1: Wilson, "Study of Administration." 1: Stillman, "Study of Administration in US." 2: Max Weber "Bureaucracy" 3: Stillman's introduction: Environment, Ecology of Public Admin. 3: John M. Gaus, "The Ecology of Public Administration" 4: Norton E. Long, "Power And Administration" 5: Lawrence O"Toole, "American Intergovernmental Relations: An Overview." 6: Elton Mayo, "Hawthorne and the Western Electric Company" 7: Stillman, "Inside Public Administration: The Concept of Competing Bureaucratic Subsystems" 8: Lindblom, "Science of Muddling Through." [Stillman's Introduction] [SPS notes] 9: James Garnett "Administrative Communication: It's Centrality" 10: Stillman's introduction | Hal Rainey & Paula Steibauer, "Galloping Elephants: Developing Elements of a Theory of Effective Government Organizations." 11: Lois Recascino Wise, "The Public Service Culture" [Wise's page at IU] [Wise's note] 12: Irene Rubin, "Politics of Public Budgets" 13: Matland, "Ambiguity-Conflict Model: Synthesizing the Implementation Literature." | Matland Model 14: Hugh Heclo, "Issue Networks and the Executive Establishment" 15: James Q. Wilson, "Bureaucracy and the Public Interest." 16: Waldo, Public Admin. and Ethics."

Stillman Chap. 1: Scope & Purpose Stillman 1 “The Search for the Scope and Purpose of Public Administration”

Charles U Walters ‘08, Spring '07

Woodrow Wilson is considered the founder of the American Public Administration (the discipline)

Woodrow Wilson, The Study of Administration The big question for Wilson was how Americans could incorporate Public Administration into the Constitution which did not mention it. Also in developing Public Administration, Wilson’s basic difficulty was how to reconcile the differences in notions of democracy (popular rule) and the systematic rules. To do this he says there are two spheres: “Politics” and “Administration” Politics = choices of government are made by the elected and Administration = carries out the choices by the (popular consent) free of political meddling> “politics-administration dichotomy”

Before entering into the science of administration Wilson felt it was needed that first there should be some account of the history of what others have done in the field, secondly there should be an ascertainment of its subject-matter, and thirdly the it should be determined the best methods to develop it and the most clarifying political conceptions to carry into it. Without knowing these first, he feels that there should be no compass or chart to go by.

The question was always: Who shall make the law, and what shall the law be? The other question, how law should be administered with enlightenment, with equity, with speed, and without friction, was put aside as practical detail to be determined by clerks after the “doctors” determined the detail.

The reason administration has come into context only now is because now there appears to be trouble in it, the big constitutional questions on the right of government have been answered for now.

The Science of Public Administration= seeking to straighten the pathos of government to make its business less un-business like; to strengthen and purify its organization, and to crown its duties with dutifulness—all in order to all the government to see more clearly how it ought to do the things it sees it should do.

This science originated overseas in foreign lands such as France and Germany but from it must be adapted to not a simple and compact state but a complex and multiform state to fit highly decentralized forms of government, it must of course learn to be “Americanized”

England and America has been making government just and moderate rather than well-ordered and effective. We need to be free in spirit and proficient in practice according to Wilson.

Organizing rule is difficult for popular sovereignty unlike the ease of a monarch who could declare with one mind/opinion a simple plan.

It takes years and scarcely 3 generations to get public opinion to curve

Though Wilson says that Administration is for the most part separate from Politics, he also says the administrator to the politician relationship is not exactly a Will to Deed relationship because the administrator has a will of his own—how he will accomplish his work. The administrator is not a mere passive instrument.

Administrative study is based constitutionally in one respect, according to Wilson, concerning the distribution of powers. If administrative study can determine which powers should go to which administrators without hampering the authority (splitting it into shares), the responsibility, and also not obscuring the power (who gets praise or blame for actions) then the study of administration has done an invaluable service.

Public opinion should play the part of and authoritative critic in the conduct of administration

Self-government does not need a hand in everything like a cook does not cook entirely with her hands, but with stoves, pots, utensils. We should not raise everything up to a vote, but rather give large discretions to public officials, according to Wilson. It must at all points sensitive to public opinion however.

The duty of administrative study should teach the people what sort of administration to desire and demand, how to get it and it should also drill candidates for the public service.

In conclusion Wilson states that our governmental study should be comparative, we can borrow a murderers idea to sharpen his knife without his motive to kill.

Richard J. Stillman II, “The Study of Administration in the United States: “The Eminently Practical Science”

Charles U Walters ‘08, Spring '07

“Statism” – doctrines and ideas that advocate strengthening the role and sovereignty of the state institutions in society “Antistatism” – ideas and doctrines expressly hostile to these central governing institutions in society, which argue for reducing, limiting, even elimination their roles and activities.

The Constitution was created with a “night watchman” style government—provided for the people courts, defense, foreign affairs, trade relations, money—and little else.

America at the time of the Constitution had a belief in Antistatism due to many of them having come from oppressive regimes

Paraphrased, America in the early stages was not so much a country with a post office but a post office with a country. 85% of the growth of the government was within this department until the Civil War.

This antistatism led to a late development of public administration study within the United States, why did we need it without administration? Training and research did not truly gain significance until the 30s and 40s. The development of civil services (professional), military and diplomatic corps became our needed administrative enterprise due to migrations, technology, clashes between labor and management, economic rises/falls, drive for international markets, etc.

The intense antistatism caused the American process to occur in reverse—the Constitution, next the state, then the study.

American PA bubbled up through grassroots reforms quietly—by adding a civil service system, executive budget, etc here and there.

The 20th Century saw progression away from machine politics, to social services and the like extending the fingers of government

The four eras of public administration: 1926-46, 47-67, 68-88, 89-present. POSDCORB Orthodoxy, 1926-46:

First American textbook appeared in 26—the year for the intellectual birth of PA in America Leonard White’s Introduction to the Study of Public Administration—earliest volume to label the subject PA (In America) Succeeded in pulling together different aspects of administrative innovations POSDCORB—acronym for logical sequence of steps for practicing “good” administration, in the order they should be accomplished—planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordination, reporting, and budgeting. –allowed the field to grow and flourish with some national prominence. The POSDCORB was full of contradictions, unscientific, value-laden, time-bound, and rigid—but yet it had good points that were needed during the Great Depression and WWII that helped with organization.

Social Science Heterodoxy 1947-67: The Cold War had profound influence on American society and Administration Massive military buildup, the space program, educational assistance, scientific research and the National Defense Highway Act all became part of our PA (just to beat the Russians) POSDCORB seemed inadequate to fulfill the problems that now faced the nation Robert Dahl challenged normal assumptions on the dichotomy between PA and politics also to expand conception of human behavior to understand how the man really acts within organizations and to embrace broader historical, economic, and social conditions—it stressed

therefore: realism, behavioralism, and scientific rigor All in all during this time American PA became more respectable, broader, and more theoretical with new ideas and data/facts. Realism, science, and behavioralism became important in the study of PA.The Reassertion of Democratic Idealism, 1968-88: During this time America saw its harshest and greatest outcry against statism. It was considered by Herbert Kaufman a “fear of bureaucracy” Minnowbrook and Ostrom best symbolized the temper of the times, seven distinct marks are left by literature of the time: • Clashing moral absolutes • new values were important—ethics, law, and economics compared prior economy, efficiency, and effectiveness • A cry for relevancy—old texts seemed outdated • Fragmentation/decline of generalist PA—more specialization of study came about • The proliferation of subfields and techniques—new fields emerged • Field in Intellectual Crisis—what defined PA became more problematic as it grew, just what defined it? • Widening gap between theory and practiceThe Refounding Movement, 1989-Present: The study still has many unanswered questions but there are seven identifiable clusters of thought with shared perspectives: • The Reinventors: (Osborne and Gaebler) more of advisors which focus on pragmatic administrative reforms to enhance “efficient entrepreneurial” government operations for “customers” • The communitarians: wrestle with rebuilding citizenship and community • VPI refounders: Virginia Polytechnic Institution—senior scholars that seek a fundamental philosophical, institutional, and theoretical refounding of the entire field. • The Interpretivists: oriented toward phenomenology or “subjective-intersubjective relations”, they explore values, assumptions, and ideas that concern the very nature of being • The Tool-makers—offer new ways of analyzing PA • New bureaucratic analysts—influence the field in the broadest and most profound political issues of the field—ethics and how good policy made • From management to governance—emphasizes the importance of managerial effectiveness for delivering “public goods” – based upon extensive empirical evidence, diverse contemporary literature and date, and with far less rigid models compared to those such as POSDCORB

Top of pageStillman Chap. 2: Formal Structure of Bureaucracy.

Max Weber, “Bureaucracy” Stillman Chapter 2 Walker Garrett (2005)

Characteristics of Bureaucracy I. Activities required within structure are distributed as official duties II. Authority and delegation power is given to officials to properly complete duties III. Provisions are in place to have continuous fulfillment of duties and persons in charge of duties are qualified a. In public, these 3 characteristics make up the “bureaucratic authority” b. In private, bureaucratic “management” c. Bureaucracy can only be developed in modern states or most advanced institutions of capitalism. IV. In bureaucracy, there is a system of hierarchy where authority is distributed in a manner which the lower offices are supervised by higher offices. a. In full development, hierarchy is monocratically organized b. Once established an office tends to continue even after fulfilling task and be held by another incumbent V. The management of the modern office is based upon written documents, which are preserved in their original form. a. Bureaucracy separates public and private life, business from home, in all aspects.

VI. Most specialized office management has expert training before employment VII. Bureaucratic offices when fully developed are a full time job VIII. Authority within modern public administration gives the power to regulate not for each case of a matter, but to regulate that matter abstractly

The Position of the Official I. Office holding is a vocation which requires training, an ability to work for long periods of time, and requires examination before employment a. Entrance into an office, including one in the private economy, is considered an acceptance of a specific obligation of faithful management in return for a secure existence. b. A political official isn’t the personal servant of a ruler. II. Public or private, officials strive to obtain distinct social esteem as compared to those governed a. Educational certificates are linked to not only qualification for office, but serve to enhance the “status element” in the social position of the official. b. The pure type of bureaucratic official is appointed by a superior authority. c. The official who is not elected but appointed by a chief normally functions more exactly, from a technical point of view, because, all other circumstances being equal, it is more likely that purely functional points of consideration and qualities will determine his selection and career. i. Judges appointed in US as opposed to quality of elected 1. Appointed are generally more qualified 2. The monocratic rule within bureaucracy contradicts the formally “democratic” principle of a universally elected officialdom. d. As a factual rule, tenure for life is presupposed, even where the giving of notice or periodic reappointment occurs

i. Where legal guarantees against arbitrary dismissal or transfer are developed, they merely serve to guarantee a strictly objective discharge of specific office duties free from all personal considerations. ii. Those officials with more dependence on the master are more likely to conform with status conventions e. Officials usually receive a fixed salary with old age security provided by pension i. This security of income and rewards of social esteem make the office a sought after position f. Officials become involved in their office as a career within the hierarchal order of public service. i. General personal and intellectual qualifications are taken into consideration over education with regards to the highest political offices.

