Foundations of Public
Administration
The environment of public
policy and administration
KEY FEATURES OF THE
ENVIRONMENT OF GOVERNME






Distrust of gov't.
Increasing demand for services
Decreased availability of resources
Multiple, conflicting value systems
Equity vs. Efficiency
Overlapping, competitive jurisdictio
and authorities
Distrust of Government

Approval ratings (extremely low

Excessive government salaries
pensions
Government ethics

Increasing Demand for Servic



“In loco parentis” belief in citize
“Revolution of rising expectatio
Short attention span of the publ
Decreased availability of
resources




Tea-party/libertarian philosophie
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 scarc
resources
The fear of socialism
Can efficient be fair to all?
Overlapping, competitive
jurisdictions and authoritie




Unfunded mandates
Conflicts between states and th
Fed.
Local competition for tax revenu
“NIMBY” syndrome
How is government differen
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
voters to ratify the proposed constitutio
Consist of 85 essays outlining how this
government would operate and why thi
of government was the best choice for
United States of America.
Checks and Balances (shared
power)

Marbury vs. Madison (1803) – Judicial
Federalism


Defined as a division of govt. po
between a central (national) gov
and local or regional (state) gov
Reasons for the division of pow



Additional means of control
Way to unify the nation, strengthe
central government while preserv
state integrity
Compromise to ensure ratification
the U.S. Constitution
Kinds of Power




Delegated or Enumerated –
distributed among the three
branches
Concurrent – granted to Congre
(eg. Levy taxes & borrow money
Reserved – powers of states
Implied – “necessary and prope
powers inferred from the delega
powers
Forms of Federalism

“Layer-Cake” or Dual Federalism
(19th Century) –


The federal govt. structure consis
two layers of equal importance,
the Supreme court preserving a
boundary between them.
“Marble-Cake” Federalism (20th
Century) – Federal and states ar
inter-dependent and overlap
jurisdictions.
Types of Marble-Cake Federalis



Cooperative Federalism (1930's and
1940's) Fed. Funding state & local
administration of programs.
Creative Federalism (1962-1968, LBJ
Partnership among all three levels o
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 comman
Org. offers a career vocation.
Org. keeps files and records.
Functional Definition of Public
Administration:





It is cooperative effort in a public set
Covers all three branches of govt. an
their interrelationships.
Has an important role in the formula
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 (Fredr
Taylor, Henri Fayol)
Good Government Movemen

Reaction to graft & corruption in
post-civil war America (Tweed R

Ballot reform – “bedsheet ballot

Separate Politics from
Administration

Employ finance reforms (budge

Create a professional public ser
(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 o
logical principles

Scientific method could find the
best way of carrying out any tas

Workers would accept rule by lo

Peak years: 1900 -- 1930
Taylor’s Principles
1.
2.
3.
4.
Scientific research & analysis o
work, its elements, standards, a
rates
Scientific selection, training, an
development of first-class work
Intimate, friendly, and hearty
cooperation for scientific work
principles (anti-unionism)
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 (19
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 o
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 ma
7. Span of control should be limited.
8. Distance between admin. levels should
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 other
The Brownlow Committee



President’s Committee on
Administrative Management (19
Gulick’s attempt to apply Scient
Management to the Feds.
Mixed results:


Reorganization Act of 1939
(Indirectly) Hatch Acts of 1939 -- 4
Summary Beliefs:




Politics could and should be
separate from administration.
Administration could and shoul
a science.
The real problems of governmen
were administrative.
The objective of P.A. is to promo
efficiency in government.
THE REACTION PERIOD
(1937 -- 60)
The evolution of the socialscientific approach
FOCI OF THE PERIOD:
1. Systems approach/social-scient
thinking
2. Analysis of decision making.
3. Communications.
4. Concern with process: normativ
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 eq
finality
Multiple theorists pursuing diffe
interests
Systems approach





Organizations are based on system
Input – Throughput -- Output
Organizations contain a collection
inter-related sub-systems
Changes in one sub-system will a
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 satisficin


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 Commissio
Focus on more pragmatic decis


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 o
incentives)
Concern with process: normativ
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 incen
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 constan
supervision.
Theory Y:


Workers share interests of the organiza
are self-actualized.
Makes use of decentralization, delegati
participation and consultative managem
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 th
New Public Administration”

Move from concern with economy,
efficiency, to concern with equity.

