Socioeconomic Urban Division
Urban Politics
Is Socioeconomic Urban Division a Factor in Public Service Delivery?
Thursday, July 26, 2012
I. INTRODUCTION
Since the creation of this county, there have always been various differences between the rich and poor. In terms of social-economic status/class, the rich and wealthy elites have always dominated every aspect of society. However, the low socio-economic class has always endured the worst conditions in society. In 1787, the Constitutional Convention established the groundwork for the socio-economic differences between individuals in the British Colonies. There were delegates that owned land, and were highly educated was allowed to or had the right …show more content…
to vote. Thus, the actions of the elitist men have been emulated throughout history when there was a settlement among the socio-economic classes. Therefore, public service delivery has been mostly passive when it involved certain socio-economic backgrounds of beneficiaries. The passive actions have been very negative due to the fact that the beneficiaries have come from historically low economic backgrounds and made a majority of the population. These individuals have been considered as residue in the human social domain. Therefore, they received minimum or no services that were designed for the general public to endure. For instance, these services include educational, security, housing, water and sewage, protection, interstate and intrastate commerce as well as transportation accessibility. Consequently, there has been a cognitive relation to socio-economic class as a major factor to public service delivery!
II. Purpose The Purpose of this research paper is to explore secondary research and find out is there a linkage between socio-economic urban class and public service delivery. This research paper will include a historical concept of public servant responsibility, socio-economic urban class and public service delivery meaning as well as ongoing events and trends; and a personal recommendation of solving the socio economic class problem in public service delivery.
III. Historical Evolution of Public Management The evolution of public personnel administration includes seven phases. These phases trace the concepts of public personnel management and its expectations. Phase One: The Guardian Period (1789-1829) was the period where gentlemen ruled government. This is much notably evident during the Washington Administration. These gentlemen were appointed to serve in certain positions based on the character, merit, high degree of education and family background. Phase Two: The Spoils Period (1829-1883) was coined by Senator William Marcy of New York when he made the statement “To the Victor Lies the Spoils of the Enemy.” During this period the individuals that were allowed to vote, the small proportion that owned land, based on their political loyalty were given jobs. Some individuals in this period believed in the notion, if a man earned a living before politics then they should been paid while in politics. In Addition, Phase Three: Reform Period (1883-1906) was the period where spoils became so corrupt in federal service that the Pendleton Act (Civil Service Act) was created in 1883 that subsequently created the Civil Service Commission. Nevertheless, the Office of Personnel Management replaced the Civil Service Commission in 1978. This act established new guidelines for selection of employees entering the federal services. These guidelines included required entrance exams that served to be a fair method for selecting the most qualified and brightest individuals. Phase Four: Scientific Management Period (1906-1937) was the period where efficiency in business was influencing the way of how government worked. This era was based on time and motion series test led by Fredrick Taylor and Lillian Gilbreth. Although this period was based on efficiency, it was viewed as flawed by human resources theorists. Phase Five: Administrative Management Period (1937-1955) was a period where individuals did not look at efficiency because the felt there was much more concern than efficiency in government. During this period, there was a series of executive orders like the Social Security Act that tried to ensure that administrative management was different from the politics of it. In addition, President Hoover established the Hoover Committee that produced reports of personnel working in the federal government. The most notable highlight of this period was the creation of agency directors that were government appointed that were responsible for the agency managers. Furthermore, Phase Six: Career Professional Period (1955-1970) did not focus on ensuring that the individual was centered on the job but that the job was centered on the individual. During this period, there were a large number of professionals that worked in the federal government that represented disciplines of Lawyers, Scientist, and Physicians. Phase Seven: Professional Public Administration (1970-Present) is the current period that ensures Public Administration can stand alone and in government there are no politics that influence the bureaucracy. The current period is critical to modern time service delivery. The Federal Government has the responsibility to ensure that all of its citizens are protected and receive quality care. The evolution of personnel management establishes the foundation of how public service delivery should be perceived and what it was intended to do.