Technical Advantages of Bureaucratic Organization I. Precision, speed, unambiguity, knowledge of the files, continuity, discretion, unity, strict subordination, reduction of friction and of material and personal costs----these are raised to the optimum point in the strictly bureaucratic administration, and especially in its monocratic form. a. Bureaucratic work is more precise and cheaper than honorific service on complicated tasks b. Work organized by collegiate bodies is inefficient because of delays and compromises which lead to less precise, more independent, slower work c. Very large, modern capitalist businesses are unequalled models of strict bureaucratic structures. d. Individual performances are allocated to specialists who have specific training and constant practice e. Bureaucracy produces calculable results which are needed by modern culture f. Bureaucracy is dehumanized, eliminating personal feelings, the special nature of the organizational theory i. It demands the personally detached and strictly “objective” expert

The Permanent Character of the Bureaucratic Machine I. Bureaucracy has been and is a power instrument of the first order for the one who controls the bureaucratic apparatus. a. Officials are entrusted with specialized tasks, so the general mechanism cannot be disrupted except by the very top of the hierarchy b. Bureaucracy rests upon expert training, a functional specialization of work, and an attitude set for habitual and virtuoso-like mastery of single yet methodically integrated functions. c. The fact that the bureaucratic structure is impersonal allows for anyone who knows how to gain control over it to use it by simply replacing a few top officials.

Economic and Social Consequences of Bureaucracy I. The legal leveling and destruction of firmly established local structures ruled by

notables which takes place with bureaucratization has usually made for a wider range of capitalist activity. II. The mere fact of bureaucratic organization does not unambiguously tell us about the concrete direction of it economic effects, which are always in some manner present. III. Bureaucracy strives merely to level those powers that stand in its way and in those areas that, in the individual case, it seeks to occupy. IV. Democracy is opposed to rule of bureaucracy The Power Position of Bureaucracy I. The drawing in of economic interest groups or other non-official experts, or the drawing in of non-expert lay representatives, the establishment of local, inter-local, or central parliamentary or other representative bodies, or of occupational associations---these seem to run directly against the bureaucratic tendency. a. Under normal conditions, the power position of a fully developed bureaucracy is always overtowering.    

Max Weber "Bureaucracy" (Stillman Ch 2 or Curtis v2) Larry McLemore

Max Weber was a German lawyer who was influenced by the teachings of Karl Marx. He was also a historian and economist. Weber was the first to really examine the bureaucratic organization and its officials.

Characteristics of Bureaucracy

Bueraucratic Authority is in the public sector. Bureaucratic Management is displayed in the private (economic) sector.

1. Bureaucratic authority has guidelines that make the activities, authority, duties taken out in a fixed manner. To have the existence of authority within the agency the duties must be established. 2. The heirarchy office type is found in all bureaucratic structures--public and private. Weber claims that the character of the bureaucracy remains unchanged if its authority is public or private. The authorities at the lower levels are able to examine others actions. 3. Documents and files that have been all kept on record are the means for management of the organization. The rules are written for specific reasons and should not be changed. Rules guarantee guidance in the organization. 4. Thorough and expert training are essential for good, specialized office management. An office manager is expected to be familiar with all rules and regulations. 5. The full working capacity of the official is a must for official activity. The official is responsible for fulfilling his or her job

once the duties have been established and the office has totally developed. 6. The office management follows general rules that do not change and can be learned.

The Position of the Official

A true bureaucratic official is appointed by an authority that is superior. An elected official is not a true bureaucratic official. The official must be effective and efficient to survive in office. Appointed officials (especially judges) are chosen for superior qualifications and integrity. Civil Service agencies tend to protect employees and put pressure and constraints on officials. Most officials want a law for the Civil Service that protects them from being removed.

Techincal Advantages of Bureaucratic Organization

A developed bureaucracy is like a machine. The bureaucratic administration can provide the best precision, speed, clarity of issues, knowledge of issues and information, continuity, discretion, unity, and so on. Bureaucratization allows for specializing administartive functions. Bureaucracies are made up of "calculable rules" which provides stability and efficiency.

"The great virtue of bureacracy-indeed, perhaps its defining characteristic-was that it was an institutional method for applying general rules to specific cases, thereby making the actions of government fair and predictable."

-- Max WeberStillman Chap. 2: Max Weber, "Bureaucracy" (part 2) Sections 10-12

(Will Steineker) The Permanent Character of the Bureaucratic Machine Bureaucracy is the way in which we translate "community action" into "societal action" Bureaucracy is, therefore, quite powerful and well entrenched Individual bureaucrats cannot remove himself from the system Individuals in society cannot do without the bureaucracy The mechanism of bureaucracy works easily for those who control it The mechanical nature of bureaucracy makes true revolution nearly impossible   Economic and Social Consequences of Bureaucracy The consequences of bureaucracy depend on the direction that ruling powers give it Bureaucracy has often served capitalist ends Bureaucracy is agile enough to serve any number of political or economic ends Democracy is by no means the only system under which bureaucracy can or does function Democracy creates obstacles for bureaucracy, yet allows it to flourish   The Power Position of Bureaucracy

The modern state is constantly undergoing bureaucratization Whether or not the actual power of bureaucracy is increasing is an open question The power of bureaucracy does not lie in its highly developed machinery or in its "indispensable" nature

Top of page

Chap. 3: Environment, Ecology of Public Admin. by Charles U Walters, Spring ‘07

Economics and Ecology are closely related but Ecology is much wider, it deals with all the interrelationships of living organisms and their environment

An ecological approach to public administration builds from the ground up (demographics of an area, social habits, technology etc).

Gaus uses seven factors he feels are useful for explaining the process of public administration: people, place, physical technology, social technology, wishes and ideas, catastrophe, and personality.

Changes in distribution of people over different places has effects on policy (people moving to cities or to farms)

Physical technology has impacted policy for an increase in paved roads social technology – the invention of the corporation wishes and ideas – being influenced by information or values/thoughts that lead you to

a particular action catastrophe – the effects of a catastrophe are relatively short lived in many cases

because after the first response often the older forces flood back and cancel out most of the first reaction (catastrophe i.e.- night club burned killing service men, legislation was passed for fire inspection)

personality – it is left to our own interpretation I would assume

John M Gaus, "The Ecology of Public Administration" Walker Garrett (2005)

Ecology deals with all interrelationships of living organisms and their environment.

There is a lineage between physical area, population, transport, and government.

7 Axioms 1. Continuous, efficient discharge of government is necessary to a great society

2. As complexity grows, so do functions of the government and the relationship between those functions and the people.

3. Government is strong in proportion to its capacity to deliver functions for the people

4. Legislation respecting functions is easy, but enforcement of that legislation is not

5. Effective and wise administration is the central prerequisite for survival of government and society

6. Administration should be drawn from different classes, talents, prepared with education, and

subjected to constructive internal and external criticism or a bureaucracy dangerous to society may develop

7. Administrative system must operate to keep alive local and individual responsibilities, not just central government.

Eco approach elements: from ground up- soils, climate, location

Factors of ebb and flow of government: People, Place, Physical Technology, Social Technology, Wishes and Ideas, Catastrophe, Personality

People and Place Movement from Farms to Cities from 18th Century to 20th Century led to no jobs for the old. This created a pension society.

City to Suburbs Values of lands and buildings changed, and transport and utility had to be adjusted to meet growing demand in country.

Physical Where there is an exhaustion of resources, there must be renewal and restoration and it takes a long time to restore sources of production. Ex. Forest replanting for timber

Changes in place, or the use of the resources and products of a place are coercive in their effect

upon public administration.

Changes in physical technology, however slowly their institutional influences may spread, are more obvious even to the point of being dramatic, to the citizen.

Pooling and application of the savings of many through the invention of the corporation has set new forces to ripple through the social order, disarranging human relationships and creating new possibilities of large scale enterprise financially capable of utilizing extensive equipment and personnel and creating new relationships between buyer and seller, employer and employee-from which coercions for a new balance of forces, through consumer, labor, and investor standards have resulted.

The originators of ideas and of social as well as physical invention are persons.

Catastrophes Preparation and training are essential for coming through a catastrophe and evolving from it. Similar to a forest fire where the soil is enriched and produces better growth than before, a Catastrophe can shake up popular opinion and awaken administration to the reality of things or

improve previous ideas. In many ways, catastrophes are an adapting time of the ecology of public administration. When the terrorists struck the World Trade Center Towers on 9/11, the government had to change its way of thinking and adapt with new policies. This is part of the ecology talked about with public administration.

It is through growth and formulation of public policy from environmental change that the administration is linked to the environment.

John M. Gaus, "The Ecology of Public Administration" by Amy C. Garrett

"ecology" as defined by Webster's dictionary "is the mutual relations, collectively between organisms and their environments" Charles A. Beard created 7 axioms in which environmental changes are linked with public administration (found on pg 83) the ecological approach builds from the ground up, it studys the roots of government functions, civic attitudes, and operating problems

7 Factors effecting the Ebb and Flow of ecological public administration

1. People 2. Places 3. physical technology 4. social technology 5. wishes and ideas 6. catastrophe 7. personality

the ecological approach is difficult because you must observe these seven factors combined in different ways tells why certain agencies are formed

Top of page

Stillman Chap. 4: Political Environment & Power.

Norton E. Long, "Power And Administration" by: Jessica R. Fails

-Administration is power -the sources of power is derived and limited -the top of hierarchy of the administration structure of power is irrelevant - the power of a hierarchy flows down the chain of command -Congress or the President can impart power as a form depends on the line-up of forces in particular case -focus on general political energies of the communities -power is not concentrated by the structure of government or politics in the hands of a leadership with a capacity to budget it among a diverse a set of administration activities -to deny that power is derived from superiors in a hierarchy is asserted that subordinates stand in a feudal relation to a degree they fend for themselves and acquire support particularly their owns. -this structure is important to determine the scope of possible action.

- a source of power and authority is a competitor of a formal hierarchy - power flow in from the up the organization to the center - the American system of politics does not generate enough power at any focal point of leadership to provide the conditions for an even successful divorce of politics from administration -the theory of administration has neglected the problem of the sources and adequacy of power

- the bureaucracy under the American system has a large share of responsibility for the public promotion of policy and more in organizing political basis for its survival and growth -a major time consuming aspect of administration consists of a wide range of activities designed to secure enough acceptance to survive

- the balance between executives and legislative is constant subjected to a shift of public support - the unanswered question of American Government " who is boss?" constantly plagues administration

Top of page

Stillman Chap. 5: Intergovernmental Relations.

by Charles U Walters, Spring ‘07

The US is founded on Federalism, not a system where authority flows straight down such as a unitary form of government, but one “built to establish arenas for conflict and controversy.” In the US administrators must work where authority is shared by “various levels, jurisdictions, and units of government.” IGR (intergovernmental relations) must be studied therefore.

