Topic: Statesmanship In The Public Administration Context

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CHAPTER 1

Personal Action in Public Organizations

 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Defining public administration

2. Understanding the differences between public and business administration

3. Identifying values and conflicts of public administration and the complexity of the work

4. Understanding why one should study public administration

5. Understanding the issues that underlie the intellectual and practical context of public administration

 SUMMARY OVERVIEW

The purpose of Chapter 1 is to introduce students to the complexity of public administration and

the work of the public administrator. Approaching the topic from both a theoretical and practical

point of view, the authors offer a detailed description of the field of public administration. The

chapter includes a definition of public administration along with a brief history of the field, with a

special emphasis on how the values of democracy affect the practice of public administration.

The authors outline the reasons for their view that public administrators are obligated not only to

achieve efficiency and effectiveness but to be responsive to the many stakeholders who help

define the public interest and discuss the concerns that administrators need to keep in mind as

they meet this obligation.

In addition, the chapter explores the differences between public and business administration,

particularly in the areas of ambiguity, decision-making processes, and visibility. Emphasizing the

concept of “publicness,” the authors address the inevitable tension between efficiency and

responsiveness that is central to the work of public administrators and also highlight the

increasing importance of understanding the activities of political and administrative officials in a

global context. A key component of Chapter 1 is a focus on what public and nonprofit managers

actually do, including a discussion about the characteristics of the most effective and responsible

public and nonprofit managers and the kinds of skills the work of public administration requires.

The chapter also includes a discussion about the reasons why various people study public

administration and how the study of public administration can help prepare for administrative

positions. The authors touch on the interaction of government and business and the importance of

public administration in everyday life and emphasize that understanding the world of

administrative action not only is the basis for good scholarship but also for making things happen

in the public service.

Finally, the chapter introduces two major themes that have characterized work in public

organizations and continue to be of great importance—politics and administration and

bureaucracy and democracy—and discusses how these themes manifest in today’s public

administration as the tension between efficiency and responsiveness.

 

 

2 Chapter 1: Personal Action in Public Organizations

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

 CHAPTER OUTLINE

I. WHAT IS PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION? A. Values of Democracy

 Public Administration in History: THE DEMOCRATIC DREAM

B. Contrasting Business and Public Administration

 Exploring Concepts: PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IS DIFFERENT FROM

BUSINESS

1. Ambiguity 2. Pluralistic Decision Making 3. Visibility

C. Thinking about Public Administration Today 1. Publicness 2. The Global Context

II. WHAT DO PUBLIC ADMINISTRATORS DO?

A. An Inventory of Public Management Skills

B. Voices of Public Administrators

III. WHY STUDY PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION?

 Exploring Concepts: WHY STUDY PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION?

A. Preparing for Administrative Positions

B. Combining Technical and Managerial Training

C. Interaction of Business and Government

D. Influencing Public Organizations

E. Making Things Happen

 Public Administration in History: PUBLIC SERVICE: A

DISTINGUISHED PROFESSION

IV. ISSUES IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION THEORY AND PRACTICE

A. Politics and Administration 1. Ensuring Accountability

B. Bureaucracy and Democracy

C. Efficiency versus Responsiveness

V. SUMMARY AND ACTION IMPLICATIONS

 KEY TERMS

Autocracy Government by one.

Democracy A political system in which decision-making power is widely shared among

members of the society.

Equality The idea that all persons have an equal claim to life, liberty, and the pursuit of

happiness.

 

 

Chapter 1: Personal Action in Public Organizations 3

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Individualism The idea that the dignity and integrity of the individual are of supreme

importance.

Liberty The idea that individual citizens of a democracy should have a high degree of self-

determination.

Oligarchy Government by the few.

Policy analysis Process of researching or analyzing public problems to provide policy makers

with specific information about the range of available policy options and advantages and

disadvantages of different approaches.

Policy analysts Persons who provide important information about public programs through

research into the operations and impacts of the programs.

Program managers Persons ranging from the executive level to the supervisory level who are in

charge of particular governmental programs.

Public administration The management of public programs.

Staff managers Persons who support the work of program managers through budgeting and

financial management, personnel and labor relations, and purchasing and procurement.

 WEB LINKS

The following are links to the leading organizations for those in the field of public

administration and nonprofit management:

Academy of Management, Public and Nonprofit Division: (http://division.aomonline.org/pnp/).

Alliance for Nonprofit Management: (www.allianceonline.org).

American Political Science Association: (www.apsanet.org).

American Society for Public Administration: (www.aspanet.org).

Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management: (www.appam.org).

Independent Sector: (www.independentsector.org).

International City Management Association: (www.icma.org).

National Academy of Public Administration: (www.napawash.org).

The National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration: (www.naspaa.org).

The following are links to other helpful sources for both public and non-profit managers:

Chronicle of Philanthropy: (www.philanthropy.com).

Government Executive magazine: (www.govexec.com).

Office of Personnel Management: (www.opm.gov).

The Public Manager: (www.thepublicmanager.org).

U.S. Census Bureau: (www.census.gov/).

U.S. Government Official Web Portal: (www.governing.com).