New Public Administration Flashcards

Question

NEW PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION | Kaufman, Herbert (1969)-Decentralization and Political Power

Answer 1

NEW PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Kaufman, Herbert (1969)-Decentralization and Political Power Solution 2: Another way is to create a centralized complain bureau/agency (staffed by a full-time bureaucrat having adequate support staff) to look into, investigate, and address the grievances of marginalized groups.

Answer 2

NEW PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Kaufman, Herbert (1969)-Decentralization and Political Power Solution 3: : Institute greater administrative decentralization so that decision making power is closer to where the people are rather than in remote centers. Decentralization is also defended on the grounds that it is more efficient and it facilitates popular participation. It will speed up decisions in the field without needing to refer back to headquarters and without losing coordination among field personnel in different bureaus. Consequently, as decentralization may result in fragmentation and competition among regional agencies for funding etc. and the development of political bases by agencies. As a result the cycle of advocating for more of the three values will once again emerge: Advocates will call for chief executives to be granted more control over these bureaucracies (strong centralized leadership) so as to reduce potential fragmentation. Furthermore, there will be a call for greater neutral competence because agencies having decentralized decision making power will be supported by stronger local political interests and influences thus requiring a greater call for neutral competence.

Answer 3

NEW PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Frederickson, George H. (1971)-Toward a New Public Administration Frederickson posits that there is nothing new about NPA. He states that concerns about representativeness (a tenet of NPA) was alluded to be Kaufman (1949) and in the Jacksonian era. NPA adds social equity to the classic objectives of PA (efficiency, centralization, effectiveness, executive authority etc.) and rationality. Social equity is defined as activities designed to enhance the political power and economic well-being of minorities. NPA posits that public administrators are not neutral and that they should be committed to good management and advocate on behalf of social equity. NPA seeks to enact legislative mandates efficiently and economically and well as improve the quality of life for all. The search for social equity provides Public Administration with a real normative base.

Answer 4

NEW PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Krislov, Samuel (1974)- Representative Bureaucracy *There is a need for more representativeness within the administrative structure. Representative bureaucracy is where administrative structures is characterized by the presence or absence of representativeness, and the degree to which the structures have in fact been representative agencies. Blacks, Hispanics, and other groups feel continually disenfranchised. The American Republic was founded on the notion of ‘E Pluribus Unum” (out of many one) yet administrative practices did not demonstrate this. The problem first emerged because early attempts at developing were more concerned with developing an elite (well-educated, trained, professional) and respected administrative structure as opposed to a diverse administrative structure. Now that the bureaucracy has gained prestige and status, there is a need to admonish a more prevalent issue (that has usurped class). That is that there are issues of lines of division based on race, ethnicity, and gender. In order to gain credibility and legitimacy, bureaucracies should be representative of the citizenry (Denhardt, 2008).

Answer 5

NEW PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Krislov, Samuel (1974)- Representative Bureaucracy Certain minority groups (more prominently Blacks) have continually been disenfranchised. In order to attack this issue and generate social change, government has placed within its positions members of those ethnic groups in order to impact policy outcomes that benefit minority groups.

Answer 6

NEW PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Rosenbloom, David H. (1984)-Public Administrative Theory and the Separation of Powers *Similar to Kaufman (1949) in that it introduces incompatible values within PA. However, unlike Kaufman, who states that the conflicting values of representativeness, neutral competence, and executive leadership are subject to routine conflicts that occur in subsequent phases and that a solution is not likely, Rosenbloom states that there is a chance for a reconciliation of those values.

Answer 7

NEW PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Rosenbloom, David H. (1984)-Public Administrative Theory and the Separation of Powers Public Administration faces a problem in that is has been derived from three differing values which have different traditions, emphasizes different values (managerial, political, legal), requires different organizational structures, and views individuals differently. This has resulted in PA being pulled in three different directions. Nonetheless, there is opportunity to reconcile these values without compromising political values.