Laurence J. O’Toole Jr., “American IGR”

IGR is how our varied and numerous governments in America deal with each other and what their relative roles, responsibilities, and levels are and should be. The Federal-State relationship is interdependent upon each other and must deal with each other There are several levels of government: National, State, and local; local consists of: counties, municipalities, townships, school districts, and special districts (special districts are those which manage specific functions such as the formation of bridges, supplying water and sewage, etc.) The Founding and the Framework: founders wanted to minimize instability, injustice, and confusion—but they created a system built on two levels of government which insured state autonomy (needed for ratification) and also created a relatively strong federal state to provide unity (its duties where limited however)—dual federalism Conflict and cooperation in Earlier Times: labor, social welfare, and economic regulation were only some of the matters that national and state government quarreled over. IGR loopholes—joint stock companies, land grants to the states Developments in the Early Twentieth Century: society and economy could not tolerate a completely unregulated free market (limited natural resources, powerful corporations, some states refused social welfare legislation) Federal Financial Aid—income tax in 1913 created a large steady income for the government where they could supply aid to states (grant-in-aid given for specific purposes) Validation of Grants in Aid—federal grants=coercive inducements and violated the notion of separate spheres for the two levels of government. The Supreme Court ruled that they were voluntary agreements and acceptable Basic types of Assistance: block grants, revenue sharing, categorical grants, formula grants, project grants, etc.

There is the Legacy of the New Deal Creative Federalism and Its Implications: Johnson proposed “creative federalism” in order to assist states, localities, individuals to solve domestic issues, as a result many cities became relying more and more on the federal government for aid than their states. Intergovernmental Activism—the grant system required up-to-date procedures and professional personnel, created an interest group explosion in order to influence Congress, state and local officials found it crucial to know more about Washington and the decision making process Tensions and frustrations emerged from changes, duplicated grants, patterns become complex. Interdependence, Complexity, and Intergovernmental bargaining: actions need mutual consent between levels of government, no part can work alone. Nixon’s New Federalism: shifted power from Washington to field offices trimming red tape, believed in revenue sharing, block grants, and administrative initiatives Reagan: proposed additional block grants, simplified intergovernmental aid dramatically, devolution of responsibilities for many policies from the national level to the states, created more simplified administration Struggles for Reform, Pressures toward Globalization: UMRA (Unfunded Mandates Reform Act) sought to impose tight budgets and cut many programs drastically, TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needed Families) put an end to long-term welfare assistance, designed to encourage welfare recipients to move permanently into the workforce, NPR (National Performance Review) called for a rationalizing of the nation’s approach to IGR and trumpeted an need to end unfunded mandates to the state/local governments

Laurence J. O’Toole, "American Intergovernmental Relations: An Overview" by Walker Garrett (2005)

-Intergovernmental relations is the subject of how our many and varied American governments deal with each other and what their relative roles, responsibilities, and levels of influence are and should be. -Federalism means a system of authority constitutionally apportioned between central and regional governments. -Fed-State relationship is interdependent: neither can abolish the other and each must deal with the other.

-Types of Governments -Local -Counties: General-purpose governments originally created throughout most of the country to administer state services at the local level. -Municipalities: local governments established to serve people within an area of concentrated population. -Municipalities have sometimes have bad relationships with parent state because they lack independent status similar to the states within the US Framework

-Municipalities have often develop defensive and somewhat conflictual relations with both state and national authorities---as they have also sought to develop additional revenue sources and less one-sided dependence on the other levels. -Townships -School Districts -Special Districts -Special districts are currently responsible for managing public housing; building and maintaining bridges, tunnels, and roads; supplying water and sewage services to residents; assessing and regulating air quality; and caring for the district’s mass transit needs.

The Founding and the Framework -The framers of the US Constitution sought a way to combine the several states into a structure that would minimize “instability, injustice, and confusion,” in the words of James Madison -American states had agreed on a formal arrangement that is now called a confederation (states loosely joined for certain purposes). -Federalists -Suggested that states themselves remain independent governments with correspondingly independent jurisdictions.

-Constitution -Divides responsibilities between the two levels of government according to subject. -10th Amendment: “the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” -National Congress given authority to “provide for the…general Welfare” and to “make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper.” -Founders established overlapping two level structure where states and central government are not independent of each other.

The Idea of Dual Federalism -Dual Federalism involves each of the two levels of government operating independently within

its separate jurisdiction without relying on the other for assistance or authorization.

Conflict and Cooperation in Earlier Times -The Civil War is the prime example of disagreement over the limits of authority between National and State Government.

-Intergovernmental loopholes -Joint Stock Companies -Part public and part private entities created to surmount the restrictions on

direct participation by the national government. -Land Grant -The Federal government would offer some of its land to the states for specified purposes. -Land grants were intended to help achieve goals in the fields of education, economic development, and social welfare. -It was not until the 20th century that the dual federal perspective declined in significance and American intergovernmental relations developed into a system with sustained high levels of interdependence and consequent complexity.

Developments in the Early 20th Century -Power concentrated in large corporations, regulation needed -Natural resources limited, must be conserved -Newly developing and professionalizing state bureaucracies, which saw in federal involvement opportunities for upgrading and expanded funding -With the income tax, the federal government created a source of money that they could repeatedly use, such cases were called grant-in-aid. -These grant-in-aids are a transfer of money from one government to another for a certain reason. There very fine details of each transaction that stipulate how the money will be managed. -Federal aid is large, new, and has the capacity to produce large-scale alterations. Because of this, they are considered an extremely significant part of America’s fiscal federalism.

Validation of Grants-in-aid -A pair of landmark decisions in 1923 by the Supreme Court greatly expanded the grant system. The court asserted that grants were voluntary arrangements and the federal government was not violating the constitution.

Basic Types of Assistance -Grants come in many shapes and sizes, and the donor can structure the purpose to whatever it

feels like. These are called categorical grants -The donor may also design an intergovernmental program for many purposes in a particular field, and this is called a block grant. -1970s, a new form of aid called revenue sharing was created to make sure that one government could offer financial aid with virtually no restrictions. -Some grants specify a precise formula, these are called formula grants. The formula largely depends on the purpose of the grant. -Project grants allocate funding on a competitive basis, and potential recipients have no advanced knowledge about the size of the grant.

Why do we distinguish between different types of grants? The answer is that the different grants are designed to produce different relationships between the governments that are involved.

The Legacy of the New Deal -During the time of the New Deal, the grant-in-aid was repeatedly used. This time period also saw an increase in the importance if intergovernmental relationships. This

continued to grow under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. -Efforts to reduce the interdependence and complexities of the intergovernmental system have been unsuccessful.. -Mandates, however, have been a major issue in our most recent decade.

Creative Federalism and Its Implications -Johnson proposed creative federalism which was designed to signify multiple national committees to assist states and such. The efforts of this administration were directed primarily at the problem of racial discrimination. Most new programs were categorical grants.

Intergovernmental Activism -Increased governmental help was welcomed by state and local governments. Johnson’s administration greatly increased the role of government grants, but with this came many controversies.

Emergent Frustrations and Tensions -Interagency competition for clients led to loosening of federal requirements

-Grants for same basic things have different requirements and approval processes

-Instead of spending on local needs, cities work to get matching funds for national priority programs -Greater number of specialists within governmental levels in administrative duties -When responsibility becomes diffused, the mechanisms of democratic government cannot readily ensure that policy reflects the will of the people or their representatives -Creative Federalism while bringing energy and inventiveness, also bring escalating costs and frustrations

Interdependence, Complexity, and Intergovernmental Bargaining -Interdependence means that power is shared among branches of government -Complexity means that the intergovernmental network is large and differentiated -These two things led to a system of bargaining under conditions of partial conflict among participants -Unfunded mandates used in recent years as mechanism of coordination across governments. -Shift over last two decades+ have led to alteration in the types of bargaining and issues subject

to negotiation. -No matter how much the intergovernmental relationships change, value and conflicts with exist

Nixon’s New Federalism -Revenue Sharing: Federal to state and local governments. All state and local governments eligible for aid on basis of complex formulas -Block grants: proposed by Nixon with set of enactments in six policy fields along with the elimination of a series of closely related categorical grants. -Administrative initiatives- Reforms to simplify and expedite the grant application and review process, still subject o criticism from all directions

The Carter Period -Worked on developing links among PIGS with state and local governments, advancing administrative reforms, and getting attention to economic problems of cities -Carter did not propose or recommend and major changes -Federal spending increased slowly and reversed direction in 1978, limited at a time when many

units of government depended on the funding -Congress held tightly onto other units of government during this period

Reagan’s Attempted Revolution -Believed in strong state power, limited national government power -Priorities of tax reductions and defense renewed vulnerability of intergovernmental aid to sizable cuts -Proposals -Additional block grants -Dramatic Simplification of the system of intergovernmental aid -A devolution of responsibilities for many policies from the national level to the states, new programs suggested -Administrative simplification-trim red tape and lighten burden of federal mandates. Crosscurrents at Century’s End: Struggles for Reform, Pressures toward Globalization

-Complexity and interdependence, will continue to shape the details of intergovernmental bargaining and frustrate the efforts of reformers to impose or craft a clear and coherent design -Temporary Assistance to Needy Families TANF -TANF put an end to long-term welfare assistance, a frequent occurrence under the older program, and was designed to encourage welfare recipients to move permanently into the work force. -Both political parties find reasons to support mandating, even if the mandates and policy sectors vary. Using legislation is a way of trying to prevent intergovernmental regulation and bargaining doesn’t address the more fundamental sources of these ties.

-Under Clinton, the growth in federal aid was concentrated in a few sectors and devoted primarily to big increases in spending for transfer payments. -Increasing economic pressures toward globalization have now added another set of actors and considerations to the constraints and opportunities in the intergovernmental system. -The overall system is, furthermore, even less transparent to citizens---with potential implications for responsiveness and the quality of democratic life. -The most fundamental aspects of American intergovernmental relations, including the strengths, weaknesses, frustrations, and dilemmas of the pattern, have remained prominent -The choices made centuries ago created opportunities for dramatic shifts toward new forms of

interdependence and complexity in the intergovernmental network

Top of page

Stillman Chap. 6: Internal Dynamics & informal Group.

Elton Mayo, "Hawthorne and the Western Electric Company" Vance McBrayer

·Mayo begins by describing an experiment involving the changing of illumination and how it affected work production. ·Results were not expected. Work production increased when illumination was decreased, increased, and even when it remained the same. ·There must have been other factors affecting the experiment ·In modern large scale industry the three persistent problems of management are 1.The application of science and technical skill to some material good or product. 2.The systematic ordering of operations. 3.The organization of teamwork - that is, of sustained cooperation. ·If these are out of balance, the organization will be unsuccessful. ·The first two make the industry effective. The third makes it efficient. ·Experimenting was conducted to show that in the same conditions, a group that has sustained cooperation, or teamwork, will work more efficiently than a group of individuals, and they will also feel less tired, stressed, less under pressure, etc. ·The Interview Program was seen to be ineffective when done is a question-answer style. Workers wished to talk freely. ·Rules for an interviewer 1. Give your whole attention to the person interviewed, and make it evident that you are doing so. 2. Listen - don't talk. 3. Never argue; never give advice. 4. Listen to a) What he wants to say, b) What he does not want to say,

and c) What he cannot say without help. 5. As you listen, plot out tentatively and for subsequent correction the pattern that is being set before you. To test this, from time to time summarize what has been said and present for comment. Always do this with the greatest caution, that is, clarify but do not add or twist. 6. Remember that everything said must be considered a personal confidence and not divulged to anyone. ·It is impossible to relate oneself to a working group one by one; it is easy, however, if that group are already a fully constituted team. Communication will flow from the supervisor to one person who will then relate it to the rest of the team. ·Experiments stressed the need for people to have an "emotional release," to be able to vent or pour out emotion in confidence. This ability to be free and open will better open the lines of communication between management and the crew. ·Failure of free communication between management and workers leads to the exercise of caution by the working group until such time as it knows clearly the range and meaning of changes imposed from above. ·The interviewer must be able to distinguish between personal matters and group matters when talking to individuals. ·Through experiments, the third part of a management's problems, teamwork, is the most important. ·5 summarized points 1. The early discovery that the interview aids the individual to get rid of useless emotional complications and to state his problem clearly. 2. The interview has demonstrated its capacity to aid the individual to associate more easily, more satisfactorily, with other persons. 3. The interview not only helps the individual to collaborate better with his group of workers, it also develops his desire and capacity to work better with management. 4. The interviewing possesses immense importance for the training of administrators in the difficult future that faces this continent and the world. 5. The interview has proved to be the source of information of great objective value to management.