IV. Does Socioeconomic Class Effect Public Service Delivery Socioeconomic is a term that means consisting of being social and economic. Class is a set, group, collection, or configuration containing members having of believed to have at least one attribute in common (Division by quality or rank). Thus, socioeconomic class would infer that there are certain individuals that belong to groups based off their common interest with the factors of sociality and economics. Economics is the material aspects that rule societies. For instance, the monetary gain from the social interaction of attaining an education places certain individuals above others in society. Nevertheless, in the United States, socio-economic classes have been distinguished into four types: working, low, middle, and high. All individuals make a certain amount of net income each year that places them in a particular bracket. However, other significant factors cause each individual to be placed in different brackets. For example, it is believed that those citizens with high school diplomas will make less of an income than those with graduate/ professional degrees. In addition, there are individuals that are born into wealth or through name recognition; have jobs that pay extremely well moreover educated men and women. There was a time when Americans thought they understood class. The upper crust vacationed in Europe and worshiped an Episcopal God. The middle class drove Ford Fairlanes, settled the San Fernando Valley and enlisted as company men. The working class belonged to the A.F.L.-C.I.O., voted Democratic, and did not take cruises to the Caribbean. Nevertheless, the United States has gone a long way toward an appearance of social coherence or no class divide. Americans of all sorts are awash in luxuries that would have dazzled their grandparents. Social diversity has erased many of the old markers. It has become harder to read people 's status in the clothes they wear, the cars they drive, the votes they cast, the god they worship, the color of their skin. However, some would say that these different elements of class have faded away or disappeared. Furthermore, socio-economic class is still a powerful force in American life. Over the past three decades, it has come to play a greater, not lesser, role in important ways. Today education matters more than ever, success in school remains linked tightly to class. Students whom are raised in a higher income household have the possibility to attend better schools for a quality education. Now that the country is increasingly integrated racially, the rich are isolating themselves more and more. The higher classes are choosing to educate their children in private schools, particularly at the grade level. Also, with the extraordinary advances in medicine, socio-economic class disparities in health care practices and procedures are widening due to the fact that the lower class cannot afford healthcare.
In addition, the trend in socio-economic class versus service delivery is viewed more today than ever before. People who belong to a higher socioeconomic class receive better benefits of service delivery than those of lower class. For instance, the Department of Homeland Security was designed to react in immediate response to natural disasters; the department failed on one particular occasion and left Americans wondering about the security and accountability of this nation. The Federal Emergency Response Agency (FEMA) is charged with four domains of emergency management: mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. FEMA responds to any disaster that occurs in the United States that is declared a federal disaster area by the President of the United States. FEMA coordinates the work of federal, state, and local agencies in responding to floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters. However, this agency failed to respond immediately during Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina was a category five hurricane that hit Gulfport Mississippi, and New Orleans, Louisiana and left a horrific effect on the economy and population. Hurricane Katrina resulted in over 1,300 deaths across several states with 6,644 people still unaccounted for. The estimated damage of hurricane Katrina is projected at $200-$300 billion. However, this tragedy could have been prevented if the Federal Emergency Response Agency had properly coordinated with state and local governments to evacuate the cities. Nevertheless, their actions that occurred in an untimely manner resulted in a historic catastrophe that will always be remembered.
