1. Policy makers should always engage the public in all policy decisions. Argue for or against and explain your view.
I believe that public participation should be at the heart of good governance and policy decision making. However, the nature of engagement itself is highly contextual – depending on governance culture determined by elements like levels of corruption, transparency, equity and inclusiveness.
While theory on, the subject argues for and against the notion of public participation (Irvin et al, 2004) , in my opinion the benefits of public engagement far outweigh the negative aspects. Moreover, the advantages of public participation are several especially for countries where passivity is culturally embedded or power distance is high and political gridlocks occur frequently.
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The Arhus Convention on Access to Information and Public Participation in Decision-Making (UNECE, 1998) which was ratified by 46 countries in 2005, recommends three key domains where public engagement should take place:
• Participation in decisions on specific activities (Article 6)
• Participation concerning plans, programs and policies relating to the environment (Article 7) and
• Participation during the preparation of executive regulations and/or generally applicable legally binding normative instruments (Article 8)
While the convention
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Ambitions reform agendas have failed due to poorly articulated mission, value, and impact (Lavigna, 2014) that prevent the stakeholders (workforce) from seeing the bigger picture. This poses an additional challenge that is unique to the public sector. Another aspect that inhibits change in the public sector is the imbalance between authority and responsibility among government officials. As a result public managers are burdened with immense responsibilities but very little authority to initiate and sustain organizational
HEADER: PAD709 BOOK REVIEW 1 Book Review Maynard-Moody, S., & Musheno, M. (2009). Cops, Teachers, Counselors: Stories from the front lines of public service. Riccucci, N. (2005). How management matters: Street-level bureaucrats and welfare reform. Key Findings
One final argument for direct democracy in the UK is that it increases the people’s political participation and engagement in current issues. When people are given the opportunity to have their say, they are more likely to get involved in the process, thus increasing the accuracy of the judgement. A successful and fully functional democracy relies on the involvement of the general public and the people it will be directly
Thus far, it is apparent that there are no prescribed actions that a public administrator can take to stave off conflict amongst her constituency; conflict will occur, and all will look towards the public administrator to determine the resolution. In their book The New Public Service, Janet and Robert Denhardt outline several “practical lessons” for public administrators who serve in what they call the “new public service.” First, they suggest that the public administrator must “serve citizens, not customers;” she must focus on the values shared by the citizens as a whole, not the interests of individual customers. Second, “seek the public interest: Public administrators must contribute to building a collective, shared notion of public interest,” and then perform in a manner that is in collusion with this notion. It is important to note that some would argue this point, saying that while the public interest was an important factor in public administration, it is now “public value” that has moved to the
The management of an organization plays an integral part in determining the direction and performance of the organization. The manner in which the management of an organization is handled has a profound effect on the organization. The success of an organization is dependent upon a flexible and skilled management and workforce. The management of an organization is responsible for shaping up the organizational behavior and ultimately the culture within the organization. Public management faces a multiple of challenges and opportunities, how the management deals with these issues translates to efficiency in management. The personal judgments and skills of public managers can make a significant impact in public management. If
This is when the public has the chance to get involved in the policy making process.
Politics and political participation ensures that the people who use their right of political participation choose a governmental leader and policies theses leaders would pursue that will express the people's concerns and interest. Because linkage institutions represent what people prefer the “ linkage institutions transmit America’s preferences to the policymakers in government” (Government in America, 11) Linkage institutions and policy making institutions work together by in linkage institutions, media and elections provide to the policymakers in the policymaking system problems and interest that can make its way to the policy agenda which receives the serious attention of public officials and those involved in politics. By working together,
Political Participation - Democratic participation in decision-making to respect the dignity and liberty of people.
While very little research has been undertaken into the value and function of government communication (Simmons and Small, 2012; Pandey and Garnett, 2006), at the local government level it is accepted that communication supports the “mandatory functions that support accountability and participation in democracy (Lee, 2012 cited in Simmons and Small, 2012 p.9). As such, it is through the information outputs of government, namely the transparent disclosure of public interest, official information, that they meet their democratic obligations. However, the mere handling of official information gives the information holder inherent power and it is where the conflict between openness and secrecy arise. For instance, is government-held official information transmitted to the public in a timely and transparent manner? Or, is this information withheld in whole or in part because it might embarrass government or lead to questions over the proper
13. Key stakeholders – official policy-makers have the legal authority to engage in the formation of public policy they are:
The productivity of a successfully ran country relies solely on the structure of the government laws and it’s polices. When the people are united and have an equal say in the ratifications of its countries constitutional legalities, less negative attention shall arise. Much as allowing the voice of each sound, mind, and body the opportunity to cast their votes upon chosen leaders and officials, projects fairness in the outcome of how a nation will be ran. However, if a people are subjected to laws or conditions that are unequal, it is imperative that some form of an outcry occurs. This places governmental officials within a huge dilemma. Ignoring the citizens of a state can cause internal friction. International media can
Accordingly, the proposed research statement entails of the following concept of the political process of public engagement. As a result, the political process of public engagement, is one of the foundations, to which the United States of America stands on the country’s foundational values of a democratic society. Moreover, when conducting research on the proposed research statement of the political process of public engagement, it is important to define the term of public engagement in the political process. In the Institute for Local Government: Promoting Good Government at the Local Level’s Document titled, “What is Political Engagement?,” defines the term of public engagement in the political process. Also known as civic engagement, the
Also, we expect our public service to do the best it can with the community resources available to it. Yet there is usually great mismanagement in the public sector, Yet nobody act to resolve this issue or call the minister to order because it will harm the government’s standing and may cost it votes. This portrays a consequence of a community supported reward system unavoidably biased against good public sector management.
In the following paragraphs, I will explain the dominant theory in public administration practice and elaborate on the major theoretical assumptions of the Old Public Administration. As stated in the question, the world has transformed through globalization, information technology, and devolution of authority since the latter part of the last century. The dominant theory in public administration has been replaced from the traditional rule-based, authority-driven processes of the Old Public Administration with market-based, competition-driven tactics in the New Public Management, beginning in the 1980s (Kettl, 2000, p. 3). This was an effort to privatize government and streamline public administration to maximize efficiency and productivity. Heavily relying on market mechanisms to guide public programs, public administrators in the New Public Management are encouraged to “steer, not row,” meaning they should not bear the burden of delivering services, but instead define programs that others will carry out, through contracting or other means (Denhardt & Denhardt, 2011, p. 13). Core values of the New Public Management include using private sector and business approaches to the public sector, squeezing as many services as possible from smaller revenues, market style incentives, providing customers more choices, and focusing on outputs and outcomes instead of mainly processes.
Admittedly, it is important to have an effective government for the growth and development of a nation. Equally, it is important to maintain a democratic government. While there are different ways of understanding what constitutes a democratic government, in public administration, democratic government can be viewed as a government that is responsive to the perspectives of its citizens and exhibit responsibility to the citizens. This can be promoted by the public institutions and public administrators (King, Feltey, & Susel, 1998). They can use various processes to ensure a democratic government including collaborative governance, decision making, citizen participation, administrative reforms, and budgeting. This paper seeks to discuss and analyze the efforts that the public organizations and the public administrators can make with regards to collaborative governance, citizen participation, and decision making to maintain a democratic government.