PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

SECTION 2
SPRING 2020

Dr: Eman Elfar

Themes in Public Administration

There are several popular themes in public

administration .Those include:
1) Politics and Administration
2) Bureaucracy and Democracy
3) Efficiency versus Responsiveness
 Politics and Administration

• Administration lies outside the proper field of

politics.
• Administrative questions are not political questions
• Although politics sets the tasks for administration, it
should not be allowed to manipulate its offices.
 :Bureaucracy and Democracy
The democracy standards are:
 First, democratic principles assume that the individual is

the primary measure of human value (individualism)

 Second, all persons are created equal (equality)

 Third, The widespread participation among the citizens in

making major decisions.

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice
Hall
 The values of bureaucracy include
 Frist: The need to bring the work of many individuals in order
to achieve purposes beyond the capabilities of any single
individual.
 Second, bureaucratic systems were to be structured
hierarchically, with those at the top having greater power and
discretion than those at the bottom.
 Third, bureaucratic organization generally assumes that power
and authority flow from the top of the organization to the
bottom.
 Efficiency versus Responsiveness
 there is the hope that public organizations will operate in the
most efficient way possible,( getting things done quickly and
with the least cost to taxpayers).
 Responsiveness mean that Public managers must be constantly
attentive to ( care about) the demands of the citizens
 Types of Public Managers’ skills
 Conceptual skills: include the ability to think abstractly,
especially in regard to the manager’s concept of the organization
 Technical skills: refer to an understanding of and proficiency in
the methods, processes, and techniques for accomplishing tasks
 Human skills: involve the capacity to work effectively as a
member of a group, or the ability to get others to work together
effectively.
?What is politics

 Politics is concerned with government's use of its legal

authority to distribute benefits and costs society
members
What Government Does: The
Essential Public Purpose
Purposes Examples

1-Protect lives, property, National defense, Antidiscrimination

and rights of citizens regulations, Public health and disease
control, Police and fire protection
2. Maintain / ensure supply Emergency food supplies, Energy aid
of essential resources. for poor, Water supply
3. Support persons unable to Pensions for retired persons,
care for themselves. Homes/therapy for disabled,
Unemployment compensation
4. Promote steady and Interest rate regulation, Financing for
balanced economic growth. new businesses, Employment skills
training, Transportation facilities,
Labor/management negotiations
What Government Does: The
Essential Public Purpose
(continued)
Purposes Examples

5. Promote quality of life Education, early childhood to adult

and personal opportunity Housing assistance
to succeed. Cultural amenities
Recreational facilities
6. Protect natural Conservation of soil and water
environment. resources
Pollution control
Wastes management
7. Promote scientific and Subsidies to scientific research
technological advancement Patents for inventions
Information dissemination
 How Government Organizes to
? Serve the Public Purposes
To carry out its mandates, governments organize into departments
and agencies with specific legal powers

EX. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a mandate to test

chemicals currently in use for their effects on human health and the
natural environment. Thus it employs a committee of scientists from
several National agencies to run necessary tests and to recommend
action to the EPA administrator
Then, the agency is empowered to make rules that carry the force of law
that can restrict a chemical use or ban it altogether.
 Governments do not always succeed in fulfilling these purposes
 There are many explanations for
the growth of government:

1) Industrialization, urbanization, and the rise of technologies

that link widely dispersed areas together( Ex: cities need
more police and fire protection than rural areas).

2) From a sense of moral obligation to help the poor and the

victims of discrimination.

3) Ambitions of legislators: legislators wishing to serve public

and thus
 Public Policy is :

The task of administration is to carry out policies that

represent government’s choices of action in a fashion that
serves the public purposes