Furthermore, the population that was devastated in this catastrophic event was the lower/ working socio-economic class. Due to the absence of public service delivery, individuals that resided in the low income parishes of Louisiana were left to defend for themselves. However, citizens in the higher socioeconomic classes always receive adequate, if not better, public service delivery which is especially visible in the fires in San Diego. Nevertheless, the lower socioeconomic class who used public transit and lived in poverty was left to die and did not receive any aid until four days after the event. However, another notion concerning the middle class in America was highlighted through Katrina. "What 's being missed in all the press coverage we 've received is the plight of the middle class, small businesses and the housing problems," state representative Juan LaFonta said during a phone interview. There is a plan now to get more money in the hands of middle-class homeowners, many of whom have been disqualified because of their earning potential or capacity. The housing disparity is a pressing issue in all of America; however, in Louisiana prior to Katrina more than 60 percent of the residents were homeowners. “They lived in a no-flood zone, but many of them did not have homeowners ' insurance," LaFonta explained. "In short, LaFonta said, the middle class and lower-income residents in the ward have been "on life support for more than a year." In addition, all levels of government pass certain policies that will benefit or cripple individuals that belong in certain socio-economic classes. Most of the time governments pass distributive polices that helps the higher socio-economic class, in these policies there is a small amount of individuals that benefit from these policies and it does not involve any conflict. Distributive polices come from the policy maker directly to the beneficiary. For example, certain tax polices have been established to ensure that the higher socio-economic class does not have to pay so much in taxes through the itemization of exemptions. These polices assist those that are considered the “haves” in society. One example is the 2001 tax cuts that President Bush passed. The 2001 income tax rate cuts and the 2003 capital gains and dividends cuts have lowered the average tax rate for the richest one tenth of 1 percent of Americans by 3.8 percent but reduced taxes just .03 percent for the bottom 20 percent. Of the tax savings on investment, the largest share, more than 70 percent went to the top 2 percent. Of the 90 percent of taxpayers who make less than $100,000, only 14 percent benefited from the dividend-tax cut and only 5 percent from the capital gains tax cut. In addition, people who own stocks hold them in retirement accounts, which are ineligible for investment relief, and when withdrawn the profits are reduced by the higher rate that is applied to wage earnings. This ultimately hurts the middle class that is trying to break out of the middle class group/strata. Nevertheless, there is a small amount of individuals that benefit from these policies and it does not involve any conflict.
Distributive polices come from the policy maker directly to the beneficiary. For example, certain tax polices have been established to ensure that the higher socio-economic class does not have to pay so much in taxes through the itemization of exemptions. One example is a corporation allowing giving students scholarships for college, or giving money to charity would be a major benefit. Nevertheless, redistributive policies are designed to promote equity in the delivery of goods and services. These polices are only evident when there is a dysfunction in the marketplace or the human social domain. Redistributive policies come in the form of legislative acts, mandates, court decisions, or executive orders. Therefore, due to the lack of support to the lower socio-economic class, distributive polices are a quick fix to a dysfunctional society. For example, the lower classes and poorer school districts believe the No Child Left Behind Act served no purpose but political rhetoric and promises that were never delivered. In addition, not every redistributive policy ends up helping the lower classes, especially at the local level. Redistribution should always be dealt with at the national level because it does not promote long- term economic development of the community. Nevertheless, social class is a major factor of whether an individual will receive …show more content…
premier public service delivery.
V. Conclusions
In conclusion socio-economic urban class does play a major role in public service delivery.
Since the creation of this country, there have been stagnant issues with social class. From the days of the Constitutional Convention, only those individuals that had a certain amount of wealth received a greater quality of life. In our government bureaucracies have been charged with ensuring that government is efficient and is operating with equity. Therefore, understanding the evolution of public personnel management is critical to the legitimacy of the public servant that takes a vow to represent the interests of the citizens, ignorant of class lines. Nevertheless, with the concentrated power of elites, there will always be a struggle between the classes due to policies that favor high class society, and ignore the
others.
References
Black, Corrine. Earth Island Journal. Winter 2006. Issue 20. Issue 4. p.46-56 2p.
Boyd, Herb. New York Amsterdam News. Vol. 97 Issue 42.
Greenstein, Fred I, Larry Berman, Alvin S. Felzenberg, “Evolution of the Modern Presidency: A Bibliographical Survey.” Washington: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1977.
Henry, Nicholas. Public Administration and Public Affairs. Prentice Hall.2004.p.250.
Federal Emergency Management Agency Official Website www.fema.gov
Merriam-Webster Dictionary Website 2007, (Socio-economic) www.m-w.com
Morgan, David R., England, Robert E.,& Pelissero, John P.
Managing Urban America. 6th ed. 2007. p.91.
Scott, Janny and David LionHeardt. “Shadowy Lines that
Still Divide.” New York Times, May 15, 2005.
Ulbrich, Holley, Public Finance In Theory and Practice. South Western Publishing Co.,2003, 303-429.
Zuckerman, Mortimer B.” Playing Fair on Taxes.” U.S. News
and World Reports Vol.140. Issue 16.
