Public Policy and Administration

Foundations of Public

Administration

The environment of public

policy and administration

KEY FEATURES OF THE

ENVIRONMENT OF GOVERNMENT

 Distrust of gov't.

 Increasing demand for services

 Decreased availability of resources

 Multiple, conflicting value systems

 Equity vs. Efficiency

 Overlapping, competitive jurisdictions

and authorities

Distrust of Government

 Approval ratings (extremely low)

 Excessive government salaries and

pensions

 Government ethics

Increasing Demand for Services

 “In loco parentis” belief in citizens

 “Revolution of rising expectations”

 Short attention span of the public

Decreased availability of

resources

 Tea-party/libertarian philosophies

 Shrinking tax bases

 Prop. 13 and other restrictions

 “Fund budgeting” requirements

Multiple, conflicting value

systems

 Social liberals and fiscal

conservatives

 States’ rights/local control

 Religion in government

 The rise of dogmatism

 Public-regarding vs. private

regarding

Equity vs. Efficiency

 Government safety net vs scarce

resources

 The fear of socialism

 Can efficient be fair to all?

Overlapping, competitive

jurisdictions and authorities

 Unfunded mandates

 Conflicts between states and the

Fed.

 Local competition for tax revenues

 “NIMBY” syndrome

How is government different

from the private sector?

 Provides for the Public Good

 Profit motive (?)

 Public trust

The Basics

Theory of the U.S. government:

 Separation of Powers

 Federalism

Separation of Powers

 Three branches of government:

 Executive

 Legislative

 Judicial

 Levels of government:

 Federal *

 State*

 Local

 Regional

(U.S Constitution)

Constitutional Beginnings

 Federalist Papers (Hamilton, Jay,

Madison)  Written 1787 and 1788 to persuade New York

voters to ratify the proposed constitution.

 Consist of 85 essays outlining how this new

government would operate and why this type

of government was the best choice for the

United States of America.

 Checks and Balances (shared

power)  Marbury vs. Madison (1803) – Judicial review

Federalism

 Defined as a division of govt. power

between a central (national) govt.

and local or regional (state) govts.

 Reasons for the division of powers:

 Additional means of control

 Way to unify the nation, strengthen

central government while preserving

state integrity

 Compromise to ensure ratification of

the U.S. Constitution

Kinds of Power

 Delegated or Enumerated –

distributed among the three

branches

 Concurrent – granted to Congress

(eg. Levy taxes & borrow money)

 Reserved – powers of states

 Implied – “necessary and proper”

powers inferred from the delegated

powers

Forms of Federalism

 “Layer-Cake” or Dual Federalism (19th Century) –

 The federal govt. structure consists of two layers of equal importance, with the Supreme court preserving a neat boundary between them.

 “Marble-Cake” Federalism (20th Century) – Federal and states are inter-dependent and overlap jurisdictions.

Types of Marble-Cake Federalism

 Cooperative Federalism (1930's and

1940's) Fed. Funding state & local

administration of programs.

 Creative Federalism (1962-1968, LBJ)

Partnership among all three levels of

govt.

 New Federalism (Nixon & Ford, 1969-

1976; Reagan, 1981-1988) Primary

emphasis on state-centered activity.

Advantages of Federalism

 A check on power

 Promotes competition among jurisdictions

 Flexibility

 Innovation

 Citizen participation

 A vital Congress

 Local autonomy

Disadvantages of Federalism

 It's inefficient

 Lack of accountability

 It's obstructive

 Harmful spillover effects

 It can make for weak parties

 It can make for a parochial

Congress

 Weakened nationalism

DEVELOPMENT OF PUBLIC

ADMINISTRATION

Based on the concept of:

BUREAUCRATIC ORGANIZATION

Definition (from Max Weber):

 Org. has a set of rules.

 Org. has a division of labor.

 Org. has a hierarchy of command.

 Org. offers a career vocation.

 Org. keeps files and records.

Functional Definition of Public

Administration:

 It is cooperative effort in a public setting.

