy formation.

Public Organizations and Policy Execution Policy execution: the task of public administration in translating written law into action. Laws created by the chief executive and elective legislative permit things to happen. Administrators have to shape these ideas into reality.

Public Organizations and Policy Formation Policy formation: 1) before policy is made, advising elected officials, 2) after policy is made, making sense of it. The role of administrators in early policy formation process has developed in two ways: Increased technicality of public policy, followed by a growth in the specialized competence of administrative agency staffs Expansion of the chief executive’s role as a major agenda setter for government policymaking

Policy-Administration Dichotomy In the early twentieth century, scholars separated policy or the political work of making policy from administration. Many students reject this policy-administration dichotomy because it is now obvious that administrative staffs share in the policy formation function. Yet, the motivations and behaviors of policymakers and public administrators are very different (a KEY issue for public administration).

Administrative Responsibility: A Part of Every Public Organization Public organizations have a system to hold subordinates accountable to their superiors. Administrative responsibility goes beyond external controls (i.e., burdensome red tape) and includes internal controls, or internalized guides, to be conducted by administrators.

Administrative Responsibility and Internal Controls Administrators must be sensitive to the legitimate roles of other elements of the government. Administrators have a loyalty to their agencies and the programs entrusted to them. Administrators are loyal to their professional standards and motivated to win the respect of members of the profession outside the government.

The Study of Public Administration Nicholas Henry identifies periods of the study of public administration 1900-1926; 1927-1937;1938-1950;1950-1970 (1956-1970); post-1970 Three generalizations to the study of public administration

Three Generalizations to the Study of Public Administration Public administration is timeless but time-bound. Public administration is universal but also culture-bound and varies according to the situation. Public administration is complex but is intelligible only by a simplified model or a step-by-step combining of such models.

Woodrow Wilson Study of public administration as a neutral instrument distinct from policy, politics, and a particular regime Classic “The Study of Administration” Two themes advanced Basic contradictions embedded in the themes

Complexity and Simplicity Organizational systems are complex and need varied models to study them Complicating factors Interconnections of policymaking and execution Coordination Relationships and power Floating in seas of time Top-down and bottom-up Information Headquarters and field Values