Is Socioeconomic Urban Division a Factor in Public Service Delivery?
Thursday, July 26, 2012
I. INTRODUCTION
Since the creation of this county, there have always been various differences between the rich and poor. In terms of social-economic status/class, the rich and wealthy elites have always dominated every aspect of society. However, the low socio-economic class has always endured the worst conditions in society. In 1787, the Constitutional Convention established the groundwork for the socio-economic differences between individuals in the British Colonies. There were delegates that owned land, and were highly educated was allowed to or had the right …show more content…
to vote. Thus, the actions of the elitist men have been emulated throughout history when there was a settlement among the socio-economic classes. Therefore, public service delivery has been mostly passive when it involved certain socio-economic backgrounds of beneficiaries. The passive actions have been very negative due to the fact that the beneficiaries have come from historically low economic backgrounds and made a majority of the population. These individuals have been considered as residue in the human social domain. Therefore, they received minimum or no services that were designed for the general public to endure. For instance, these services include educational, security, housing, water and sewage, protection, interstate and intrastate commerce as well as transportation accessibility. Consequently, there has been a cognitive relation to socio-economic class as a major factor to public service delivery!
II. Purpose The Purpose of this research paper is to explore secondary research and find out is there a linkage between socio-economic urban class and public service delivery. This research paper will include a historical concept of public servant responsibility, socio-economic urban class and public service delivery meaning as well as ongoing events and trends; and a personal recommendation of solving the socio economic class problem in public service delivery.
III. Historical Evolution of Public Management The evolution of public personnel administration includes seven phases. These phases trace the concepts of public personnel management and its expectations. Phase One: The Guardian Period (1789-1829) was the period where gentlemen ruled government. This is much notably evident during the Washington Administration. These gentlemen were appointed to serve in certain positions based on the character, merit, high degree of education and family background. Phase Two: The Spoils Period (1829-1883) was coined by Senator William Marcy of New York when he made the statement “To the Victor Lies the Spoils of the Enemy.” During this period the individuals that were allowed to vote, the small proportion that owned land, based on their political loyalty were given jobs. Some individuals in this period believed in the notion, if a man earned a living before politics then they should been paid while in politics. In Addition, Phase Three: Reform Period (1883-1906) was the period where spoils became so corrupt in federal service that the Pendleton Act (Civil Service Act) was created in 1883 that subsequently created the Civil Service Commission. Nevertheless, the Office of Personnel Management replaced the Civil Service Commission in 1978. This act established new guidelines for selection of employees entering the federal services. These guidelines included required entrance exams that served to be a fair method for selecting the most qualified and brightest individuals. Phase Four: Scientific Management Period (1906-1937) was the period where efficiency in business was influencing the way of how government worked. This era was based on time and motion series test led by Fredrick Taylor and Lillian Gilbreth. Although this period was based on efficiency, it was viewed as flawed by human resources theorists. Phase Five: Administrative Management Period (1937-1955) was a period where individuals did not look at efficiency because the felt there was much more concern than efficiency in government. During this period, there was a series of executive orders like the Social Security Act that tried to ensure that administrative management was different from the politics of it. In addition, President Hoover established the Hoover Committee that produced reports of personnel working in the federal government. The most notable highlight of this period was the creation of agency directors that were government appointed that were responsible for the agency managers. Furthermore, Phase Six: Career Professional Period (1955-1970) did not focus on ensuring that the individual was centered on the job but that the job was centered on the individual. During this period, there were a large number of professionals that worked in the federal government that represented disciplines of Lawyers, Scientist, and Physicians. Phase Seven: Professional Public Administration (1970-Present) is the current period that ensures Public Administration can stand alone and in government there are no politics that influence the bureaucracy. The current period is critical to modern time service delivery. The Federal Government has the responsibility to ensure that all of its citizens are protected and receive quality care. The evolution of personnel management establishes the foundation of how public service delivery should be perceived and what it was intended to do.