Top of page

Stillman Chap. 7: Decisionmakers & Subsystems.

Chapter 7: Stillman, "Key Decision Makers Inside Public Administration: The Concept of Competing Bureaucratic Subsystems"

(Amy Halpin & Anna Michelle Cox)

"Our public bureaucracy is composed of identifiable clusters of individuals who work and act in influential ways inside bureaucracy. Each of these subsystems shapes the broad outcomes of bureaucracy." -Richard J. Stillman II

The Subsystems are:

1. Political Appointees 2. Professional Careerists 3. General Civil Service 4. Unionized Workers 5. Contractual Employees

-Subsystems have certain important similarities and differences in their roles, values, missions, power, status, functions, activities, and influence within public organizations.

The Political Appointee Subsystem: The Birds of Passage

Most political appointees fill the top level policy making posts within federal, state, and local bureaucracies. Most political appointees have limited background in government. Very few serve repeated spells in government; few work for more than one administration. The roles of a political appointees in a bureaucracy can be conceived as rings that circle the office of the elected chief executive--a president, governor, or mayor. The first ring is the inner cabinet. Second is outer cabinet. Third is the sub-cabinet. Fourth are advisors to the secretaries and directors of agencies. And finally there are the individuals occupying limbo land between quasipolitical and non-political territory.

Seven Influences of the Political Appointee Subsystem: 1. Appointees occupy the highest, most prominent posts within public organizations. 2. Influences depends upon the policy positions they hold, the length of their government service, their connections with top elected officials, their own personalities, their support from outside groups, the immediate tasks at hand, and whether these lend themselves to imminent solutions. 3. As one moves down the hierarchy of political officials, one finds greater degree of specialization. 4. Battles occur between different levels of political appointees due to differences in perspectives. 5. Close ties or friendships develop between top officials and the chief executive. 6. Degree of loyalty results from job instability. 7. Despite operating in an ambiguous world, ultimately they are central to the governing processes at all levels of government.

The Professional Careerist Subsystem: Permanent Clusters of Powerful Experts

-Professional Elites comprise the core group of experts. These are the senior and most prestigious and respected members of the profession.

Elites proved the leadership as well as set the work standard, the qualifications for entrance and advancement, and the overall values for the profession. Line Professionals, who fall just below the level of the senior elites, actually carry out the day-to-day functions of the public agency. Staff Professionals include a wide assortment of specialists and technical assistants who have unique and specialized expertise that may not be directly connected with the central tasks of the agency. Administrative Professionals are critical to the activities of the agency because they essentially serve as "the directing brain" of the organization. Paraprofessionals are paid substantially less but still play a vital role in achieving the assigned tasks on the organization.

Six Influences of Professional Careerist Subsystem: 1. They are essential to the performance of the central mission of public agencies. 2. Careerists have a large longevity within agencies compared to appointees. 3. They are part of well established pecking order, from elites to "paras". 4. Continuing political strength and popular support of professionals ultimately rest upon their recognized expertise and competence as well as on their ability to exercise these skills in a regular, uniform manner in the public interest. 5. Professionals influence policies by moving upward and outward beyond the contours of their roles within agencies. 6. Conflicts are hidden from public because they arise from disputes between clusters of key professionals.

The General Civil Service Subsystem: Ladders of Bureaucratic Specialists, Generalists, and Workers

Civil Service Members are the bulk of government personnel. Civil Service is based on the merit system, where rank is inherent in the job, not the person. It was built on a negative moral reaction to what was perceived as "evil" rather than on a positive and deliberate design. The federal civil service work force has stayed fairly constant in size over the past 40 years, but the local and state work force has nearly tripled. Members of the general civil service subsystem generally lack the cohesiveness and unity found among professionals. This is due to the lack of mobility within the civil service. In comparison with appointees, civil servants are more realistic and conservative due to worth of incrementalism.

In 3 studies, the following were points were all stressed as areas needing attention in civil service: 1. Poor Public Image

2. Competence Crisis 3. Removing Barriers to a High Performance Work Force

The Unionized Subsystem: Cadres of Workers Inside Bureaucracy

Today there are three prominent and powerful public service unions that speak for many, through certainly not all, public employees: the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the American Federation of Government Employees and the American Federation of Teachers.

Five Significant Aspect of Union Involvement: 1. Variety 2. Growth 3. Some unions have matured, but not become dominant 4. Won Positive Reforms 5. "Civil Service-like" practices and philosophy suffers

Contract Employment: The Newest, Fastest-Growing Bureaucratic Subsystem

-Only slightly more than one-eigth of Th. total federal budget is spent on directing activities that the government performs itself. Therefore, almost 60 percent of Th. total obligation for goods and services is contracted out.

Contracting Out effects on political agencies and their outputs: 1. The growth of the contractual subsystem makes it increasingly hard to tell where government bureaucracy begins and ends. (Contracting out enables politicians to gain services for their constituents and then claim that they have "kept the lid on government personnel costs.") 2. Some sectors of +government are controlled by their contractors. 3. There is less and less use for traditional bureaucratic techniques.

Top of page

Stillman Chap. 8: Decisionmaking & Incremental Choice.

Stillman's Introduction to Incrementalism: [SPS notes] by Bill Butler, Spring 2011

Charles Lindblom, a Political Science and Economics Professor at Yale, said that there are two types of decision making: the rational comprehensive (root) method and the successive limited comparisons (branch) method. Lindblom argues that the root method is thought to be the

ideal, what is supposed to happen, while the branch method is what actually occurs most often. Lindblom acknowledges strengths and weaknesses to both strategies.

Rational Comprehensive method:

-the administrator lists the desired aspects of an objective in order of importance. Then comes the formulation of multiple alternatives that attain said aspects. The administrator then chooses the best alternative that maximizes the number of aspects met. -deemed to be rational because of the selection and weight of the objective aspects and the possible solutions. -root method assumes that there are absolute values on all sides to agree on. -also time-consuming.

Successive Limited Comparisons method: [incrementalism] -the objective is determined, but often gets amended or added to, widened or narrowed. -administrators often outline a wide range of possible alternatives, but rarely stray from trusted small steps history has said are acceptable. -allows for administrators to avoid serious mistakes. -works with our systemLindblom also makes several observations about the actuality of administrative decision-making. -decisions are incremental -limited scope of options open to taking -must be flexible because of the mutability of policy. -decisions are usually to determine what 'gets us by' -many different entities have a hand in the making of government policy.

Top of page

Stillman Chap. 9: Communication.

Dr. James Garnett "Administrative Communication: It's Centrality" Jamie Jordan

The first executive function is to develop and maintain a system of communication.

Dr. Garnett's beliefs Stresses the importance of communication within administration. Cites several cases within this book that show the importance of communication. Although communication is important in life and death situations, the larger consequences of miscommunication occur in the countless daily interactions among public servents, citizens, officals, etc. Communication is not a universal remedy.

Central public Sector Communication Processes and Roles Centering around news making process is a detriment of our understanding of key communication processes. Revolutionizing the news making process.

* increasing demand for direct interaction with public officials rather than media filtered. * the result is direct interaction through broadcasted live speeches from the official * televised "town meetings" * need for combination of communication skills and ethics Communication specialists of today are being demanded to play a more involved managerial role than before. The internal communication process is important because of the effect the whole system. "communication is too critical to managerial success to be left solely to the professional communicators." Internal communication can be thought of as downward, upward or lateral.

* Downward is issuing task directives, giving task-related information feedback on performance and conveying an overall sense of mission.}

* Upward is feedback on whether downward messages are received, understood , and acted upon; warnings about problems needing attention; intelligence gleaned by subordinates about key stakeholders; soundings about organizational morale and performance.}

* Later communication is the communication among organizational peers in the same or different unit. Key functions include task coordination, information sharing, multidisciplinary problem solving, and mutual emotional support. They tend to be more honest and accurate because they are shared among equal status Three factors contributing to the rise of the interorganizational dimension in public management

* economic interdependence--globally and locally

* networks through which political policy decisions are made have tended to become larger and more diverse

* greater access to information communication technology and liberalizing of many political economic and service institutions have enabled looser coupling in various ways. Gaining and maintaining credibility is hard if not impossible in the American system. Linking diverse audiences , using diverse media are important elements of communication. Communication ethics involve accuracy, usefulness, openness, and fairness, violations tend to damage credibility.

Top of page

Stillman Chap. 10: Executive Management & Effectiveness. Charles U Walters Spring ‘07

Understanding of modern organizations comes from different theoretical perspectives, such as the analogy of blind men touching an elephant—they are all touching one elephant but in different places thus producing a radical difference in opinion to the nature of the beast.

There is a tendency to identify good government management with good business management. (apply entrepreneurial talent to public enterprises)

The Brownlow Committee Report (1937) — considered high point of influence on public administration, mirrored business practices of the day (continues with performance budgets, cost-benefit analysis, management by objective, etc).

The Three E’s—efficiency, economy, and effectiveness (root of making government run like a business)

Hal G. Rainey and Paula Steinbauer, “Galloping Elephants: Developing Elements of a Theory of Effective Government Organizations”

By Cole Muzio, Spring 2009*Elephant- symbolic of large, cumbersome, lumbering being. However, elephants can run very fast. They are thick-skinned yet display sensitivity

*Like elephants, our bureaucracies contain seeming paradoxes. They are large, cumbersome, and bungling, however, they perform very well. Likewise, despite being seen as unresponsive, they are quite sensitive and responsive to needs of individuals. Recent research indicates that typical assumptions of bureaucracies may be false and the evidence indicates bureaucracies have displayed entrepreneurial, innovative, and effective performance.

*Social Security Administration is administratively efficient (costs run at .08 % of benefits). These numbers have been getting better since the 80’s. During the 80’s SSA cut 17,000 employees. They have improved storage and also computerization of claims. It ranked #1 in telephone service, beating out private companies.

*Dept. of Defense showed tremendous improvement from Vietnam to the Gulf War. Low number of casualties and success in operations were striking improvement.

*Centers for Disease Control receive favorable assessments of performance/professionalism. U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Customs Service, U.S. Passport Office and some city governments identified as well managed and successful.

*Limited success of privatization. Success of privatization depends heavily on sound management by government employees. Business is not the perfect model as it produces waste, inefficiency, blundering, and fraud. Business (private) does not necessarily mean efficient and bureaucracy (public) does not necessarily mean inefficient.

*Bureaucracies must focus on leadership, mission, and organization culture. Definition of agency effectiveness: The agency performs well in discharging the administrative and operational functions pursuant to its mission.