 Covers all three branches of govt. and their interrelationships.

 Has an important role in the formulation of public policy and is a part of the political process.

 Is different in significant ways from private administration.

 Is closely associated with numerous private groups and individuals in providing services to the community.

DEVELOPMENT OF PUBLIC

ADMINISTRATION

IN THE UNITED STATES

Stages of Development:

 Formalistic (1883 - 1937)

 Reactionary (1937 - 1960)

 New Public Admin. (1960 - 1980)

 Post New P.A. (1980 - present)

FORMALISTIC PERIOD:

 Roots in:

 Good government movement

 Scientific Management (Fredrick

Taylor, Henri Fayol)

Good Government Movement

 Reaction to graft & corruption in

post-civil war America (Tweed Ring)

 Ballot reform – “bedsheet ballot”

 Separate Politics from

Administration

 Employ finance reforms (budgets)

 Create a professional public service

(1883)

The Father of Modern P.A.

 Woodrow Wilson: The Study of

Administration (1887)

 Promotes idea of a professional

public service

 Emphasizes administration free

from politics

Scientific Management

 Management should be based on

logical principles

 Scientific method could find the one

best way of carrying out any task

 Workers would accept rule by logic

 Peak years: 1900 -- 1930

Taylor’s Principles

1. Scientific research & analysis of work, its elements, standards, and rates

2. Scientific selection, training, and development of first-class workers

3. Intimate, friendly, and hearty cooperation for scientific work principles (anti-unionism)

4. Equal division of responsibility among managers in functional areas (not just over people)

MAJOR THEORIES: Principles of Administration

Papers on the Science of Administration

by Luther Gulick and Lyndal Urwick (1937)

1. Individual should adapt to the org.

2. One top exec. and a unity of command.

3. Necessity for staff assistance

A. Special staff - for information.

B. General staff - deals with problems in

communication, control, and carrying out

orders.

Papers on the Science of Administration

(continued)

4. Workers should be assigned by:

Purpose

Process

People

Place

5. Authority should be delegated.

6. Responsibility and authority should match.

7. Span of control should be limited.

8. Distance between admin. levels should be minimized.

Operational Elements:

P.O.S.D.CO.R.B.(E.)

 P - Planning,

 O - Organizing,

 S - Staffing

 D - Directing,

 CO - Coordinating

 R - Reporting,

 B - Budgeting,

 (E - Evaluating) Added later by others

The Brownlow Committee

 President’s Committee on

Administrative Management (1937)

 Gulick’s attempt to apply Scientific

Management to the Feds.

 Mixed results:

 Reorganization Act of 1939

 (Indirectly) Hatch Acts of 1939 -- 40

Summary Beliefs:

 Politics could and should be separate from administration.

 Administration could and should be a science.

 The real problems of government were administrative.

 The objective of P.A. is to promote efficiency in government.

THE REACTION PERIOD

(1937 -- 60)

The evolution of the social-

scientific approach

FOCI OF THE PERIOD:

1. Systems approach/social-scientific

thinking

2. Analysis of decision making.

3. Communications.

4. Concern with process: normative

rather than prescriptive.

Social Scientific Thinking

 Use of the scientific method –

observe and record process

 Extensive use of critical thinking

 Acceptance of the concept of equa-

finality

 Multiple theorists pursuing different

interests

Systems approach

 Organizations are based on systems:

Input – Throughput -- Output

 Organizations contain a collection of inter-related sub-systems

 Changes in one sub-system will affect other systems

 Management must understand all systemic interactions

 Organizations interact with their environment

Herbert Simon, Administrative

Behavior, 1947

 Attacked principles of unity of

command, and span of control.

 Developed concept of satisficing.

 Def.: Process of finding a decision

alternative that meets the decision

maker's minimum standards of

satisfaction.

 Leads to incremental decisions.

Analysis of Decision Making

 Failed assumptions of rational

decision making – Scientific

Management

 Re-merging of politics and

administration (product of

Brownlow & Hoover Commissions)

 Focus on more pragmatic decisions

 Incentives

 Satisficing

Chester Barnard, The Functions of the

Executive, 1938

 Promoted the idea of incentives.

