Historical Roots – 1-3 Colonial America – deep distrust in administrative power – intentionally left aspects of administration vague Progressives: taking on government corruption by studying administration – Woodrow Wilson—the techniques of democratic accountability – The policy-administration dichotomy: elected officials, accountable to the public,make policy; administrators, answerable to elected officials, carry it out

Introduction 1-2 -Politics is at the core of the administrative process (good and bad) -The impossible dilemma: Americans expect much from government but dislike politics and don’t want to pay too much - Administrators must balance: Efficiency, Fairness, and Accountability

Components of Bureaucratic Responsibility – 1-4 Accountability: faithful obedience to the law, to higher officials’ directions, and to standards of efficiency and economy Ethical behavior: adherence to moral standards and avoidance of even the appearance of unethical actions “Government of laws, not of men”

Public Organizations and Policy Execution – 2-15 Policy execution: the task of public administration in translating the print of statute books into changes in behavior by members of society—individuals, groups, organizations, and businesses. Administration translates paper declarations of intent from the elective legislature and chief executive into reality. “flexible” policy….

Public Organizations and Policy Formation Policy formation: public organizations’ involvement before the constitutionally empowered legislature and chief executive have made their policy decisions and after they have enacted statutes or issued executive orders. The role of administrative agencies in the policy formation process has expanded 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

How a Traditional Scholar Studied Public Administration Woodrow Wilson believed public administration to be a neutral instrument, distinct from policy, politics, and a particular administration. Wilson’s belief was possibly tied to the neutrality doctrine of civil service reformers that enabled passage of the Pendleton Civil Service Act.

Indirect Administration: Federal Grants Federal grants: the federal government provides financial assistance to another level of government. Grants are the oldest, most widely used tool that the federal government employs to carry out public policy. – e.g., Supports states providing medical care for the poor

1.Humanist Approach – 4-16 Emphasis on the individual workers in the organization Scientific management movement: Frederick Taylor (1900s) studied how long it took workers to accomplish specified tasks – Perceived as dehumanizing – The “Hawthorne effect”

Challenges to Structural Approach and Systems Theory – Humanist approach: wants to humanize organizations, condemns impersonality of bureaucratic hierarchy 2.Pluralist approach: interest-group pressures, wants less orderly model of an organization’s interactions

Challenges to Structural Approach and Systems Theory (continued) – Third-party approach: recognizes contracting out, delegation of authority to third parties 4.Formal approach: structural perspective with emphasis on principal-agent theory, economic approach

1.Humanist Approach Emphasis on the individual workers in the organization Scientific management movement: Frederick Taylor (1900s) studied how long it took workers to accomplish specified tasks – Perceived as dehumanizing – The “Hawthorne effect”

Humanist Approach (continued) Human relations movement: 1950s, happy workers are more productive – Belief that large organizations would work better if top officials changed their behavior Sensitivity training: team building activities for corporate executives Criticisms of the Humanist approach…

2.Pluralist Approach Emphasizes the responsiveness of a government organization to society’s politically active interest groups Administrative organizations are the product of this conflict and accommodation of interests There is no pyramid, agencies are a jumble of structures shaped by political crosscurrents.

One Example of the Pluralist Approach Organizational culture: stresses variation among agencies; generalizations about structure of authority are problematic Case study: CIA and FBI – Is organizational culture preventing inability to accomplish tasks? – How might an organization’s culture change, if not by changes to its structure? Criticisms of the pluralist approach…

3.Third-Party Approach The more government relies on third-party tools, the less it fits structural models Organizational structure: an administration’s internal framework Idea of “collaborative governance”

3.Third-Party Approach (continued) Organizational structure is being mixed with public-private partnerships Network analysis: organizations help one another because they discover that cooperation advances their own goals as well

4.Formal Approach Bureaucracies are networks of contracts built around systems of hierarchies and authority workers seek self-interest, act rationally Transaction costs: the cost to the supervisor of supervising the subordinate

4.Formal Approach (continued) Employees work because they receive pay and fulfillment Employers pay workers to get the job done Market determines pay scale

One Example of the Formal Approach Principal-agent theory: higher level officials (principals) initiate the contracts and then hire subordinates (agents) to implement them Workers are responsible to top-level officials (principals) through contracts in exchange for specific rewards Results will be only as good as the contracts

Conclusion Each approach embodies a significant truth about government organizations Error of these approaches lies in overgeneralization Important to study reality Need to formulate middle-range theories: those that explain a limited range of phenomena

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Local Governments In 2002, there were more than 86,000 local governments. Unlike other levels of government, local government is singularly devoted to the direct delivery of services (services provided directly to citizens, such as police and fire protection, education, and hospital care). Primary spending is on elementary and secondary education, health, hospitals, welfare, and utilities. In 2006, local governments spent $1.4 trillion on education, which was 36 percent of total budget

Government Growth among Levels There is disagreement on how to measure government growth. Government has grown fastest at the state and local levels. In 1980, the federal government spent a third more than state and local governments. In 2000, state and local government spending was nearly even with federal spending.

The Tools of Government It is possible to view government as a collection of basic tools. Direct tools: government provides goods and services, income support, interest on the national debt, direct loans. – e.g., Police and fire protection Indirect tools: contracting out of government programs to nongovernmental partners and funding grant, voucher, and loan programs.

Direct Administration Most people equate direct administration with public administration. Direct administration is only a small part of government activity at the federal level. Direct administration is more prevalent at the state and local levels. Paragraph 2 on page 63 of your text…

Examples of Indirect Administration Federal Grants Government Contracts Regulations Tax Expenditures Loan Programs

Indirect Administration: Federal Grants Federal grants: the federal government provides financial assistance to another level of government. Grants are the oldest, most widely used tool that the federal government employs to carry out public policy. – e.g., Supports states providing medical care for the poor

Indirect Administration: Contracts Contracts: the government agrees to pay a certain amount of money in exchange for a good or service. Government must set the standards for contracts, negotiate effective programs at low prices, and oversee the results that contractors produce. – e.g., Construction of roads by local governments

Indirect Administration: Regulations Regulations: federal compendium of rules that expand government’s power while expending relatively little money Code of Federal Regulations consists of more than 200 volumes – e.g., 20 volumes of rules on agriculture, 18 the IRS, and one panama canal

Indirect Administration: Tax Expenditures Tax expenditures: give individuals and taxpayers special advantages in paying their taxes Creates incentives for social and economic policies – e.g., Tax expenditure that reduces the cost of homeownership encourages taxpayers to buy rather than rent their homes

Indirect Administration: Loan Programs Loan programs: the federal government and, to a lesser extent, other levels of government provide financial assistance Began during the Great Depression and grew in the 1970s – e.g., Guaranteeing student loans

A Universal Meaning for Public Administration? Public administration – Suffers a “crisis of identity” and has yet to find a universal meaning – Is distinct from private administration – Contributes to policy execution and formation – Emphasizes administrative responsibility

Public Administration versus Private Administration There is a movement to blur public administration and private administration. Distinct differences remain between public administration and private administration. – Public organizations do the public’s business by administering law. – Public organizations have fundamentally different processes from those of private organizations and operate in a different environment.

Public Organizations and the Law The fundamental distinction between public and private organizations is their relationship to the rule of law. Public administration exists to implement the law. The federal Antideficiency Act forbids government officials from spending money for any purpose not explicitly authorized by law.

Processes: Public Organizations versus Private Organizations Career service Performance measures: 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