*Stakeholders for bureaucracies are executive, legislative, and judicial oversight, constituent groups, and the general public. Effective agencies will have supportive, delegative, and attentive oversight authorities. Authorities who devote attention to agency demand higher performance. Example of Congressman Wilbur Mills who led to have problems with SSA fixed in the ‘70s. Agencies also need diverse and mobilizable interest groups on their side. Favorable perception by the public is also influential towards effectiveness (this is perhaps also a chicken and egg type thing). While oversight authorities need to be involved, autonomy is crucial for an agencies success.

*The higher the value of the mission the more likely the agency is to have success (more likely to be supported, get funding, have motivated workers etc.)

*Strong organizational culture is important. However, this culture does not need to be insular, isolationistic, or arrogant (FBI). Leadership is also important for organizational culture success. Leadership qualities include: creativity, innovation, motivation, conflict management, team building, business acumen, communication skills, political savvy etc. Stability is also important factor for agency leadership. Commitment to agency mission is a very important aspect of leadership.

*Extrinsic rewards- coming from employer in the form of pay, promotion, benefits etc.

*Intrinsic rewards- involve psychology of worker such as enjoyment of work, sense of purpose, growth and development etc.

*Agencies need to maximize intrinsic rewards since extrinsic rewards are not easy to do in government. Task design is crucial to this. Likewise, keeping a professional workforce is key to success. Workforce’s productivity also increased by patriotic, purposeful, and mission oriented motivations.    

Hal G. Rainey and Paula Steinbauer, “Galloping Elephants: Developing Elements of a Theory of Effective Government Organizations”

Charles U Walters Spring ‘07

The authors compare bureaucracy to an elephant by saying it is large, cumbersome, though thick skinned—it can display sensitivity and responsiveness to needs, and they also can perform very well.

Motivation is vital whether it stems from: public service motivation, motivation by mission, specific task-related motivation, or work in the tasks themselves motivation, or is it for the pay/benefits?—all of these can contribute to performance, especially if they are seen as linked together.

An example of agency effectiveness is the Social Security Administration—their administrative costs dropped from $1.30 out of every 100 dollars to $ .80 out of every 100 dollars from the early eighties to the 1998. In the 80s they cut 17000 employees many of whom were replaced by computers.

Privatization—it seems the more carefully the study is performed on privatization the smaller reported savings. It depends heavily on sound management by government employees on the contracting and the level of competition between companies. Privatization can also decentralize the seemingly monolithic entity spreading its power among others.

Business blunders and fraud in the market place lead to the questioning of whether or not they actually out perform government agencies—one attribute that leads to effective PA is dedicated public servants not motivated by economic self-interest but by loyalty and identification.

Agencies are more effective when they are allowed a certain level of autonomy. It is best for an agency to have diverse stakeholders (people/groups/institutions with interest in organization’s outcome/activities) –they need to be attentive, interested, geographically dispersed, mobile, and multiple.—and favorable public support increases effectiveness

The higher the mission valence of an organization—the higher it will perform

Effective leadership is vital, along with an organizational culture that includes the ability to adapt, surveillance of the environment, and responsiveness.

Tasks need to be specific providing extrinsic and intrinsic rewards to employees and groups (extrinsic—pay, promotion, physical conditions; intrinsic—interest in work, sense of growth and development, and worthwhile accomplishment).

Organizations need to use professionalism and continue to utilize technology and develop their human resources

   

Hal Rainey & Paula Steibauer, "Galloping Elephants: Developing Elements of a Theory of Effective Government Organizations."

Vance McBrayer, 2003?

·Government organizations are like elephants: they seem large, cumbersome, and lumbering, yet actually they are very fast animals; they thick-skinned, yet they are very sensitive. · More and more authors are beginning to defend public bureaucracies and debunk stereotypes and negative allegations about them

Examples of Agency Effectiveness ·Social Security Administration (SSA) - administrative costs are only 0.8 percent of benefits; in the 80's, only $1.30 of every $100 in the SSA program goes to administrative expense; stores files in large industrial storage facilities built into old caves, saving on building costs in cities; computers are now doing many of the functions that employees once performed; SSA ranked #1 in a survey of customer satisfaction; downsized workforce to be more efficient ·U.S. Department of Defense - extremely efficient in Gulf War; achieved goals with minimum casualties ·Centers for Disease Control, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Customs Service, U.S. Passport Office are also others

Mixed Results of Privatization ·An indication of effective performance by public agencies comes form the limited success of privatization initiatives ·Public organizations can and often do perform as well as private firms

Power Sharing and the Hollow State ·The increasingly networked or hollow state character of many public programs strain the depiction of the public bureaucracy as a centralized, retentive, monolithic entity

Business Blunders and Generic Theories of Management ·The prospects for effective public organizations is attributed to the presence of dedicated public servants who are motivated not by narrow economic self-interest buy by organizational loyalty and identification

Models of Excellence in Government Orgainzations ·See page 304 for a list of Propositions About Effective Public Agencies

The meaning of Effectiveness ·Effectiveness - The agency performs well in discharging the administrative and operational functions pursuant to the mission. It achieves the mission as conceived by the organization and its stakeholders, or pursues achievement of it in an evidently successful way

Relations with Stakeholders ·Stakeholders - persons, groups, and institutions that have an interest in the activities and outcomes of the organization sufficient to draw their participation and attention to the agency ·Effective agencies will have oversight authorities that are supportive, delegative, and attentive to agency mission and accomplishment ·An agency is better able to obtain resources and autonomy of operations when it has interest groups that, in addition to being attentive and interested, are geographically dispersed, diverse along various dimensions, movilizable, and multiple

Autonomy ·Government agencies will be more effective when they have higher levels off autonomy in relation to external stakeholders, but not extremely high levels of autonomy ·Autonomy to manage its mission and tasks tends to enhance an agency's performance of the mission and tasks ·Autonomy does not mean leaving out stakeholders

Mission Valence ·The higher the mission valence of the agency, the more effectively the agency will perform ·The more engaging, attractive, and worthwhile the mission is to people, the more the agency will be able to attract support from those people, to attract some of them to join the agency, and to motivate them to perform well in the agency

Organizational Culture ·Effective government agencies have a strong organizational culture, effectively linked to mission accomplishment

Leadership ·The more effective the leadership of the agency, the more effective the agency. More effective leadership is characterized by more stability, multiplicity, commitment to mission, effective goal setting, and effective administrative and political coping ·Leadership has long been treated as an important determinant of an agency's power and influence

Task Design ·The more the task design in the agency provide extrinsic and intrinsic rewards to individuals and groups, the more effective the agency

Motivation ·Effective government agencies have high levels of motivation among their members, including high levels of public service motivation, mission motivation, and task motivation ·Public Service Motivation - a general altruistic motivation to serve the interests of a community of people, a state, a nation, or humankind ·Mission Motivation - developing a sense of mission for the agency and incorporating it into the

culture of the agency through goal setting, symbolic actions, and other techniques ·Task Motivation - See section on Task Design above

Top of page

Stillman Chap. 11: Personnel Motivation & Culture.11 Lois Recascino Wise, “The Public Service Culture”

By Brandon Shrout (Spring 2007); others are below-The Change in the Public Service Culture -1961, President Kennedy said to the country “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.” -During the 1960s and 1970s interest in public service was very high; because people felt that they not only could make a difference but that it was their duty to. -Since then times have changed, people began moving to jobs in the private sector for higher pay.-What Do We Know? -There are four questions that this piece addresses. -What are public service motives? -What are the operating conditions of public service motivation? -Is public service motivation more prevalent in the public sector? -Seeks to explore the significance of public service motives.-What are Public Service Motives? -Public service motive is a type of human need. -People have many types of needs and the desire to fulfill these needs influence behavior. These different needs are in constant competition with each other and are sometimes conflicting. -People with public service motive can typically be found in public work because governmental jobs usually focus on public services. -Public service motivation relates to the process that causes an individual to perform acts that contribute to the public good to satisfy their own personal needs. -Public service motives can be organized into three categories: Affective- are based in an individual’s emotions, a deep belief in the importance of certain programs for the benefit of society. Normative- Involves sense of duty to the community, loyalty to government, and a desire to serve the public interest. Rational- involve a desire to represent a special interest and personal identification with a program or policy goal, along with desires for personal gain and personal fulfillment. Rational motives are not truly public service motives because they don’t prioritize the public good over individual interests.-What are the Operating Conditions of Public Service Motivation? -Human behavior is based on a mix of motives. These motives can change as certain needs are fulfilled or if new needs arise. Motives can also change due to an individual’s environment (workplace, country, geographic region, etc.).

-For example, when a government organization has to downsize or make pay cuts, job security and monetary rewards overpower the public service motives.

-The strength of the public service motives may give individuals the strength to resist organizational norms or peer pressure that may conflict with their interpretation of the public good. -These tensions that occur daily in their work may develop into habitual behavior which will lean more toward the individual interest than the public good.

-Are Public Service Motives Exclusive to the Public Sector? -Public service motives cannot be found exclusively in the public sector for two main reasons: -There is nothing to test individuals and then place them into specific sectors based on their motives. -Second reason is that the boundaries between different sectors are vague. Ex. Healthcare industry in the U.S. can be found in public, private, and nonprofit sectors.-Of What Significance Are Public Service Motives? -They anchor bureaucratic behavior and action, and provide a value basis for governance. -Educating the citizenry contributes to the responsibility for involving the public in the democratic and administrative process. Educating public causes tensions with efficiency and professionalism. -Shared values can provide a solid foundation for organizations; they give individuals a common goal, causing them to be more motivated to reach their individual goals, which in turn cause the organizational goals to be reached. Individual public service motives can also save an organization falling into “group think” when faced with a problem. This thought directly conflicts with the norm of neutrality, which means that administrators in a bureaucracy should remain neutral. -Engagement means public service officials should “…think about what ought to be done instead of merely doing what must be done”. -Ex. Public servants should never take a passive role in policy implementation. -Working beyond contract- means doing more than the minimum the job requires. -Conclusions -Public service motives have potential for advancement within the democratic state, but they are at the heart of a fundamental tension with some of the key parts of administrative behavior. -These motives do, however, set the culture of the public service sector apart from other sectors by making them operate for the common good in reference to values, engagement of work, educating of citizens, and selflessness.

Stillman 11 Lois Recascino Wise, "Public Service Culture” By: Walker Garrett (2005)

Note: Dr. Wise sent an email complimentary of the quality of this page, 29 Sep. 05. Congratulations, Amy & Walker!

