The Ambiguity Of The Common Good In Public Administration

Public Administration relies heavily on producing a product that is often considered a “public good”. The term is used frequently within public service and rarely needs to be defined to be understood. Most people understand that the common good refers to something that is created to meet the unmet needs of society. Public good is often used synonymously with “common good”, “public interest”, or “America’s interest. The term public good can be used in many fashions; it is often used in the political arena to gain support over a particular policy or agenda. We have seen the many political agendas gain support by declaring the program for the “common good”; it is seen with support for military funding, national security, the education system,
It is difficult to completely dismiss the truth behind a “common good”. I believe that administrators inherently seek to provide the public with support in areas that need attention. The public must decide what the common good is, although they will never be able to benefit everyone’s interests, they must choose a path that will benefit the interests of many. When the public interests change, people gather and voice concerns that are represented through elected officials. Administrators then must take on the responsibility of acting on the interest of the public. Unfortunately, the system we have is a system of winners and losers; the losing side of a political agenda often loses their ability to achieve what they believe to be a public good. This type of governmental system has a give and take mentality, the political pendulum swings from left to right (republican to democrat), and public interests change alongside it. If our country ever decided to truly pursue the common good, we may find ourselves in a communist style country. Everyone would need to be provided for equally by the government, there would be less choice for agenda shifts, and the public would no longer decide what their interests
It is the people’s responsibility to keep that in check. Our government has been created in a way which makes that theoretically possible; yet, often times smaller groups have less representation and voices can be muffled. Weible and Heikkila describe this well, they wrote that conflict emerges when a policy position of group of the political agenda puts potential costs on the interests, values, or identities against other actors (Weible & Heikkila, 2017). I do not believe that there are policies that can solve all the worlds problems, but the citizens and the government of the United States must collectively work together and seek the best outcomes. Conflicts and disagreements are inevitable, but I believe that providing an opportunity to change and shift agendas is a form of the “common good” in itself. Freedom is an important factor in the pursuit of the common good, people are free to think, believe, and pursue what they see to be morally right. This is a less visible piece of the common good that public agencies promote and offer. Our definitions of the common good may never be defined, but our society and public agencies offer us the ability for us to remain on this quest that makes us