 Three "zones of cooperative

possibility:"

1. Zone of acceptance

2. Zone of rejection

3. Zone of indifference (key to use of

incentives)

Concern with process: normative

rather than prescriptive

 Theory cannot dictate behavior

 Maslow’s hierarchy:

 Physiological needs

 Safety needs

 Social needs

 Ego needs

 Self-actualization

 Management must recognize worker

needs

Communications

 Employee activities must be

negotiated

 Informal communication is a key

element in organizations

 Information must travel in all

directions in the organization

Elton Mayo, Fritz Roethlisberger, William

Dickson (1939)

The Hawthorne Experiments

 Performed at Western Electric in Chicago

 Two parts:

1. Relay Test Room: Women, change in

environmental lighting.

2. Bank Wiring Room: Men, production incentives.

 The Hawthorne Effect: Individual attention can

interfere with an experiment.

THE NEW PUBLIC

ADMINISTRATION

Taking government

back to the people

Key Features:

 Humanistic management

 Open systems theory

Humanistic Management:

KEY THEORISTS

Douglas McGreagor

THEORY X AND THEORY Y

 Theory X:

 Workers are lazy, selfish, need constant

supervision.

 Theory Y:

 Workers share interests of the organization,

are self-actualized.

 Makes use of decentralization, delegation,

participation and consultative management.

The Minnowbrook Conference

key catalyst of the New P.A.

 Syracuse U., Sept, 1968.

 Client focus

 Postpositivism (not value neutral)

 More relevance to current issues

 Anti-hierarchical organizations

ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT

(O.D.)

 H. George Fredrickson: “Defining the

New Public Administration”

 Move from concern with economy,

efficiency, to concern with equity.

 Use of integrative processes rather than

hierarchy

 More client-participation in program

design & admin.

"STREET-LEVEL BUREAUCRACY"

Herbert Kaufman, Michael Lipsky

 Administrative decentralization to bring government closer to the people

 Provide greater responsiveness and accountability.

Future Environment of Public

Administration

Warren Bennis

 Features of the the environment:

 Interdependence versus competition

 Turbulence and uncertainty

 Large-scale rather than small-scale

enterprises

 Complex and multi-national rather

than simple national enterprises

OPEN SYSTEMS THEORY

Inputs Throughputs Outputs

Feedback

Environment

Creates a CYBERNETIC Organization

Daniel Katz and Robert Kahn:

Characteristics of an open system:

 Importation of energy

 Transformation of inputs

 Outputs

 Systems as cycles of events

 Negative entropy

 Information input, negative feedback, coding process

 Dynamic homeostasis

 Differentiation

 Equafinality

POST-NEW PUBLIC

ADMINISTRATION

Return to Traditional Values

Concerns:

 Scarce resources

 Higher service demands

 Limits on growth

 Return to rationalism

 Ethics

Scarce Resources

 Weak economy (1970’s - 80’s)

 Anti-tax revolt (Prop. 13)

 Competition from private sector --

privatizing

 Shrinking government programs –

doing more with less

Higher Service Demands

 “Revolution of rising expectations”

 Demands for accountability

 Quality service delivery

Limits on growth

 “NIMBY” syndrome

 Slow-growth and anti-growth

movements

 Doing more with less

 Anti-”Big Government”

Return to Rationalism

 Focus on control

 Efficiency over equity

 Return to Theory X management

 Cutbacks/reductions-in-force

Key Theories

 Peter Drucker: Management by

Objectives

 Total Quality Management (TQM)

 Lawrence Peter: “The Peter

Principle”

 William Ouchi: “Theory Z” -- key is

consensus decision making

 Operations Research (O.R. –

concepts from engineering)

Administrative Efforts

 The Grace Commission (1984 --

Reagan)

 President’s Private Sector Survey on

cost Control

 Clear push for scrapping many federal

programs, expansion of private

contracting

The Volker Commission (1989)

National Commission on the Public Service

 Addressed the “state” of the public service. Major recommendations:  Improve negative image of public service

 Address managerial issues (eg. Recruitment)

 High priority for education & training

 Increase pay and benefits

 Improve the work environment

 Reduce political hirings

 Increase access to job openings

 Reward executive excellence

National Performance Review

(1993)

 Clinton Administration reform effort

 Major reform areas:

 Cut red tape

 Put customers first

 Empower employees

 Cut back to basics

The Winter Commission, 1993  Product of the “reinventing government”

movement.