-Public Service Culture of today versus the past -During the 1960’s and 70’s, there was a sense of commitment to nation via the taking up of responsibility as part of our life purpose, whereas today, we focus not on a purpose driven life, but rather on the pursuit of monetary gain. -What are Public Service Motives? -A public service motive is a type of need. -Because we have different needs, those needs are in competition with one another and sometimes conflicting with one another. -There are power motives, spiritual motives, emotional motives, and monetary motives which guide our desire to perform and work at a job: the public service motive is similar to these other motives in that it has its own means of reward for the worker. -Behavior contributing to the public good is a human need which is seen as being primarily addressed in the public sector, especially the government where the public services operate around the people. -Public service motives are organized into three broad categories: -Affective, Norm-based, and Rational motives -Normative- Involve sense of duty, loyalty to gov., desire to serve public interest -Affective- Individuals emotions, personal belief in importance of certain programs to the benefit of society. -Rational-Represent some special interest and a personal identification with a program or policy goal, as well as desires for personal gain and personal fulfillment. Because rational motives tend to be self-serving, they are not truly public service motives since they do not prioritize the good of the public over individual interests. -What Are the Operating Conditions of Public Service Motivation? -Human behavior is a mix a motives, and those motives are fluid, so individuals may vary and change from one set of motives to another as their needs require. A rational person acts under the belief that effort produces so result. Motives may change due to an environment

which does not allow results from the current set of motives. -There is a tension and conflict between personal interests and the interests of the public

good. There is a balance represented between the worker interests and that of the public, and in most cases, the personal interests is put first. -The public service motivation may be present in the private sector as well: some corporations have public policy programs. -There are other outlets for a need to serve, ex. Ministry, community service -The boundaries between public and private overlap many times -Government generally provides a broader range of opportunities to serve the public service needs, because public organizations have separate value orientations; however, even in the public sector, individuals will adapt to the operating incentive structure. -The mission, policies, administrative structure, and culture of organizations affect the opportunities present for an individual to fulfill public service needs. -Of What Significance Are Public Service Motives?

-Public service motives anchor bureaucratic behavior and action, and they provide a value basis for governance. -While education is important to link between citizenry and their contribution to democracy and community responsibility, it can be a hindrance to the traditional stigmas of efficiency and professionalism. -Values are integral to the cohesion of a public organization because they result in higher

job satisfaction and motivation, contribute to solutions of public administration questions, and challenge the individual to reject the ideas of the norm or group when in conflict with personal discretions. This forces out the old norm of neutrality in bureaucracy where administrators should remain emotionally unattached to problems they addressed. -Engagement requires operating outside the box in order to get the job done effectively. It requires thinking about what out to be done rather than what must be done. -Working beyond contract theory-doing more than the minimum or standard -There is a moral responsibility associated with being a public servant which requires imagination and creativity to be brought to the job. -Conclusions -There is a conflict between the fundamental tenets of administrative behavior and public service motives because a focus on values, education, and engagement are not in line with traditional notions of good public administration, efficient and professional. -Public service motives set the public service culture apart as organization operating for the concern for the common good along the lines of values, engagement of work, education to empower citizens, and selflessness.

Lois Recascino Wise, "The Public Service Culture" by Amy Garrett

What are public service motives? * A public service motive is a type of human need. The desire to fulfill human needs influences behavior. *These needs will be stronger for some people than they are for others * Public service motivation pertains to the process that causes individuals to perform acts taht contribute to the public good as a way of satisfying their personal needs. * Three categories of public service motives: 1. Affective: rooted in emotion 2. Norm Based: based on social values and norms of what is proper appropriate and include a desire to serve the public interest; fulfill a sense of duty; and to express a sense of loyalty to the government 3. Rational: represent some special interest or personal identification as well as sdesires for personal gain and personal need fulfillment *Some do not see this as a true service motive as it is self serving What are the operating conditions of public service motivation? *people that have public service motives also have other motives and human needs *Contextual factors are also an important part of why people join the

public sector such as job security * Situational factors: motives may be dominant in individual behavior or behavior occurs as a consequence of other motivesAre Public Service Motives Exclusive to the Public Sector? *Many people do not consciously choose a sector of employment and may not be fully aware of their own motives for joining a particular organization. *Boundaries between the sectors are vague and tasks overlapThree Central Ideas in conflict: 1) Education: educate the citizens on the issues but it costs too much (efficiency vs professionalism) 2) Values: using individual values vs remaining neutral 3) Engagement: taking an active role in policy vs “structure” not being held morally responsible

Top of page

Stillman Chap. 12: Public Budgeting.

There is certainly room for a volunteer to improve on this old outline -- JRTL Irene Rubin, "Politics of Public Budgets":

by Jake Graffeo

*Budgets are contracts agreed upon by goverments to raise/spend money (normally through a fiscal year, July 1-June 30) *Budgets are efficient in leading coordination between different groups *Tend to reflect current attitudes/ways of thinking of economy/social orders; can show priorities or current beliefs *Influences economy-more money saved through budgeting and not wasted means more jobs created to spend money, and less layoffs when monetary waste is found. *Budgets must balance, or become ineffecient (borrow and pay back, save and spend later) *Cannot compare budgets (no too alike, too many variables)-can only find similarities and make predictions *Must have process's- what must be included, what is included, and what can't/doesn't need to be included. *Office of Management and Budgeting- once hoarded money, didnt want it spent, now is not so stingy with gov. funds. *Special Interest groups, individuals can influence budgets (Pres., boss, parents) *Must be able to bend to outside influence, flexible to times and crisis.

Top of page

Stillman Chap. 13: Implementation.

Stillman 13: Implementation: The Concept of an Ambiguity-Conflict Model Charles U Walters, Spring ‘07 (another is below)

• Sound implementation is the bottom line of administrative enterprise • Policy implementation must be judged to be effective and not ambiguous (The failure of the Great Society was not that legislation wasn’t passed—it just wasn’t carried out) • Implementation was at one time considered the “missing link”

Richard E. Matland, "Synthesizing the Implementation Literature: The Ambiguity-Conflict Model of Policy Implementation"

Top-downers have a desire to present prescriptive advice while bottom-uppers have placed more emphasis on describing what factors have caused difficulty in reaching stated goals. • Top down o Three general factors ? Tracked ability of the problem ? Ability of statue to structure and implementation ? None statutory variables affecting an implementation o Lack of parsimony o Common advice is make policy goals clear and consistent o Minimize the number of actors o Limit the extent of change necessary o Place implementation responsibility in an agency sympathetic with the policies goals• Bottom up o Macroimplementation ? central actors devise a government program o Microimplementation ? local organizations react to the macro’s plans, develop their own programs and implement them• Forward and Backward Mapping—an attempt to combine top-down and bottom-up perspectives o Forward Mapping-stating precise policy objectives, elaborating detailed means-ends schemes, and specifying explicit outcome criteria o Backward Mapping-precisely the behavior to be changed at the lowest level, describing operations that can insure the change, repeating the procedure upwards by steps until the central level is reached• Successful Implementation can be defined as agencies complying with directives’ statutes, agencies held accountable for reaching indications of success, statute goals achieved, political climate improved around the program • Policy Conflict—for conflict to exist there has to be some interdependence of actors, often process results in no action because no agreement is made. • Policy Ambiguity—characterized by an ambiguity of goals and means• Comprehensive Model

o Administrative Implementation—low policy ambiguity and low policy conflict ? Outcomes are determined by resources o Political Implementation—low policy ambiguity and high policy conflict ? implementation outcomes are decided by power o Experimental—high policy ambiguity and low policy conflict ? contextual conditions dominate implementation process o Symbolic—high policy ambiguity and high policy conflict ? coalitional strength determines the outcome• Conclusion o Article tries to give a theoretical approach to implementation o Top down models—present accurate descriptions of implementation process when policy is clear and conflict is low (new models emphasize importance of structuring access and providing resources aware of political atmosphere) o Bottom up models—present accurate descriptions when policy is ambiguous and conflict is low o Ambiguity should not be seen as a flaw in policy, it can ease agreement, opportunity to learn new methods, technologies, and goals. Neither evil or good, but a characteristic

Matland: The Ambiguity-Conflict Model of Policy Implementation By Samantha Mosier, Spring 2007

• 2 schools of thought developed as to the most effective method for studying and describing implementation of policy: o Top-down (Macro)- see policy designers as the central actors and concentrate their attention on factors that can be manipulated at the central level. Tend to choose relatively clear policies o Bottom-up (Micro)- emphasize target groups and service deliverers, arguing policy really is made at the local level. Study policies with greater uncertainty inherent in policy• Most agree that some combination of these 2 is ideal o Top-Downers ? Mazmanian and Sabatier present 3 general sets of factors which they argue determine the probability of successful implementation. • Tractability of the problem • Ability of statute to structure implementation • Non-statutory variables affecting implementation ? Top-downers have exhibited a strong desire to develop generalizable policy advice. • Make policy goals clear and consistent • Limit the extent of change necessary • Place implementation responsibility in an agency sympathetic with the policy’s goals ? 3 sets of criticism for top-downers • top-down models take the statutory language as their starting point. This fails to consider the significance of actions taken earlier in the policy-making process. May fail to consider broader public objectives • Have been accused of seeing implementation as purely administrative process and either

ignoring the political aspects or trying to eliminate them. • Top-down models have been criticized for their exclusive emphasis on the statue framers as key actors. o One side argues from a normative perspective that local service deliverers have the expertise and knowledge of the true problems, therefore they are in a better position to propose policy. o Second side argues from a positive perspective that discretion for street-level bureaucrats is inevitably so great that it is simply unrealistic to expect policy designers to be able to control the actions of these agents.o Bottom-up Model ? Sees policy implementation on the microimplementation level in which local organizations react to the macrolevel plans, develop their own programs and implement them ? Have placed emphasis on describing what factors have caused difficulty in reaching stated goals. • Allows for adaptation to local difficulties and contextual factors ? 2 criticisms • normative criticism is that in a democratic system policy control should be exercised by actors whose power derives from their accountability to sovereign voters through their elected representatives • it overemphasizes the level of local autonomyo Previous attempts to combine the 2 models ? Elmore’s Concept (early 1980s) – forward and backward mapping • Argues that policy designers should choose policy instruments based on the incentive structure of target groups • Forward mapping consists of stating precise policy objectives, elaborating detailed means-end schemes and specifying explicit outcome criteria by which to judge policy at each stage. • Backward mapping consists of stating precisely the behavior to be changed at the lowest level, describing a set of operations that can insure the change, and repeating the procedure upwards by steps until the central level is reached. By using this method you might be able to find more appropriate tools than originally planned.? Sabatier (1980s-1990s) • Argues how policy needs to be analyzed in circles of more than ten years. The longer time allows for an opportunity to consider policy learning. • Policies operate within parameters most easily identified by using a top-down approach- includes socioeconomic conditions, legal instruments, and basic government structure. • Advocacy coalitions should be the main unit of analysis in the study of these actions. Coalition comprised of policy advocates from both public and private organizations who share same beliefs and goals.? Goggin (1990)- communications model of intergovernmental policy implementation • Sees state implementers as the means of connection between several communication channels. There are 3 clusters of variables that affect state implementation: o Inducements and constraints from the top (federal level) o Inducements and constraints from the bottom (state and local levels) o State specific factors defined as decisional outcomes and state capacity? Berman (1980)