IV. Does Socioeconomic Class Effect Public Service Delivery Socioeconomic is a term that means consisting of being social and economic. Class is a set, group, collection, or configuration containing members having of believed to have at least one attribute in common (Division by quality or rank). Thus, socioeconomic class would infer that there are certain individuals that belong to groups based off their common interest with the factors of sociality and economics. Economics is the material aspects that rule societies. For instance, the monetary gain from the social interaction of attaining an education places certain individuals above others in society. Nevertheless, in the United States, socio-economic classes have been distinguished into four types: working, low, middle, and high. All individuals make a certain amount of net income each year that places them in a particular bracket. However, other significant factors cause each individual to be placed in different brackets. For example, it is believed that those citizens with high school diplomas will make less of an income than those with graduate/ professional degrees. In addition, there are individuals that are born into wealth or through name recognition; have jobs that pay extremely well moreover educated men and women. There was a time when Americans thought they understood class. The upper crust vacationed in Europe and worshiped an Episcopal God. The middle class drove Ford Fairlanes, settled the San Fernando Valley and enlisted as company men. The working class belonged to the A.F.L.-C.I.O., voted Democratic, and did not take cruises to the Caribbean. Nevertheless, the United States has gone a long way toward an appearance of social coherence or no class divide. Americans of all sorts are awash in luxuries that would have dazzled their grandparents. Social diversity has erased many of the old markers. It has become harder to read people 's status in the clothes they wear, the cars they drive, the votes they cast, the god they worship, the color of their skin. However, some would say that these different elements of class have faded away or disappeared. Furthermore, socio-economic class is still a powerful force in American life. Over the past three decades, it has come to play a greater, not lesser, role in important ways. Today education matters more than ever, success in school remains linked tightly to class. Students whom are raised in a higher income household have the possibility to attend better schools for a quality education. Now that the country is increasingly integrated racially, the rich are isolating themselves more and more. The higher classes are choosing to educate their children in private schools, particularly at the grade level. Also, with the extraordinary advances in medicine, socio-economic class disparities in health care practices and procedures are widening due to the fact that the lower class cannot afford healthcare.
In addition, the trend in socio-economic class versus service delivery is viewed more today than ever before. People who belong to a higher socioeconomic class receive better benefits of service delivery than those of lower class. For instance, the Department of Homeland Security was designed to react in immediate response to natural disasters; the department failed on one particular occasion and left Americans wondering about the security and accountability of this nation. The Federal Emergency Response Agency (FEMA) is charged with four domains of emergency management: mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. FEMA responds to any disaster that occurs in the United States that is declared a federal disaster area by the President of the United States. FEMA coordinates the work of federal, state, and local agencies in responding to floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters. However, this agency failed to respond immediately during Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina was a category five hurricane that hit Gulfport Mississippi, and New Orleans, Louisiana and left a horrific effect on the economy and population. Hurricane Katrina resulted in over 1,300 deaths across several states with 6,644 people still unaccounted for. The estimated damage of hurricane Katrina is projected at $200-$300 billion. However, this tragedy could have been prevented if the Federal Emergency Response Agency had properly coordinated with state and local governments to evacuate the cities. Nevertheless, their actions that occurred in an untimely manner resulted in a historic catastrophe that will always be remembered.
