Public Administration in the Public Interest
Photo (Courtesy: Assignment Point)
Abiodun Giwa
Professor Kyle Farmbry
School of Public Affairs and Administration
Rutgers University, Newark
Fall, 2021
Reflection 5
There is no work that is more dedicative, enterprising, and enticing than the public affairs and administration. It is about the management of the people, their resources and needs, including catastrophic situations to avoid the endangerment and loss of lives. One must study it to know it and appreciate it. It involves interactions with the public and those the public have voted to lead them.
Public officials are hardly praised for good acts and at times condemned for untimeliness and carelessness. They are mostly criticized as lacking the drive and the urge for self-motivation that exists in the private sector. There is no organization that has the public eyes on them for monitoring performance and holding officials accountable than the public organizations. Civil servants are supervised by elected officials, the media, and the people. Congress men and women are watched by a divided media but are rarely accountable.
The result of these overt supervision of public officials is the willingness towards renewed performance and accountability. This means that public officials are in a way responsive for positive impacts. Seminar works we have read for reflection on the public service seek improved outcome and responsibility, the goal of the new public administration. The development created a renewal from the conventional practice towards performance and accountability, embracing diversity towards ensuring equity in the provision of services recognizing the need for a unity of effort and bracing for the public service of the of the future with public interest as the cornerstone.
The conventional public service was criticized for being slow and not result oriented. Therefore, the introduction of what is today called a new public service targeted towards performance and accountability. Jack Knott’s paper, The Federalist 10, realizes the problem that happens when factions arise instead of unity among the people. The problem of factions really affected the public service because party patronage was favored rather than equity, performance, and accountability. This brings the role that elected officials to the forefront in the shaping of the public service. They appoint agency heads from their caucuses and parties without respect for the Pendleton’s act intentions. Some people believe it is right for the president to appoint agency heads he can trust to assist in executing the party programs. However, critics of that belief say that public officials can be trusted to help any president to execute programs without party affiliation. They say Reliance on political party and caucus affiliation for agency heads appointment result in corruption of the system because appointment based on political party affiliation is based on highest donating caucuses and individuals. Most people think public officials should be independent from the politicians’ corruption, and that they should instead be the supervising agency for the politicians. Public administrators are professionals, unlike political appointees who lack the training required for ethical practice towards optimum performance and accountability.
Government laws in respect of the diversity of population and changing demographics are targeted towards ensuring equal employment, equity in service, and motivation of citizens. It shows a continuous response to address the need for a sense of belonging irrespective of the differences in culture, sex, age, and circumstances. This is needed for a unity of effort in confronting the enormity of leadership challenge for public administration as analyzed in Thad W. Allen’s Confronting Complexity and Creating Unity of Effort: The Leadership Challenge for Public Administration. The author asserts that the demands of the environment call for us to think differently about public administration, the management of public programs, and the role of leadership in public administration. This requires the unity of all parties. However, this may be difficult in a situation where a political party decides only its members can fill the top posts in government agencies. It spells automatic death to any objection by a lower member of staff who does not belong to the same party as the agency head, and a reversal to the of unity of effort. The is a manifest division in the country’s government, the media, and the people against what is required for a unity of effort. The media that is opposed to the government seeks information to destroy that government’s reelection rather than reporting the truth to ensure efficiency of service, while the media in favor of government hides the truth to ensure the reelection of the president and his men. The evil of the lack of unity of effort can cause is manifest in the way that the Covid-19 crisis is managed with open division between the government at the center and other state governments that belong to a different political party.
The Public service of the future will require apolitical leadership with the public interest as cornerstone. What is the public interest? The answer depends on who is answering the question. Joseph Biden’s may well believe that he is acting in the public interest by wanting to spend so much money that decapitates American children’s future against his inaugural address promise to protect their future. But the real public interest is one that protects all, ensuring equal employment and equity, against politicians’ protection of their party and individual’s interests. This development is leading to a call for ‘government by administrators’ as noted by James L. Perry and Neal D. Buckwalter in The Public Service of the Future. Already, training in several schools of public affairs and administration students across the country promises availability of trained professionals for this initiative. Many people believe the time is ripe for politicians to defer to professionals advise for the advancement and protection of the public interest. There is a civil service based on merit except the abnormality in the president’s appointment of agency heads. This needs to change. There is a need for a new public service that aligns with the new public administration and emphasis on performance and accountability. The president’s right to appoint service heads does not. It only advances the protection of party and politicians’ interests. Public administrators should not be made to act as whistleblowers at their own risk and flee the country for their safety. The need for free and fair election is important when everything to ensure a bad leader is not returned into office, making the Democracy the bolster against politicians’ unethical acts that erode the public service.
It is a welcome development that seminar works we have read for reflection on the public service seek improved performance and accountability. It will lead to a renewal from the public service conventional practice towards overt performance and accountability. There is a need for diversity, merit, and equity in the provision of services. There is a need for unity of effort towards embracing a new public service for the future as the cornerstone for a desirable 21st Century service delivery.
Works Cited
Allen, W.A. (2012, May/June) Confronting Complexity and Creating Unity of Effort: The Leadership Challenge for Public Administration Review, 230
Biden, J.R. (2021, January 20). Inaugural Address by President Joseph R. Biden. The United States Capitol.
Knott, J.H. (2011, December). Federalist No. 10: Are Factions the Problem in Creating Democratic Accountability in the Public Interest? Public Administration Review.
Lewis, C.W. (2006, September/October) In Pursuit of the Public Interest. American Society for Public Administration.
Perry, J.L. & Buckwalter N.D. (2010, December 10) The Public Service of the Future. Public Administrative review, S239.
Foldy, G.E. (2004, September/October) Learning from Diversity: A theoretical Exploration. Public Administration Review.