Answer 8

NEW PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Rosenbloom, David H. (1984)-Public Administrative Theory and the Separation of Powers The managerial approach to PA emerged during the orthodoxy period and as proposed by Woodrow Wilson was predicated on the idea of the adoption of sound-business-like principles. The core values of this approach is efficiency (can do with the least energy), effectiveness (what government can do properly), and economy (can do with the least possible cost of human and financial resources). Was primarily concerned with efficiency, separating politics from administration, and the use of Scientific Management to attain efficiency and economy-one best way to do things at the least possible cost. Relies on the ideal-bureaucracy structure of hierarchy, specialization of tasks, merit-based promotion, politically-neutral administrator, and efficiency. Individuals are viewed as impersonal or mechanized. Clients i.e. citizens are also depersonalized in order to promote efficiency, economy and effectiveness because attempts to attend to the individual grievances of citizens will result in an impact of efficiency.

Answer 9

NEW PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Rosenbloom, David H. (1984)-Public Administrative Theory and the Separation of Powers The political approach to PA is concerned with responsiveness of administrative agencies to elected officials particularly in a government where agencies are allotted some degree of autonomy/discretion. Unlike the managerial approach and its politics-administration dichotomy, the political approach is based on empirical reality, and the notion that administration does influence policy (Appleby, 1949). The political approach is concerned with the values of representativeness, political responsiveness, and accountability. The value of the political approach (accountability i.e. red tape, meeting with citizens, time consuming) can come into conflict with value of the managerial approach (efficiency and economy). Organizational structure is not vertical (like the management approach) but instead there are no clear lines of hierarchy/specialization/unity because agencies in a democratic/pluralistic state are accountable to many different actors-elected officials, interest groups, the courts, and the chief executive. In this view the individual is viewed as a member of an aggregate group and does not depersonalize the individual.

Answer 10

NEW PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Rosenbloom, David H. (1984)-Public Administrative Theory and the Separation of Powers The legal approach to PA is derived from three inter-related sources including: (1) administrative law as defined by White (1926) as the context that protects private rights, gives legitimacy to the bureaucracy, determines competencies of the administrator, and dictates the repercussions for violation of private rights; (2) Judicilization which brings administrative decision-making under the purview of administrative law and established procedure to safeguard individual rights; (3) Constitutional law to protect the rights of citizens from administrative decisions. The courts have sought to discourage administrators from violating individual citizen rights might making them less immune from civil suits for violating citizen rights. The legal approach is concerned with the values of due process, individual substantive rights, and equity/fairness. The organization structure is represented in the judicial trial/hearing and the individual is viewed as a unique individual with a unique set of circumstances i.e. every person is entitled to their day in court which allows the individual the opportunity to explain their individual circumstances. Hence the constitution is a means to ensure that the different branches of government does not abuse their prescribed powers.

Answer 11

NEW PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Rosenbloom, David H. (1984)-Public Administrative Theory and the Separation of Powers Because the legitimacy of the three approaches are without question, the three approaches must all me maintained and reconciled so that a theoretical core of PA can be developed which encompasses values (political approach), organizational structure (managerial approach), and a focus on the individual (legal approach).

Answer 12

NEW PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION NPA-Mosher 1968 Passive and Active Representation in new public administration.

Answer 13

NEW PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION CRITIQUE OF NEW PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Frederickson (1979) posits that there is nothing new about NPA. He states that concerns about representativeness (a tenet of NPA) was alluded to by Kaufman (1949) and in the Jacksonian era. The tenets of NPA are simply familiar concepts that have been repackaged.

Answer 14

NEW PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION CRITIQUE OF NEW PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Rosenbloom (1983) presents PA as being derived from three primary approaches (managerial, political, legal). In particular, the political value represents values of representativeness, political responsivenss, and accountability which are all crucial to maintaining constitutional democracy in the contemporary bureaucratic state. While not necessarily critiquing, the political approach, Rosenbloom states that the values of the political approach are often in tension with the values of the managerial approach (efficiency, economy). For instance, consultation with citizen participants and be time consuming and thus less efficient. Additionally, budgeting (a managerial approach practice) may generate an excessive amount of become very costly and inefficient. Additionally, legislative control over agencies may also hamper the effectiveness of agencies.

Answer 15

NEW PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Denhardt (2008) states that previous studies addressing the policy preferences of higher civil service indicate that there is a weak correlation between the back ground of these officials and their attitude (on policy preferences). It is fool-hardy to assume that a person coming from a particular group will represent the interest of that group when in fact they may represent the bureaucracy itself or professional groups of which they are a part of rather than the interests of the demographic group.