 Major recommendations:

1. More decentralization of the merit system

2. Less reliance on written tests

3. Rejection of the rule of three and other requirements that severely restrict management discretion in selecting from a pool of eligible applicants.

Major Recommendations (cont’d.)

4. Less weight given to seniority and

veteran preference

5. Fewer job classifications

6. Less cumbersome procedures for

removing employees

7. More portable pensions (which would

allow for govt.-to-govt. mobility)

8. More flexibility to offer financial

incentives to exemplary performance by

work teams

Ethics in the Public Organization

 Historical Development:

 First code of ethics for public administrators

adopted in 1924 by the International City

Management Association.

 Federal code of ethics passed by Congress in

1958.

 First state code of ethics established in 1967.

Historical Development (continued)

 The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 established the Office of Government Ethics.

 ASPA adopts the first code of ethics for professional public administrators.

 1992: First attempt at a comprehensive set of ethical conduct standards for Federal Employees.

The ASPA Code of Ethics:

 Bases for the principles of the

Code:

 Public Interest: Key is effectively

defining and understanding a concept

that seems to be fluid and dynamic.

 Legal Interest: Broadly defined as the

respect for laws and due process that

are integral to PA.

Bases for the principles of the Code:

(continued)

 Personal Interests: Need to employ individuals with the highest personal integrity and sense of moral values.

 Organizational Interests: Tendency of organizations to protect their existence.

 Professional Interests: Defining the concept of public professionalism in an environment

of competing values.

Organization Theory

Basic concepts and

approaches

Approaches to studying

Organization Theory:

 Traditional: Pre-Weber, routine, by each

individual organization.

 Scientific Management: Bureaucratic

organization, Fredrick Taylor approach.

 Rational: Focus on POSDCORBE, key is

efficiency.

 Human Relations: Key - impact of informal

organizations (Hawthorne Experiments)

Approaches to studying

Organization Theory (continued):

 Behavioral: Organization as a social

system.

 Decision making: Key - decision

process (optimizing vs. satisficing)

 Ecological: Relates the organization

to the environment.

Types of Organization:

Leader/follower, Cluster:

 Leaders at center, followers at

periphery

 Examples: Napoleon, Hitler, most R&D

groups, performing arts companies,

military squads

Types of Organization

(continued):

Mosaic

 Loosely connected assembly of sub-

systems

 Examples: Holy Roman Empire, United

Nations, HMOs, Colleges

Types of Organization

(continued):

Pyramid

 Hierarchy

 Examples: U.S. Gov’t Depts., Unions,

Banks, most bureaucracies

Types of Organization

(continued):

Conglomerates (cluster of pyramids)

 Assembly of hierarchies united at

summits

 Examples: G.M., the Pentagon, 1900

Trusts

Types of Organization

(continued):

Organic

 Network

 Examples: Xerox, NASA, Volvo

Future Organization Types:

 Task Force (Temporary Formal

Organizations)

 Matrix

Matrix Organization

Characteristics of the New Nature

of Organizations

1. Strong employee involvement

2. Organic in nature

3. Authority based on capability

4. Alliances

5. Teams

6. Flatter, decentralized organizations

7. Mindfulness of environments, changes, patterns and themes - develop "learning organizations"

Personnel Administration/Human

Resources Management

Development, Functions

and Issues

Development in the U.S.:

 1789 - 1828 Fitness of Character

 1829 - 1882 Patronage, the "Spoils

System"