Professor Kyle Farmbry
School of Public Affairs and Administration
Rutgers University, Newark
Fall, 2021
Reflection 5
There is no work that is more dedicative, enterprising, and enticing than the public affairs and administration. It is about the management of the people, their resources and needs, including catastrophic situations to avoid the endangerment and loss of lives. One must study it to know it and appreciate it. It involves interactions with the public and those the public have voted to lead them.
Public officials are hardly praised for good acts and at times condemned for untimeliness and carelessness. They are mostly criticized as lacking the drive and the urge for self-motivation that exists in the private sector. There is no organization that has the public eyes on them for monitoring performance and holding officials accountable than the public organizations. Civil servants are supervised by elected officials, the media, and the people. Congress men and women are watched by a divided media but are rarely accountable.
The result of these overt supervision of public officials is the willingness towards renewed performance and accountability. This means that public officials are in a way responsive for positive impacts. Seminar works we have read for reflection on the public service seek improved outcome and responsibility, the goal of the new public administration. The development created a renewal from the conventional practice towards performance and accountability, embracing diversity towards ensuring equity in the provision of services recognizing the need for a unity of effort and bracing for the public service of the of the future with public interest as the cornerstone.
The conventional public service was criticized for being slow and not result oriented. Therefore, the introduction of what is today called a new public service targeted towards performance and accountability. Jack Knott’s paper, The Federalist 10, realizes the problem that happens when factions arise instead of unity among the people. The problem of factions really affected the public service because party patronage was favored rather than equity, performance, and accountability. This brings the role that elected officials to the forefront in the shaping of the public service. They appoint agency heads from their caucuses and parties without respect for the Pendleton’s act intentions. Some people believe it is right for the president to appoint agency heads he can trust to assist in executing the party programs. However, critics of that belief say that public officials can be trusted to help any president to execute programs without party affiliation. They say Reliance on political party and caucus affiliation for agency heads appointment result in corruption of the system because appointment based on political party affiliation is based on highest donating caucuses and individuals. Most people think public officials should be independent from the politicians’ corruption, and that they should instead be the supervising agency for the politicians. Public administrators are professionals, unlike political appointees who lack the training required for ethical practice towards optimum performance and accountability.
Government laws in respect of the diversity of population and changing demographics are targeted towards ensuring equal employment, equity in service, and motivation of citizens. It shows a continuous response to address the need for a sense of belonging irrespective of the differences in culture, sex, age, and circumstances. This is needed for a unity of effort in confronting the enormity of leadership challenge for public administration as analyzed in Thad W. Allen’s Confronting Complexity and Creating Unity of Effort: The Leadership Challenge for Public Administration. The author asserts that the demands of the environment call for us to think differently about public administration, the management of public programs, and the role of leadership in public administration. This requires the unity of all parties. However, this may be difficult in a situation where a political party decides only its members can fill the top posts in government agencies. It spells automatic death to any objection by a lower member of staff who does not belong to the same party as the agency head, and a reversal to the of unity of effort. The is a manifest division in the country’s government, the media, and the people against what is required for a unity of effort. The media that is opposed to the government seeks information to destroy that government’s reelection rather than reporting the truth to ensure efficiency of service, while the media in favor of government hides the truth to ensure the reelection of the president and his men. The evil of the lack of unity of effort can cause is manifest in the way that the Covid-19 crisis is managed with open division between the government at the center and other state governments that belong to a different political party.
The Public service of the future will require apolitical leadership with the public interest as cornerstone. What is the public interest? The answer depends on who is answering the question. Joseph Biden’s may well believe that he is acting in the public interest by wanting to spend so much money that decapitates American children’s future against his inaugural address promise to protect their future. But the real public interest is one that protects all, ensuring equal employment and equity, against politicians’ protection of their party and individual’s interests. This development is leading to a call for ‘government by administrators’ as noted by James L. Perry and Neal D. Buckwalter in The Public Service of the Future. Already, training in several schools of public affairs and administration students across the country promises availability of trained professionals for this initiative. Many people believe the time is ripe for politicians to defer to professionals advise for the advancement and protection of the public interest. There is a civil service based on merit except the abnormality in the president’s appointment of agency heads. This needs to change. There is a need for a new public service that aligns with the new public administration and emphasis on performance and accountability. The president’s right to appoint service heads does not. It only advances the protection of party and politicians’ interests. Public administrators should not be made to act as whistleblowers at their own risk and flee the country for their safety. The need for free and fair election is important when everything to ensure a bad leader is not returned into office, making the Democracy the bolster against politicians’ unethical acts that erode the public service.
It is a welcome development that seminar works we have read for reflection on the public service seek improved performance and accountability. It will lead to a renewal from the public service conventional practice towards overt performance and accountability. There is a need for diversity, merit, and equity in the provision of services. There is a need for unity of effort towards embracing a new public service for the future as the cornerstone for a desirable 21st Century service delivery.
Works Cited
Allen, W.A. (2012, May/June) Confronting Complexity and Creating Unity of Effort: The Leadership Challenge for Public Administration Review, 230
Biden, J.R. (2021, January 20). Inaugural Address by President Joseph R. Biden. The United States Capitol.
Knott, J.H. (2011, December). Federalist No. 10: Are Factions the Problem in Creating Democratic Accountability in the Public Interest? Public Administration Review.
Lewis, C.W. (2006, September/October) In Pursuit of the Public Interest. American Society for Public Administration.
Perry, J.L. & Buckwalter N.D. (2010, December 10) The Public Service of the Future. Public Administrative review, S239.
Foldy, G.E. (2004, September/October) Learning from Diversity: A theoretical Exploration. Public Administration Review.
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