Exceptional Proff 610
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lesson1.docxIntroduction
In our week one forum, you will be able to delve into the regulatory framework of the Federal government in your perusal of Title V of the US Code. Title V spells out in broad strokes the structure of the Federal Executive departments and agencies and much of their regulatory scope.
As you learn about the study of public administration, you will find that it has an important role in a democracy. Carpenter and Krause (2011) believe that many things create a public agency’s reputation, such as technology, procedures, ethics, and performance and that agencies are more complex than they might seem at first (pp2-3).
Making Improvements
Let’s begin by considering how the public views public employees.
How many times have you heard people complain about the service they received from public employees? The usual complaints run from waiting for hours for service to incorrect documents and slow response for requests. No government entity is exempt. In 1966, Nesterczuk noted that “Citizens view government as too large, too expensive, too intrusive, wasteful, and inefficient; however, not all agree on which specific services and functions should be cut back or eliminated (31). As government has increased in size, expense, and intrusiveness, today’s citizens agree with those to whom Nesterczuk referred.
To improve the service given by public employees, President Bill Clinton worked to make changes to adopt a business model. He called his major idea the National Performance Review (NPR). This large undertaking was headed by Vice President Gore and involved civil servants from numerous agencies. (Gore, n.d.) Various teams worked to create a report entitled “Creating a Government That Works Better and Costs Less.” The report then moved to implementation of various programs that were to improve the way government worked. This model looked to the field of business administration to find ways to improve the performance of public employees. While this was a strong effort, the size and cost of government continued to grow.
As you read more about this, consider whether or not the recommendations of the NPR were helpful and whether or not they met the goals set by the President and Vice President.
Making a government that works better and costs less is a good idea. However, this sometimes results in cutting services or combining various agencies that provide overlapping services.
Charities and Nonprofits
It could mean that we need to depend more on charities and other nonprofits, as well. In fact, the government provides grants to many nonprofits in order to help meet the needs of the citizens. Charities and other nonprofits that are part of today’s society. Though the term sometimes carries other meanings, you will be looking at how the term Civil Society refers to these organizations and how the various agencies, businesses, and interest groups interact to help build a peaceful and productive society.
The federal government did not originally provide many services directly to citizens. Instead, it relied on a civil society—those voluntary organizations.
Alexis de Tocqueville was a French political theorist who traveled to America and reported on his observations after his return to France. He found these voluntary associations important to the functioning of the U.S. (Hall, n.d.) He saw the ability of people to work together to work together a part of the freedom of association that politicians could not attack without violating the rights and harming the liberties of the citizens.
As with most other things, there are positive and negative points to voluntary associations. They are usually formed due to some similar interest. This could be an interest such as volunteering to help the poor, volunteering to help schools, or an interest in obtaining more federal funding for some purpose which may be beneficial to a narrow interest group. The groups can easily lead to political lobbying groups, gangs or other organizations that may not always have positive effects.
Voluntary associations grow and shrink based on the popularity of their actions and positions. Governments tend to grow more easily than they shrink, because governments have greater incentives to take on roles than to relinquish them. The old adage “if your only tool is a hammer, then every problem looks like a nail” applies to government officials (whose only tools are government actions). U.S. Senator James F. Byrnes said in 1933 “The nearest earthly approach to immortality is a bureau of the federal government.” (Congressional Quarterly (as cited by Edwards, 2010)). Thus, it is important to consider every government program to determine if it must be done by government or could be done by other entities. Every time the portion of societal actions done by government grows, the portion done by voluntary associations shrinks. In the extreme case, some governments have taken responsibility for everything, which leaves no decisions or liberty for the citizens (or subjects).
According to USA.gov (n.d.), there are several types of nonprofits. This website lists the following.
· Charitable or religious organizations
· Social welfare organizations
· Labor and agricultural organizations
Can you think of others?
The Cost of Government
The cost of government is an important aspect of its size. Smith (1994) noted that “the first federal budget was around two million dollars.” This included providing a residence for the President in New York, an army of 600, and five clerks at the State Department. James Madison warned against excessive debt and separating appropriations from promises in a speech to Congress. (Tucker, 2016) His concern was for future generations. Jefferson tried to pay down some of the debt. Jackson slashed spending and sold off land to pay off the debt.
The current national debt is in the trillions of dollars. Watching the U.S. Debt Clock at will give you some sense of how the debt continues to grow. Consider what Jefferson and Jackson would think about that.
Some growth is due simply to the growth in population. The more people need services, the more it costs. This kind of growth in the cost of running government can easily fit into the Constitution’s lean toward a small federal government and the restrictions placed on the federal government to keep it from getting too big.
As you read this week’s assignment, consider how budgeting and the national debt impacts the country as a whole, rather than thinking about the small special interest groups.
Boaz, D. (2012). The cost of government. CATO Institute. Retrieved from https://www.cato.org/blog/cost-government
BBC World Service. (n.d.)/ What is Civil Society. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/people/highlights/010705_civil.shtml
Carpenter, D. P., & Krause, G. A. (2012). Reputation and Public Administration. Public Administration Review, 72(1), 26-32. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6210.2011.02506.x
Cost of Government Center. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://costofgovernment.org/#
Edwards, C. (2010). Government Program Immortality. Retrieved from http://www.cato.org/blog/government-program-immortality
Grants.gov (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.grants.gov/
Hall, P. D. (n.d.) de Tocqueville, Democracy and the crystallization of American Civil Society.
Nesterczuk, G. (1966). Reviewing the national performance review. Regulation (1966,3_. Retrieved from http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/regulation/1996/7/v19n3-4.pdf
USA.gov. (n.d.) Starting a Nonprofit Organization. Retrieved from https://www.usa.gov/start-nonprofit
US Debt Clock.org. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.usdebtclock.org/
Vice President Gore’s National Partnership for Reinventing Government. (n.d.). A brief history of the national performance review. Retrieved from http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/npr/library/papers/bkgrd/brief.html
