Decentralization Of Public Administration : Contemporary And Developing Nations

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 process of decentralization redefines structures, procedures and practices of governance to be closer to the citizenry and to make them more aware of the costs and benefits; it is not merely a movement of power from the central to the local government. It is the central government has to make some effort for the enactment of legislation.

All of us like miners in Centralia No. 5, rely throughout our lives on the immovable juggernaut of impersonal administrative systems” (Stillman 30). It seems that most people as a whole have absent mindedly become too dependent on something as abstract and complicated as public administration. It seems to be public administration and its official’s responsibility to handle any concern in the community as well as make everything flow smoothly.

One way to see public administration in action is by attending a city council meeting, whether it be in an urban or rural area, public administration still has a part in each event. As Kettl (2018; p. 244) referenced in his book, there is not a civil system that would be sustainable without strong leadership. This paper will discuss the author’s description, observation, and reflection during a city council meeting.

Fiscal Federalism is the backbone of the successful functioning of Canadian society because carrying out any governmental function requires an assembly of resources associated with the effective collection and use of those resources, so “lets get down to the real business of Canada and divvy up the cash” (Bakvis & Skogstad, 2012, p. 126).

Kernaghan, K. 2000. The Post-Bureaucratic Organization and Public Services Values. Interational Review of Administrative Sciences 66. 2000, pp. 92-93.

Today the new public management (NPM) model is the leading worldview in the public sector. The political climate and ideology during the 1970s and 1980s served as an impetus to migrate away from the old public administration approach and implement new policies and procedures that would be of better service to the public interest and collective good as well as restore trust and value in the bureaucratic process. Thus, during the mid-1990s, the new public management worldview was realized to apply common practices used in the private sector to the public sector. The goal of this approach was to achieve the same level of efficiency found in the private sector and remove some of the redundancy, lack of transparency, and lack of accountability in bureaucratic government to better serve the public interest. David Osborne and Ted Gaebler’s Reinventing Government (1992) served as a catalytic novel in the progression of implementing private practices in the public sector. Under the NPM framework public administrators

Articles 15, 40, and 54 from the classic literature gives us an overview of how the US public administration is established. Public administration as we know it involves organizations to make every effort to be a good corporate citizen of the community. Organizations must conduct their business to be in a fair, ethical and professional manner with customers, governments, suppliers, community neighborhoods, and the general public.

There is an increasing focus on improving the quality of public financial management around the globe, with many countries starting to make important and impressive achievements in strengthening public financial management and governance (Lovanxay, 2009). Nonetheless, much still remains to be done as we have discussed in this course. The public sector landscape is rapidly changing with an increasing emphasis on fiscal management and discipline, prioritization of expenditure and value for money. As a result from our dialogue on the subject, it is even more important that governments, national and local institutions, including regulators and professional accountancy bodies, work together in partnership to achieve long-lasting improvements, transparency and accountability in public financial

The impact of increasingly salient topics such as race and gender are important for the future of public administration. Considering the soon to come changes in the ethnic make-up of the United States, the future of bureaucracies is heavily reliant on the successful adoption of representative bureaucracies. These bureaucracies must attempt to represent the population both passively and actively. Once passively represented, the research presented suggests that the active representation will soon follow. By adopting this well researched focus, I would argue that there would be an increase in responsiveness and a possible re-implementation of the New Public Service administrative model. Passive and active representation would essentially provide the platform for bureaucracies to serve the population rather than steer the population. Furthermore, there would be an increased awareness on the role of administrators and bureaucracies to advocate for democratic citizenship, community and civil society, and organizational humanism (Denhardt and Denhardt ,

This has been in my thoughts as I’ve been drafting my way into my own dissertation ideas. My background in critical social studies means I am very familiar with building arguments, so some of this uncertainty is expected. AT the moment, I know enough to say I am on the right track with my research ideas and know that public administration, and public policy in particular, is the right field for me.. However, I also feel rather critical of the policy process literature. It has been claimed, “public administration exists to realize the governance of society” (Raadschelders, 1999, p. 288). Yet, what society believes policy to be, and for whom, changes over time and across place. I feel at this moment public policy in the United States will change dramatically and I worry that our field is ill equipped to deal with these changing views of policy. Consequently, most of my underlying thoughts and reflections have been on understanding how can we adapt to this changing atmosphere.

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.

Public organizations and the public administrators have an important duty of promoting and maintaining democratic government especially by ensuring good governance. Social and economic development can be achieved through good governance. Collaborative governance is a primary component of good governance (Ansell & Gash, 2008). Admittedly, public management reforms are fundamental to improving the abilities of various nations to address issues that touch on democratic government. Some of the

Public administrators play a huge role in the government and are the bridge connecting the government and the public. They are the public’s voice and ensure that we as people, have our basic needs met. This does not go without issues and dilemmas, which are faced almost daily. Multiple areas of a public administrator’s job need to be taken into account such as public interest, the dilemmas of privatizing government functions, ethical obligations and administrative responsibility. On the other end of the spectrum, some believe that the needs of the people cannot be accuratley guaged because our world is ever changing, which would make the job of a public administrator impossible.