• Argues implementation plan should be developed using either the top-down or bottom-up approach depending on a set of parameters that describes the policy context. • Argues that these situational parameters are dimensions that implementation designer cannot influence. It includes scope of change, validity of technology, goal conflict, institutional setting, and environment is stable, goal conflict is low, and institutional setting is tightly coupled.o WHAT IS SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION ? Top-down theorists desire to measure success in terms of specific outcomes tied directly to the statues that are the source of a program. ? Bottom up theorists desire a much broader evaluation, in which a program leading to positive effects can be labeled a success. ? Failure to specify what is meant by successful implementation causes considerable confusion • Ingram and Schneider note several plausible definitions of successful implementation including agencies comply with the directives of the statues, agencies are held accountable for reaching specific indicators of success, goals of the statute are achieved, or there is an improvement in the political climate around the program. Deciding which one is appropriate hinges on whether the statutory designer’s values should be accorded a normative value greater than those of other actors (esp local actors if the designer is an elected official)o A COMPREHENSIVE MODEL OF IMPLEMENTATION: THEORETICAL BASES ? Policy conflict • Plays central role in distinguishing between descriptions of the implementation process • Rational and bureaucratic politics models of decision making assume the individual actors are rationally self-interested. • Rational model assumes goals are agreed upon and therefore one can max individual or social welfare functions, subject to a set of situational constraints. Makes conflict not exist • Bureaucratic politics models on the other hand lay that a utility function cannot be written because there is no agreed-upon set of goals. Make conflict primary emphasis • Policy conflict will exist when more than one organization sees a policy as directly relevant to its interests and when the organizations have incongruous views.? Policy Ambiguity • Arises from a number of sources but can be sorted broadly as falling into 2 categories o Ambiguity of goals- leading to misunderstanding and uncertainty and therefore often is culpable in implementation failure. The clearer the goals are the more likely they are to lead to conflict. o Ambiguity of means- - are ambiguous when there are uncertainties about what roles various organizations are to play in the implementation process or when a complex environment makes it difficult to know which tools to use, how to use them, and what the effects of their use will be.o A COMPREHENSIVE IMPLEMENTATION MODEL: EXPOSTION OF THE 4 PERSPECTIVES ? Administrative implementation: • Low policy ambiguity and low policy conflict provide conditions for rational decision-making • Central principle-outcomes are determined by resources • Low levels of ambiguity make it clear which actors are active • 3 mechanisms for gaining compliance from an actor:

o normative- mutually held goal or to the legitimacy of person requesting action o coercive-threatens sanctions for failing to comply with a request for action o remunerative- sufficient incentives to make desired course of action • ex: Emergency Energy Assistance- this policy theory was to allow market prices on energy, tax windfall energy, tax the profit, of energy companies, and recycle money back to the citizens via emergency energy rebate.? Political Implementation • low policy ambiguity and high policy conflict • actors have clearly defined goals are incompatible. • Central principle is that implementation outcomes are decided by power • An actor of coalition or coalition of actors have sufficient power to influence. Such system is more open to influences from the environment • Coercive and remunerative mechanisms will dominate • Ex: Where EPA sanctions threatened TVA’s central mission, compliance was quickly forthcoming. Where controversy didn’t threaten it took awhile for TVA compliance? Experimental Implementation • High policy ambiguity and low policy conflict • Central principle is contextual conditions dominate the process. Outcomes depend heavily on resources and actors • Defines cases where preferences are problematic and technology is uncertain. Lack of conflict is likely to open arena for large # of actors. Policies and goals are agreed upon yet means of reaching that goal remain unclear. • Examples: Clean Air Act of 1970- technology did not exist before policy was passed. & Headstart • 2 pitfalls: o process should not be forced into an artificially constrained form o demanding uniformity when processes are poorly understood robs us of vital info and limits the street level bureaucrats use of their knowledge? Symbolic Implementation • High policy ambiguity and high policy conflict • Local level Coalitional strength is important towards its goal in confirming new goals, reaffirming a commitment goal, or in emphasizing important value principles. Differing perspectives will develop as to how to translate the abstract goal into instrumental actions. • Professions likely to play important role. • EX: Youth Employment Program may have goal of improving opportunities for disadvantage youths. This referential goal may include any of the following subgoals: decreased crime, increased educational opportunities, and on-the-job training.• Actors are intensely involved and disagreements are resolved through coercion or bargaining. Any actor’s influence is tied to the strength of the coalition he or she is a part of.

Top of page

Stillman Chap. 14: Politics & Admin -- Issue Networks.

The Relationship between Politics and Administration: The Concept of Issue Networks Charles U Walters, Spring ’07

Until the 1970s the general thought in institutional reform and intellectual thought (on public administration—executive branch) was in favor of greater independence from legislative oversight. Government prying on these issues and intricate details would make the government too big and detached from important issues. Until Watergate, Vietnam, failure of many “Great Society social programs”, and the high turnover of congressional seats—this thought changed and led to: widening requirements for Senate approval of presidential appointees to executive office, Congressional Budget Office (fiscal watchdog), passage of the Freedom of Information Act (allow Congress and public more access of executives activities), War Powers Resolution (restricted presidential initiative in foreign military involvements). Iron Triangle — fashionable argument in 60s and 70s of a “three-way” interaction between Congress, bureaucrats, and special interest lobbies where: Congress writes and passes legislation, bureaucrats implement for bigger budgets, and interest groups help congressional members get elected (monies and support).

Hugh Heclo, "Issue Networks and the Executive Establishment"

Hugh Heclo says the triangle concept “is not so much wrong as it is disastrously incomplete”. Looking for the “closed triangles of control” we miss the networks that increasingly impinge government they more likely are these: Growth in mass of government activity, loose-jointed play of influence from this growth, and layering and specializing that has taken over the government work force Issue Networks: the beginnings of these are hard to determine, they vary in degree of dependence on others in their environment; they are straight out—shared knowledge groups having to do with some problem of public policy. The “true experts” in the networks are the “issue-skilled” –those informed on a particular policy debate. Knowing what is right is impossible anymore which makes knowing those deemed knowledgeable crucial. Shared-action groups and shared-belief groups are not as crucial for it is those who are knowledgeable networking to get policy issues refined, debated, and alternative options worked out. The Executive Leadership Problem— Three advantages in the emerging issue networks system: reliance on issue networks and policy politicians consistent with larger societal changes (party-based politics to issue-based politics), the issue networks link Congress and the executive branch in ways that political parties no longer can, increased room to maneuver offered to executives by loose-jointed play of influence. There is a lack of democratically based power which weakens the executive level below the president. Political technocrats make this worse. The more specialized the networks the more separation from the average citizen. Issue Networks have to become known as knowledgeable, make simple choices complex so that policy objectives don’t become vague and so that results become measurable. They provide a way to process dissension and better allow for consensus (though understanding the issue is more important than a consensus. New leaders can’t take blame and they can’t spread blame, rather vagueness is key in order to allow policy problems to be dealt with by policy specialists’ opinions.

Hugh Heclo, "Issue Networks and the Executive Establishment" by Marie Wilkerson

The lack of interest in political administration is rarely found in other democratic countries, and it has not always prevailed in the United States. In the U.S. the 19th century between

politics politics and administration ,or party spoils, frequently ovrwhelmed any motion of presidential leadership

Iron Triangles Control is said to be vested in an imformanl but enduring series of "iron triangles" linking executives bureaus, congressional committees, and iterest group clienteles with a stake in particular programs. The iron triangle concept is not so much wwrong as it is disastrously incomplete.

Factors at work 1. growth in the sheer mas of government activity and associated expectation. 2. the peculiar, loose-jointed play of influence that is accompanying this growth 3. the layering and specialization that have overtaken the government work force, not least the political leadership of the bureaucracy

Issue Networks -Issue networks are almost the reverse image in each respect. Participants move in and out of the networks constantly. -An issue network is a share-knowled group having to do with some aspector public policy. -It is through networks of people who regard each other as knowledgeable, or at least as needing to be answered, that public policy issues tend to be refined, evidence debated, and alternative options worked out - thogh rarely in any controlled, well-organized way.

*Technocrats an other people in white coats will expropriate the policy process. If there is to be any expropriation, it is likely to be by the policy activists, those who care deeply about a set of issues and are determined to shape the fabric of public ploicy accordingly

The Executive Leadership Problem E.E. schattschneider put it better when he observed that "new policies create new politics"

There are at least three important advantages found in the emerging system. 1. the reliance on issues networks and policy politicians is obviously consistent with some of the larger changes in society. 2. they link Congress and the executive brance in ways that political parties no longer can. 3. the increased number maneuvering room offered to political executives by the loose -jointed play of influence. *The first and foremost problem is the old one of democratic legitimacy. Weaknesses in executive leadership below the level of the President have never really been due to interest groups, party politics, or Congress.

Policy activist have little desire to recgnize an unpleasant fact: that their influential systems for know ledgeable policy making tend to make democratic politics more difficult

There are at least four reasons. 1. Complexity 2. Consensus 3. Confidence 4. Closure

*It is not easy for a society to politicize itself and at the same time depoliticize government leadership

Top of page

Stillman Chap. 15: Public Interest & De-Regulation.

Chapter 15: The Relationship Between Bureaucracy and the Public Interest The Concept of Public Sector Deregulation,

by Cole Muzio, Spring ‘09Bureaucracy successes come from skilled executives who correctly identified the critical tasks of their organization, distributed authority in a way appropriate to those tasks, infused their subordinates with a sense of mission, and acquired sufficient autonomy to permit them to get on with the job

Armies: Putting their best people in specialized units and leaving “leftovers” to the infantry

Prisons: Observers most favorable to prison execs with good intentions (fresh ideas) such as rehabilitation, prison self- governance etc. over accomplishments such as safe and decent facilities

Schools: Spend much time on reports and robotic efforts rather than stimulating performance

These groups are attempting to manage situations in which they have little control. Outside groups (politicians (“legislative micromanagement”), interest groups, media, courts etc.) close in on their control. Expectations and the past also confine those who seek more autonomy.

Herbert Kaufman: Whit House has feared agency independence more than agency paralysis

Regulations define job for agencies. Today such regulations stifle creation of such effective agencies (FBI, Marine Corps, Forest Service) as had been in the past. These agencies had a single focused mission.

Bureaucrat bashing doesn’t solve anything.

Deregulating government will improve matters. This liberates the entrepeneurial energies of its members. This has a drastic effect on the morale of workers who don’t like every initiative stifled and every action second guessed.

How can government be deregulated and accountable??? Deregulation cannot be zealous but modest. Must rely on strong leaders. Leaders must be inspiring, understand organizational culture, delegate responsibility effectively, give workers the opportunity to make judgements, infuse agency with a sense of mission. However, they must take steps to ensure that important tasks that may not be apart of the core mission are not overlooked. Must also negotiate with political superiors on what regulations can be removed. Must also distribute authority effectively.

Organizations should be judged by results. Problem is legisltures etc. can be unhappy with performance even then 9may not even realize what good results are). Results are often hard to assess (education).

Experimentation: First, must identify a course of action that can be tested. Second, detemine desired effect. Third, give action/ treatment to one group and withhold from another (control group). Fourth, assess condition of each group prior to test. Fifth, have outside evaluation

Only less bureaucracy if less government. Problems with bureaucracy comes from fragmented and open system. They must say “no” and this can often lead to problems for their growth.

Chapter 15: The Relationship Between Bureaucracy and the Public Interest” The Concept of Public Sector Deregulation,

by Charles U Walters Spring ‘07

The boundaries of “public interest” have been looked through in three perspectives: Rational machine model—those who see PA as a tool to produce the most “efficient,

economical, or effective” result view the emergence of public interests as the “right value-free tool of analysis that will give, automatically, correct results.

Sort of a reformist/creative model—public administrators are given key, creative roles in promoting “public interest” and PA is essential to run the constitution. By putting PA at center, administrative discretion and influence are enhanced allowing “public interest” to be trained, enlightened.