 1883 - pres. Fitness by merit (Civil

Service)

Major Evolutionary Acts

 The Pendleton Act (1883)

 Created Civil Service Commission

 Competitive exams

 Tenure

 Political neutrality in public service

Civil Service Reform Act

(1978)

 Civil Service Commission replaced by:  Office of Personnel Management

 Merit systems Protection Board

 Fair Labor Relations Authority

 Senior Executive Service

 Established a true merit pay system/performance appraisals

 Established minority recruitment policies

 Enhanced cross-agency promotion training

Functions of the Personnel

Specialist:

 Classification

 Testing

 Selection

 Recruitment

 Training

 (Human relations)

Major Issues:

 Salary and pay: comparability to the private sector.

 Employee testing.

 Exams (PACE)

 Drugs

 Civil Rights and Equal Employment Opportunity.

 Affirmative Action: goals, quotas

 Reverse Discrimination

 Comparable worth

Major Issues (continued):

 Right to strike

 Taft - Hartley Act 1947 forbids federal strikes (Reagan and PATCO)

 Use of collective bargaining

 Impasse resolution (stages):

 Mediation (voluntary)

 Fact-finding (judicial)

 Arbitration (binding)

LEADERSHIP

Theories:  Great Man: Heredity, background

 Environmental: Result of time, place,

and circumstance

 Personal-Situational: Status,

perceptions of group members

Leadership Theories (continued)

 Interaction-Expectation: Norming function, leader best exemplifies characteristics of the group.

 Humanistic: Mutual self-actualization

 Exchange: Mutual reward and esteem.

TYPES OF LEADERS:

 Authoritative

 Persuasive

 Democratic

 Intellectual

 Executive

 Representative

Studying Leadership:

THE OHIO STATE LEADERSHIP

STUDIES

Focus on two variables:

 Initiating Structure: Task assignment,

establishing formal work relationship

 Consideration: Friendship, trust,

respect between leader and staff

Leadership Matrix:

High Low

High 2 3

Low 1 4

Initiating Structure

Leadership Matrix

High Low

High

Low

Initiating Structure

C o

n s id

e ra

ti o

n

Leadership Effectiveness

-24 -18 -12 -6 0 6 12 18 24

Communication: Making

Decisions

Initial Process: Agenda Setting:

 Systemic Agenda: Undefined

problem, discussion agenda.

 Institutional Agenda: Formal

problem, actions within institutions.

Who is involved in the

process:

 Analysts

 Decision makers

 Clientele

Options for making the

decision:

 Authoritative - Unilateral

 Consultative - Solicit opinions

 Delegation - Pass authority

 Group - Multimember, consensus

APPROACHES TO

DECISION MAKING

Rational (Root)

 Process:  Problem Determination

 Search/Analysis

 Testing/Decision

 Evaluation

 Characteristics:  Iterative

 Comprehensive

 Objective

 Maximizing

APPROACHES TO

DECISION MAKING

Incremental (Branch)

 Process:  Select limited range of alternatives

 Select most useful option

 Move on to another range of new options

 Foreclose old options

 Characteristics:  Incremental

 Non-comprehensive

 Limited to paired and successive comparisons

 Satisficing

APPROACHES TO

DECISION MAKING

Mixed-scanning (two-camera approach)

 Process:  Scan broad range of alternatives

 Select limited subset

 Focus analysis on subset

 Characteristics:  Rationalistic

 Realistic

 Opportunistic

 Environmentally sensitive

Decision making Continuum

Rational Incremental Mixed Scanning

More

Economic More

Political

FINANCIAL

ADMINISTRATION

Budgeting and Finance

in the Public Sector

Basic Definitions:

 BUDGET: Proposal for expenditures

drafted in advance of actual

appropriations.

 BUDGETING PROCESS: All

decisions affecting the outflow of

money, both before and after the

appropriations process.

Basic Definitions:

 APPROPRIATIONS: Approval of a

budget by a legislative body,

including necessary authorizations.

