Approaches to Public Administration
| Approaches to Public Administration | | | Reuby Benson | 3/18/2012 |
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There are different approaches to running a government. There are those that believe that the government should be run like a private business. Then there are those that believe in representativeness and the separation of powers that rest in the government to properly operate the government. There are also those who believe that the government should adhere to the strictest letter of the law. I look to describe all three approaches to public administration and apply those approaches to my life. The managerial approach to public administration was championed by Frederick Taylor. It came about as a reaction to the political influence in public administration, clearly exemplified by the spoils system. The key values of the managerial approach are doing the work of government more efficiently and effectively. The traditional managerial approach to public administration is typically bureaucratic in structure; the view of the individual is impersonal viewing employees as just “cogs” in a machine, and the cognitive view of this approach was more as a science. However, the New Public Management is the current approach to managerial public administration. New Public Management took hold in the 1990’s in the United States. It was adopted as government reform by then Pres. Bill Clinton and Vice Pres. Al Gore. It is highlighted by seven features: 1. There needs to be a focus on results. 2. Marketization. By making use of competition to get goods and services from the private sector this will improve government. 3. Government needs to be customer driven. Instead of “constituents”, citizens are viewed as customers to whom the government is beholden. 4. Government should steer now row. Its governments job to make sure that goods and services are provided to the public, not try to produce those goods and service themselves. 5. Government should be deregulated.
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There are different approaches to running a government. There are those that believe that the government should be run like a private business. Then there are those that believe in representativeness and the separation of powers that rest in the government to properly operate the government. There are also those who believe that the government should adhere to the strictest letter of the law. I look to describe all three approaches to public administration and apply those approaches to my life. The managerial approach to public administration was championed by Frederick Taylor. It came about as a reaction to the political influence in public administration, clearly exemplified by the spoils system. The key values of the managerial approach are doing the work of government more efficiently and effectively. The traditional managerial approach to public administration is typically bureaucratic in structure; the view of the individual is impersonal viewing employees as just “cogs” in a machine, and the cognitive view of this approach was more as a science. However, the New Public Management is the current approach to managerial public administration. New Public Management took hold in the 1990’s in the United States. It was adopted as government reform by then Pres. Bill Clinton and Vice Pres. Al Gore. It is highlighted by seven features: 1. There needs to be a focus on results. 2. Marketization. By making use of competition to get goods and services from the private sector this will improve government. 3. Government needs to be customer driven. Instead of “constituents”, citizens are viewed as customers to whom the government is beholden. 4. Government should steer now row. Its governments job to make sure that goods and services are provided to the public, not try to produce those goods and service themselves. 5. Government should be deregulated.