Furthermore, the population that was devastated in this catastrophic event was the lower/ working socio-economic class. Due to the absence of public service delivery, individuals that resided in the low income parishes of Louisiana were left to defend for themselves. However, citizens in the higher socioeconomic classes always receive adequate, if not better, public service delivery which is especially visible in the fires in San Diego. Nevertheless, the lower socioeconomic class who used public transit and lived in poverty was left to die and did not receive any aid until four days after the event. However, another notion concerning the middle class in America was highlighted through Katrina. "What 's being missed in all the press coverage we 've received is the plight of the middle class, small businesses and the housing problems," state representative Juan LaFonta said during a phone interview. There is a plan now to get more money in the hands of middle-class homeowners, many of whom have been disqualified because of their earning potential or capacity. The housing disparity is a pressing issue in all of America; however, in Louisiana prior to Katrina more than 60 percent of the residents were homeowners. “They lived in a no-flood zone, but many of them did not have homeowners ' insurance," LaFonta explained. "In short, LaFonta said, the middle class and lower-income residents in the ward have been "on life support for more than a year." In addition, all levels of government pass certain policies that will benefit or cripple individuals that belong in certain socio-economic classes. Most of the time governments pass distributive polices that helps the higher socio-economic class, in these policies there is a small amount of individuals that benefit from these policies and it does not involve any conflict. Distributive polices come from the policy maker directly to the beneficiary. For example, certain tax polices have been established to ensure that the higher socio-economic class does not have to pay so much in taxes through the itemization of exemptions. These polices assist those that are considered the “haves” in society. One example is the 2001 tax cuts that President Bush passed. The 2001 income tax rate cuts and the 2003 capital gains and dividends cuts have lowered the average tax rate for the richest one tenth of 1 percent of Americans by 3.8 percent but reduced taxes just .03 percent for the bottom 20 percent. Of the tax savings on investment, the largest share, more than 70 percent went to the top 2 percent. Of the 90 percent of taxpayers who make less than $100,000, only 14 percent benefited from the dividend-tax cut and only 5 percent from the capital gains tax cut. In addition, people who own stocks hold them in retirement accounts, which are ineligible for investment relief, and when withdrawn the profits are reduced by the higher rate that is applied to wage earnings. This ultimately hurts the middle class that is trying to break out of the middle class group/strata. Nevertheless, there is a small amount of individuals that benefit from these policies and it does not involve any conflict.
Distributive polices come from the policy maker directly to the beneficiary. For example, certain tax polices have been established to ensure that the higher socio-economic class does not have to pay so much in taxes through the itemization of exemptions. One example is a corporation allowing giving students scholarships for college, or giving money to charity would be a major benefit. Nevertheless, redistributive policies are designed to promote equity in the delivery of goods and services. These polices are only evident when there is a dysfunction in the marketplace or the human social domain. Redistributive policies come in the form of legislative acts, mandates, court decisions, or executive orders. Therefore, due to the lack of support to the lower socio-economic class, distributive polices are a quick fix to a dysfunctional society. For example, the lower classes and poorer school districts believe the No Child Left Behind Act served no purpose but political rhetoric and promises that were never delivered. In addition, not every redistributive policy ends up helping the lower classes, especially at the local level. Redistribution should always be dealt with at the national level because it does not promote long- term economic development of the community. Nevertheless, social class is a major factor of whether an individual will receive …show more content…
premier public service delivery.
V. Conclusions
In conclusion socio-economic urban class does play a major role in public service delivery.
Since the creation of this country, there have been stagnant issues with social class. From the days of the Constitutional Convention, only those individuals that had a certain amount of wealth received a greater quality of life. In our government bureaucracies have been charged with ensuring that government is efficient and is operating with equity. Therefore, understanding the evolution of public personnel management is critical to the legitimacy of the public servant that takes a vow to represent the interests of the citizens, ignorant of class lines. Nevertheless, with the concentrated power of elites, there will always be a struggle between the classes due to policies that favor high class society, and ignore the
others.
References
Black, Corrine. Earth Island Journal. Winter 2006. Issue 20. Issue 4. p.46-56 2p.
Boyd, Herb. New York Amsterdam News. Vol. 97 Issue 42.
Greenstein, Fred I, Larry Berman, Alvin S. Felzenberg, “Evolution of the Modern Presidency: A Bibliographical Survey.” Washington: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1977.
Henry, Nicholas. Public Administration and Public Affairs. Prentice Hall.2004.p.250.
Federal Emergency Management Agency Official Website www.fema.gov
Merriam-Webster Dictionary Website 2007, (Socio-economic) www.m-w.com
Morgan, David R., England, Robert E.,& Pelissero, John P.
Managing Urban America. 6th ed. 2007. p.91.
Scott, Janny and David LionHeardt. “Shadowy Lines that
Still Divide.” New York Times, May 15, 2005.
Ulbrich, Holley, Public Finance In Theory and Practice. South Western Publishing Co.,2003, 303-429.
Zuckerman, Mortimer B.” Playing Fair on Taxes.” U.S. News
and World Reports Vol.140. Issue 16.