 FISCAL YEAR: Any twelve-month

period used for accounting

purposes.

 Federal: Oct. 1-Sept. 30

 California: July 1-June 30

DEVELOPMENT

 Prior to 1880s, little attention: Pressure for reforms come from "Good Government Movement."

 Key reforms:

1. Line-item budgeting

2. Competitive bidding for contracts

3. Centralized purchasing

4. Standardized accounting

DEVELOPMENT

 1921 - passage of the Budget and

Accounting Act (first federal

executive budget)

 Seen as a mechanism to control

spending.

 Used Line-Item format.

DEVELOPMENT

 After WW II , the Hoover

Commission suggested a

"programatic emphasis" which

resulted in the Performance Budget.

 Performance budgeting is

concerned for what is received for

the money.

 Little impact, quickly dropped.

DEVELOPMENT

 During 1950s, return to line-item

budget.

 Next reform in 1960s, LBJ borrowed

from the Dept. of Defense the PPB

budget:

 Planning, Programming Budgeting

System

DEVELOPMENT  PLANNING PROGRAMMING BUDGETING

SYSTEM (PPBS):

 Designed to provide full documentation of the purpose and assumptions of budgets.

 Very closely linked with MBO.

 At federal level, two components:  Program Memorandum: Management

document

 Program Fiscal Plan: Budget, by project

 Key assumption: NO BASE

 Nixon nixed before full implementation.

DEVELOPMENT

 Next reform, 1976, Carter's ZERO-BASE BUDGET (ZBB)

 Designed to inject rationality into the budget process. No base, periodic complete program review.

 Key feature: Decision Packages.

 Reagan ripped it up on election.

 Back to Line-item.

STATE BUDGETING

 Commonly called Revenue

Budgeting

 four major items in any state

budget:

1. Education (CA - 47%)

2. Health

3. Welfare (CA H&W -26%)

4. Transportation (CA - 6%)

STATE BUDGETING  Complicating factors:

1. Uncontrollables

2. A multitude of funds

3. Federal grant programs

4. Constitutional limits

5. Indebtedness, Prop 13, etc.

 Revenue base:

1. Sales tax (CA 34%)

2. Income Tax (CA -42%)

3. Fed. Grants (10 -15%)

 The Governor is the most important actor in state budgeting due to the line-item veto.

LOCAL BUDGETING  Expenditure categories:

1. Public safety 2. Transportation

3. Welfare

4. Education

 Revenue bases: 1. Property tax

2. Non-property taxes

A. Sales tax

B. Income tax

C. Transfer taxes

3. Grants-in-Aid

LOCAL BUDGETING

Complicating factors:

 Mismatch between functions and

revenue raising powers

 Labor-intensive services

 Balanced budget requirements

PUBLIC POLICY

Definition: Purposive action on public

issues by actors acting in public

institutions to produce direction in

government.

APPROACHES:

Process

 Focus on how policy is made.

 Can be rationalistic, or

 Disjointed incrementalism

 Elements:

 Environment (Forces)

 Political System (Institutions)

 Public Policy (Products)

Linkages Among Policy Elements

Environment

Actors

Institutions

Public Policy

APPROACHES:

Product:

 Substantive policy issues, eg.

 Health,

 Transportation,

 Energy

 Focus on what policy is produced.

Types of Public Policy

 from Theodore Lowi

 Forms are a product of the coercive

power of government.

 Coercion can be:

 Remote or Immediate

 Direct or Indirect

Lowi’s Policy Typology

Direct Indirect

Immediate Regulatory Redistributive

Remote Distributive Constituent

The Theory of Policy Analysis

Key aspects:

 Functional -- problem orientation

 Interdisciplinary

 Multiple methods

 Decision-oriented

 Concern for human values

 Futures orientation

The process of policy analysis is rational-analytic.

The Process of Policy Analysis

I.D. Recognize

Structure

Agendize

Prob. State.

Alt. Det.

Alt. Test Decision

Implement

Monitor

Evaluate

Verification

Feedback

Iteration