Carina Tenaglia PAD 3003 Notes January 13 2015 Ch 13 Intro Big difference between elected and appointed officials but all public servants o Implementation of merit system negative idea bureaucracy ex DMV Bureaucracy has a hierarchy division of labor specialization rules of authority they are all organizations with defining features made up of more than one person o Criticisms too large size inefficient ethical concerns too many rules regulations Media is a big culprit of how we see bureaucracy Our negative connotations make no sense They often get negative feedback blame even when it isn t their fault ex garbage collection at 3am by contractor o Any organization is a bureaucracy Making bureaucracies organizations efficient o Common goal mission Alternatives to bureaucracies o Something with horizontal interactions Ex networks but we still don t understand how they work very well Public Servants Public service attracts a special kind of individual and the calling to public service is at the heart of public administration o Not paid as much can t match their salaries otherwise indicates too much taxation Entitlements and Defense o These people are motivated to help the community help neighbors 1887 begin speaking about public administration as a separate field of study o In US too focused on making rules and assume they ll happen o In Europe they focused on efficiently providing goods efficiently invisibly o Spoils system Jackson Era associated w corruption Emphasized putting managers in place through political process that weren t really qualified experienced 1887 Wilson says these people need to be trained to increase productivity and lead to better performance not 100 true but somewhat We don t think about public servants volunteers when we think about bureaucracies o Public service isn t all about a bureaucracy like we think about it Public servants are people who achieve internal satisfaction by making a contribution to society o Intangible outcomes o The roots of public service go back to the Athenian Oath James Madison s Federalist papers are attributed to emphasizing the importance of this WILL BE ON QUIZ paper 45 Media is a big part of the image of public service o These employees have been taught to not rock the boat How do they become problem solvers No initiative to be creative o Saying they are not passionate DMV University Departments etc o Corrupted energies promotions and playing office politics Authors believe that through management we can change these energies o Alternative to bureaucracy network o Discretion Outcome v output o Guilt by association Public servants often lumped in with public officials Administrative behavior has had negative implications but we don t often hear about it in the media when a politician does something negative it has more shock value Other critiques o Why do these employees strive towards personal promotion play office politics discredit fellow workers and divert resources Every time we increase efficiency we decrease democracy o Democracy is one of the slowest procedures in the world Transparency is extremely important o Monarchies of Europe had good administration because they were monarchies Bureaucratic behavior is not harmless Image of the Public Servant Contrast o New public employee s wide eyed eagerness to serve to make a difference v the well entrenched bureaucrat who stereotypically overemphasized formality rules and regulations Popular culture depicts staffs who no longer care only count down until retirement Criticism towards corrupted energies Bureaucratic behavior impersonal and insensitive vehicle for effective response to public demands o Ex interpreting rule with unnecessary narrowness and official who mindlessly defers to computer o The role of cartoons movies Bureaucracy is always the bad guy Guilt by association o Elected v appointed officials o US system is very honest but reputation diminished by inefficiency of those elected to serve Corruption anywhere tarnishes the image of everyone in the government Trust in gov t overall very low o HOWEVER people very happy w services they receive Highly dependent on how questions asked elicit certain responses o Higher trust on delivery of services at the local level Labeling broad labels suggest that all secretly aspire to private gain o Popular view that public bureaucracy is weak demoralizing corrupt unjust etc Red tape arguments that they are negative not always it is also someone else s green tape to produce desirable outcomes for someone Ways of making sure employees do the right thing o Creating rules but then too many rules o Hiring individuals assuming that they re ethical through screening Public opinion matters tremendously compared to being its own screening process transparency o Knowledge is essential Ex Default v deficit argument Different meanings but one word completely flipped public opinion The Real Public Servant special districts The importance of units of government federal state counties municipalities o Very many over 400 cities in Florida 60 counties alone Nonprofit sector invisible part of public service delivery system They re considered the threads that hold society together o Cannot levy taxes therefore not a government institution o This means that individuals are willing to provide donations to the institution Capturing the Attention of Youth and the Role of Public Information Volunteering and the cultivation of ethic and civic responsibility Promotion of intangible income public servants who are dedicated to service their fellow citizens are motivated by desires to make our society a better place to live Public sector must present evidence that its servants function well despite the negative images superficial criticism and meager levels of public support Target audience must be multifaceted January 15 2015 Ch 1 Government and Resources Administrative solutions require resources o It might be difficult to change patterns ex deficit Examples of public services o Roads sidewalks traffic lights traffic direction trash pickup Governments sovereign bodies with unique powers o Most important unique power power to tax Determining which type of gov t state v county v local Which level of gov t is taxing us All can special districts Who s the biggest spender o US federal spending 63 4 trillion Example of federal services financial aid drinking clean water consuming food drink medications that have passed regulations etc In terms of GDP Federal
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