Essay on Approaches to Public Administration

1. Complete the table below with descriptions of at least two different features of a telephone system and how / when they would be used.

My Introductory to Public Administration class has taught me the range that can come with public administration. Public administrators are employed in all levels of government, across various fields including social welfare, financial administration, and human resources (Denhardt, 2014, p. 1). Despite the various type of public administration jobs that exist, the one thing all public administrators are required to do is to maintain a commitment to public service (Denhardt, 2014, p. 1). In order to better understand how public administrators are responsive to public interests, I was assigned the task of interviewing a professional in public administration. I chose to interview Jeanell Emond, program manager for Central Valley Prevention Program (CVPP) and Mental Health Systems (MHS), because of my future in social work and my interest in developing and managing programs that benefit the community. Through the interview I was able to gain valuable insight on the agency and Mrs. Emond’s role as a public administrator. More importantly, I was able to learn how interorganizational partnerships, financial management, ethics, and leadership and management skills in public administration can help develop stronger communities.

The first and most fundamental division of our government is “federalism or the constitutional allocation of governmental powers between the federal and state governments” (24). Throughout the years federalism has changed from what it was first described in the constitution. Contemporary federalism is what is used in our modern government, and with the dilemmas that we have now a more centralized government has been used, which was not planned when our government was created. The second division is separation of powers. This division has a major impact on public policies. The constitution “distributes the powers of the federal government among three branches, each capable of applying checks and balances to the other two” (29). These three divisions can either work together, which makes policymaking smooth and able to get things done, or they can veto each other which makes policymaking harder and nothing gets done. The third division is subgovernments, or can also be described as iron triangles. This division has three actors involved the first is interest groups, the second is congressional committees or subcommittees, and the third is the administrative agency (31-33). These actors work off each other to help get policies implemented. These three division help compose our public policies in the United States.

"Classical Organizational Theory deals with the 'systematic processes necessary to make bureaucracy more efficient and effective.' Name three scholars that are credited with the development of classical organization thought that most correctly fit into this definition of Classical Organizational Theory. What were the basic arguments articulated by each in their contributions to the development of Classical Organizational Theory?"

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

There are many different levels of government which exist and have a direct or indirect impact on people’s lives.

On a macro level, public administration and business management are similar in their overall functions. “At the broadest level, some organizational theorists contend that administration is administration whatever its setting, and that the problems of organizing people, leading them and supplying them with resources to do their jobs are always the same (Kettl, 2012, p. 38).” In his paper, “Public and Private Management: Are They Fundamentally Alike in All Unimportant Respects?,” Graham T. Allison explains that in comparing public and administration and business management, “it is possible to identify a set of general management functions (Allison, 2012, p. 4).” Regardless of their end goal, each administration must form strategies by setting goals, priorities and creating procedures. Public and private organizations must manage internal components by organizing staff, defining job responsibilities, hiring and managing personnel and creating budgets. Furthermore, they must manage external constituencies such as other agencies, the press and public (Allison, 2012, p. 5). His observations stem from Wallace Sayre’s famous words, “public and private management are fundamentally alike in all unimportant respects (DiIlulio, 1993).”

The word “bureaucracy” has a negative connotation to many people. The fact is that our current system of government would not be able to survive without bureaucracies. The bureaucracy has become the “fourth branch” of the government, it has quasi-legislative and judicial powers and in it’s own field its authority is rarely challenged. The presence of these large, inefficient structures is necessary if the American people want to continue receiving the benefits that they expect.

Though business-like mechanisms can create a more efficient and potentially innovated government, government and business should be run differently, since they are inherently different in their conceptual values. Appleby explains some of these differences. He argues that no one can serve the public as it should be served unless he or she has a public-interest attitude with certain special characteristics. In addition, business has much narrower extent, while public officials are more broadly stimulated, with a breadth of view and a public-interest attitude. Government is complex as well as vastly interdependent with many other nonprofit and private organizations. Also, the government is subject to public scrutiny and public outcry. According to Denhardt and Denhardt, government acts, in concert with private and nonprofit groups and organizations, to seek solutions to the problems that communities face. In the process, the role of government is transformed from one of controlling to one of agenda setting, bringing the proper players to the table, facilitating, negotiating, or brokering solutions to public problems—often through coalitions of public, private, and nonprofit agencies. Finally, government is different from business

In the political approach, political authority is divided between a central government and the provincial or state governments. This means that some provinces or states are accorded a substantial measure of constitutional or legal sovereignty, although they still remain subordinates of the central government in certain constitutional or legal respects. The political approach promotes the political values of military strength, economic development, union, and representation. In addition, it is characterized by three central features: state sovereignty, bicameralism, and multiple layers of representation.

Like most public agencies, DPSS operates under the elite model of organizational structure. This structure dictates that formal rules and process are followed in order to reach the organization's goals. Therefore, in order to effectively contract out and maintain and effective organization, management must engage in the practice of well-known management principles (POSDCORB). Practicing the principles of planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting, and budgeting, management can make sound decisions about the implementation and management of contracts. The effectiveness and efficiency in which the agency is run and the manner in which the contract is managed is grounded in the effective practice of these principles.

Governmental policies and politics play a critical role in the realization of change in a public agency since the policies are developed and implemented at various levels (Dukeshire & Thurlow, 2002). Since these policies may range from formal regulations and legislation to informal guidelines in an agency, understanding them is important in the achievement of change in a public agency. A Public agency basically functions based on the established policies and politics in the government. Therefore, the accomplishment of the change in a public agency requires an increased understanding of the politics and policies of government.

Before compare the two different models TPA and NPM, I will illustrate what is the

When the word Public Administration come accross one’s mind, people would think of government civil workers and bureaucracy in government office. However, Public Administration is wider than that. It comprises of many part among them are technical issues,financal issues and ethical issues.Among many of them is the importance of manegerial technique, a characteristic where an organization such as government office should have in order to organize, planned, co-ordinate and budgetting. Government office is a big