More of a pluralistic model—“public interest” is mainly the pulling and hauling of various groups’ interests in society and therefore there is no absolute such as public interest but rather a process. Public Administrators are considered “people-in-the-middle”

James Q Wilson, Bureaucracy and the Public Interest by Charles U Walters Spring ‘07

Success has a lot to do with skilled executives correctly identifying critical tasks of organizations, distributing authority to correctly work with them, infusing subordinates with a sense of mission, and it acquires sufficient autonomy to permit them to get on with the job

A Few Modest Suggestions that may make a Small Difference:

Wilson says we must deregulate the government to help energize it. The difference is that the price system and profit motive are missing from the public sector. How can the government delegate and trust and also maintain accountability when individuals are faced with a choice between a “control mentality” and the “mission accomplishment” mentality?

--(core mission) executives should understand the culture of their organizations and know the strengths and limits of that culture. If members widely endorse the culture then they have a sense of mission. This allows executives to economize on scarce incentives; state general objectives confident subordinates will achieve them, and delegate responsibility knowing lower-level decisions will conform to higher-level expectations

--negotiate with one’s political superiors to get some agreement as to which are the essential constraints that must be observed by your agency and which the marginal constraints. (may have to fight for elbow room)

--match the distribution of authority and the control over resources to the tasks your organization is performing. (Authority should be placed at the lowest level at which all essential elements are available.)

--Judge organizations by results --Standard Operating Procedures: keep organizations small, but the SOPs will represent

an internally defined equilibrium that reconciles the situational imperatives.

Bureaucracy and the American Regime

Governments of the US are not meant to be efficient and powerful but tolerable and malleable. The founders new it would be hard to create a new agency much less how it would be administered. The Civil War thrust the problem of administration on us. Many worry about a constitutional system’s poor design for the now large government when it was meant for a small liberty orientated system. We have a system laden with rules unlike other countries, which seems to make the system aloof from the people. Our system is covered with participation and it can look like an inefficient, jerry-built contraption filled with corruption and favoritism. Rules and Openness existing together is a paradox. Despite astonishing paradoxes and apparent inefficiencies, the American Bureaucracy seems to be fairly competent in supplying needs to the people.

James Q. Wilson, "Bureaucracy and the Public Interest." Alexander Zachos, Spring 2005

Makes a few parallels to Bureaucracy and the Public Interest -German Army beat the French army in 1940 -Texas prisons did a better job than Michigan prisons -Carver High School in Atlanta became a better school under Norris Hogans.

All successes resulted from:

1. skilled executives who correctly identified the critical tasks of their organizations,2. distributed authority to handle these tasks3. infused their subordinates with a sense of purpose4. aquired autonomy to permit them to get on with the job.

The critical tasks were different in each case, culture, and pattern of authority

Focuses of Armies: Pentagon in the U.S. is filled with generals who want to control combat from headquarters or from helicopters using technology. The U.S. does not concentrate on infantry fighting as much as putting qualified people into specialized units (intelligence, engineering, communications.

Prisons: Many observers give favor to those who seem to voice the best intentions rather than accomplishments. Rehabilitation rather than better facilities

Schools: Many administrators keep principals weak and teachers busy filling out reports, in order to minimize complaints from parents and such.

There has been a rise in legislative and presidential micromanagement with hearings, reports, investigations, statutory amendments, and budgetary adjustments.

A recent trend has been for executives to focus less on the tasks that their organization is doing, and more on the constraints and rules that must be abided by, no matter how many or what tasks are being performed.

From time to time, there is a gifted executive that makes things happen differently. Every once in a while an administrator can effectively govern as well as abide by the rules. Some examples: -The Army Corps of Engineers -The Social Security Administration -The Marine Corps -The Forest Service -The FBI

These agencies have been notable exceptions to the stereotype that "all bureaucrats are dim witted paper shufflers."

To do better, Wilson, suggests DEREGULATION. This would liberate the entrepreneurial energies of members of the free market, deregulation could lead to energizing of business and results.

Small staffs and a high level of delegation based on trust, are methods that have made the private sector successful, that could work in public bureaucracies.

In the public sector, procedure and rules stand in the way of action and results.

Successful agencies in the past have all been forged the same way, by strong leaders who were able to command personal loyalty, define and instill a clear and powerful sense of mission, attract talented workers who believed they were joining something special.

No one agency, no matter how efficient can control a truly diverse set of tasks. But a good executive will delegate these neglected tasks to another agency, or create a new one.

3 principles are important: 1. Delegate neglected tasks to another agency. 2. Negotiate with one’s political superior as to which constraints or rules are essential to keep. 3. Match the distribution of authority and the control over resources to the task your organization is performing. 4. Judge organizations by their results.

You will have less bureaucracy only if you have less government.

BUREAUCRACY AND THE AMERICAN REGIME The Central theme of the American constitutional system-the separation of powers, makes problems worse for the bureaucracy. The US governments were not designed to be efficient or powerful, but tolerable and malleable. The centralization of power ensures that the public organizations will be more efficient. America has a paradoxical bureaucracy unlike any other. The paradox is the existence in one set of institutions of two qualities ordinarily quite separate: the multiplication of rules and the opportunity for success.

We have a system laden with rules, we also have a system suffused with participation. The fact that these two traits can exist, rules and openness, puzzles many contemporary students of the discipline.

Public bureaucracy in this country is neither as rational and predictable as Weber hoped that it would be, but neither was it as crushing and mechanistic as he feared.

We live in a country that despite all of its trivial rules, some people still use government to rationalize society

And services are provided to the people regardless of this fact, more efficiently than many countries.

Stillman Chap. 16: Ethics.

Stillman 16: The Concept of Ethical Obligations Charles U Walters Spring ‘07

Critical issues of government involve moral choices. Should officials give precedence to the public interest or to narrower demands of profession, department, or clientele? –

The chief qualification of an executive is the ability to resolve these competing ethical codes (legal/personal/organization/etc).

Strength and quality is determined by the administrator’s ability to not be weakened by choice.

Men who are unable to accept the amount of responsibility or those of limited capabilities will lose one of the three: ability, responsibility, or morality or all. Therefore commensurate ability is needed.

Paul Appleby writes that 2 safeguards are effective for administrative morality: the ballot box and hierarchy.

(The electorate can judge performance-and-decisions can be pushed higher to receive more political review.)

Three moral qualities needed in PA: Optimism, courage, and fairness tempered by charity (Courage is capacity to act when inaction is easier, Optimism is ability to deal w/morally ambiguous situations w/confidence and purpose, fairness allows for justice maintenance). The best solutions most always have costs.

Dwight Waldo, A Prologue to a Preface (PA and Ethics) Charles U Walters Spring ‘07 (another below)

Moral and ethical behavior in PA is chaotic. Public and Private Moralities

public morality as presented in the media is considered a simple matter of obeying law and honesty—not so according to Waldo.

Public morality is based on the collective good -- oftentimes it is considered immoral from the standpoint of interpretations of moral behavior for individuals (i.e.—killing/war versus homicide).

The State and Higher Law

There is a source and measure of rightness that is above and beyond both individual and government (this rightness inspired the Declaration of Independence).

Higher law does not equate with or relate only to private morality against the public but it can also be used by the public also.

The public-private distinction can be designated collectivity-person—should the person have moral standing apart from the collectivity?

Reason of state—conduct that violates all or nearly all right conduct for individuals but is ok for a state in order to created, preserve, or enhance power.

Ethical obligations of the public administrator:

They have an obligation to: the Constitution, law, nation/country, democracy, organizational-bureaucratic norms, profession/professionalism, family/friends, self, middle-range collectivities, general welfare/public interest, humanity/world, religion/God, science? conscience?.

Waldo says we have a need for maps of sources and types of ethical obligations like the one above.

He also says that we need an instrument to guide us through the historical dimensions of our ethical problems. Also it would help to have instruments provided by the social sciences. Third, ethics needs to be searched and ordered for the purposes of analysis and judgment. Also religion needs to be surveyed to determine what navigation it can provide.

The Pyramid Puzzle:

Hierarchy is represented as a force for morality and a source for immorality, it works for soft power of democracy and also the hard power (effectiveness, efficiency, and economy).

Democracy is only achievable if power is concentrated so it can be held accountable. Responsibility was viewed as owed upward until the top of the pyramid.

However there is an absence of hierarchal control which nearly promises ethical irregularities and inefficiencies.

What difference does democracy make with respect to the morality of actions taken by government?—the people can be mistaken, but not wrong.

Does one state’s motion make it moral or not based on its leadership (dictatorship or democracy)?

Observations and reflections: 20th century defined by a decay of traditional moral codes/morality is “relative” if not meaningless or irrelevant.

-The matter of ethically proper conduct reaches far beyond sex and money and traditional morality seems to provide misguidance problems.

-If ambiguity cannot be eliminated then the tolerance for ambiguity becomes an operating skill. moral complexity increases as members in organizations increase.

-Administrators in public organizations face more moral complexity than those in private organizations.

-Categories of public and private have been becoming more and more of a “gray area”—hierarchy is diminished and new lateral/diagonal relationships grow and operate making it difficult to understand who is in charge.

-The study of organizations has not been popular, but we must dig around the foundations of morality in order (not to tear down an existing piece) but to build a new foundation upon some of the old materials and one that is to our purpose.

Dwight Waldo, “Public Administration and Ethics: A Prologue to a Preface” By Chrys Lake, spring 2007

- The concept of moral or ethical behavior in public administration is a complicated matter, indeed, chaotic. Public Morality v. Private Morality: Public Morality- decisions made and action taken directed toward the good of a collectivity which is seen or conceptualized as “the public”, that is, an entity or group larger than immediate social groups such as family and clan. Private Morality- decisions made and action taken directed toward the good of the private sector, including economic, political, and global influence.The State and Higher Law: Higher Law: (claims it is essential in understanding the conflicting moral principals) is a source and measure of rightness that is above and beyond both individual and government.Two Important Issues: - Higher law does not equate with or relate only to private morality as against public. Its sanction can be claimed by the polity if the polity represents the sacred as well as the secular. - Public-private distinction is but one example of a class of relationships that can be designated collectivity-person. (ex. People as a part of nation, party, union, family—which a person can not unidentified himself with)Means By Which To Determine Private and Public Values Within the Administration Process: Obligation to [some points combined] 1. the Constitution, Law, Nation, Democracy 2. Organizational-Bureaucratic Norms, Profession and Professionalism 3. Family and Friends, Self 4. Middle-Range Collectivities 5. the Public Interest or General Welfare, 6. Humanity or the World, Religion, or to God• Waldo points out that he did not attempt to order the 12 obligations by importance—because of the untidiness of the ethical universe. He points out that until the people know what issues

they are arguing on, no progress can be made. Things that affect obligations: - History, Implication, Consequences, Self-awareness, Growth, Duty, Organization, - Personal PhilosophyThe Role of Hierarchy in Ethical Administration: Hierarchy is represented both as a force of morality and a source of immorality, the soft values of democracy and the hard values of effectiveness, efficiency, and economy are considered a single thing. Democracy is, realistically, achievable only if power is concentrated so that it can be held accountable, which is possible only through hierarchy. Responsibility for moral and ethical behavior begins at the top of the hierarchical pyramid and filter down. Authority is considered to move upward through employees and officers.