Analysis Of Refounding Public Administration By Gary L. Wamsley

Question 1 In chapter four of Refounding Public Administration, Gary L. Wamsley argues that public administration and public administrators are now facing new challenges that threaten the very core of democracy in today’s society. In order to combat these challenges public administrators must establish a system where they not only cooperate with federal, state, and city officials in working towards the common good and commonality for citizens, but they must also encourage active citizen participation. In order to accomplish this, agencies must create a normative order that includes an array of different features and qualities for an institution such as a mission, culture, and constitution. These three aspects are important because they enable
Public administrators or “agents” serve the common good and the public interest by exercising their skills and expertise in the areas of community building and active citizenship. This creates a society where citizens are not marginalized or disenchanted with the policy-making process and most importantly the government and/or government officials, but instead value and appreciate the role of public administrators in the governing process. For example, city council meetings are mechanisms that can be used to encourage citizen participation. City council meetings provide an avenue where citizens are allowed to voice their concerns about a new policy implementations or projects. After giving the public an opportunity to voice their concerns, the city council officials can then decide (by using their discretion) how to act in a manner that serves the interest of the majority of the population including members of the public who were not present at the
Goodsell’s argument in The New Case for Bureaucracy is that bureaucracy is a necessity for any large and complex democratic society, despite the negative connotations that have been attached to bureaucracy throughout the years. The New Case for Bureaucracy examines how and why the public opinion on bureaucracy is negative and ways in which a positive outlook towards bureaucracy and the government can be restored. Goodsell’s animadversion towards the implications of bureaucracy being a “necessary evil” are demonstrated throughout the book by Goodsell challenging this outlook through empirical data and statistics that demonstrate the positive role bureaucracy has played and continues to play in government and society as a whole. However, Goodsell also argues that in order to change the negative public view towards bureaucracy there must be an increase in transparency and accountability for the actions taken by bureaucrats. Bureaucracy is a way in which to increase both efficiency and effectiveness. It is arguably a good and positive requirement for maintaining an efficient and effective government, but the issue is maintaining a productive bureaucracy that is reflected positively in the eyes of the