Use of integrative processes rather t
hierarchy

More client-participation in program
design & admin.
"STREET-LEVEL BUREAUCRACY
Herbert Kaufman, Michael Lips


Administrative decentralizat
to bring government closer t
the people
Provide greater responsiven
and accountability.
Future Environment of Public
Administration

Warren Bennis
Features of the the environment




Interdependence versus competit
Turbulence and uncertainty
Large-scale rather than small-sca
enterprises
Complex and multi-national rathe
than simple national enterprises
OPEN SYSTEMS THEORY
Environment
Inputs
Throughputs
Feedback
Creates a CYBERNETIC Organization
Outp
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, codin
process
 Dynamic homeostasis
 Differentiation
 Equafinality
POST-NEW PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
Return to Traditional Value
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 expectatio
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 managemen
Cutbacks/reductions-in-force
Key Theories





Peter Drucker: Management by
Objectives
Total Quality Management (TQM
Lawrence Peter: “The Peter
Principle”
William Ouchi: “Theory Z” -- ke
consensus decision making
Operations Research (O.R. –
concepts from engineering)
Administrative Efforts

The Grace Commission (1984 -Reagan)


President’s Private Sector Survey
cost Control
Clear push for scrapping many fe
programs, expansion of private
contracting
The Volker Commission (1989)
National Commission on the Public Ser

Addressed the “state” of the public ser
Major recommendations:








Improve negative image of public service
Address managerial issues (eg. Recruitme
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 effo
Major reform areas:




Cut red tape
Put customers first
Empower employees
Cut back to basics
The Winter Commission, 1993


Product of the “reinventing governm
movement.
Major recommendations:
1. More decentralization of the m
system
2. Less reliance on written tests
3. Rejection of the rule of three
other requirements that seve
restrict management discretio
selecting from a pool of elig
applicants.
Major Recommendations (cont’d.)
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Less weight given to seniority
veteran preference
Fewer job classifications
Less cumbersome procedures
removing employees
More portable pensions (which w
allow for govt.-to-govt. mobility)
More flexibility to offer financial
incentives to exemplary performanc
work teams
Ethics in the Public Organizati

Historical Development:



First code of ethics for public administrato
adopted in 1924 by the International City
Management Association.
Federal code of ethics passed by Congress
1958.
First state code of ethics established in 19
Historical Development
(continued)



The Ethics in Government Act of 1978
established the Office of Government Et
ASPA adopts the first code of ethics for
professional public administrators.
1992: First attempt at a comprehensive
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 con
that seems to be fluid and dynami
Legal Interest: Broadly defined as
respect for laws and due process
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 co
of public professionalism in an environ
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 i
efficiency.
Human Relations: Key - impact of infor
organizations (Hawthorne Experiments
Approaches to studying
Organization Theory (continued):



Behavioral: Organization as a so
system.
Decision making: Key - decision
process (optimizing vs. satisfici
Ecological: Relates the organiza
to the environment.
Types of Organization:
Leader/follower, Cluster:

Leaders at center, followers at
periphery

Examples: Napoleon, Hitler, most
groups, performing arts companie
military squads
Types of Organization
(continued):
Mosaic


Loosely connected assembly of s
systems
Examples: Holy Roman Empire, U
Nations, HMOs, Colleges
Types of Organization
(continued):
Pyramid


Hierarchy
Examples: U.S. Gov’t Depts., Unio
Banks, most bureaucracies
Types of Organization
(continued):
Conglomerates (cluster of pyramid


Assembly of hierarchies united at
summits
Examples: G.M., the Pentagon, 19
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, chang
patterns and themes - develop "learn
organizations"
Personnel Administration/Human
Resources Management
Development, Functions
and Issues
Development in the U.S.:



1789 - 1828 Fitness of Character
1829 - 1882 Patronage, the "Spo
System"
1883 - pres. Fitness by merit (Ci
Service)
Major Evolutionary Acts

The Pendleton Act (1883)




Created Civil Service Commission
Competitive exams
Tenure
Political neutrality in public servic
Civil Service Reform Act
(1978)

Civil Service Commission replaced b







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 po
Enhanced cross-agency promotion
training
Functions of the Personnel
Specialist:






Classification
Testing
Selection
Recruitment
Training
(Human relations)
Major Issues:






Salary and pay: comparability to th
private sector.
Employee testing.
 Exams (PACE)
 Drugs
Civil Rights and Equal Employmen
Opportunity.
Affirmative Action: goals, quotas
Reverse Discrimination
Comparable worth
Major Issues (continued):




Right to strike
Taft - Hartley Act 1947 forbids
federal strikes (Reagan and PAT
Use of collective bargaining
Impasse resolution (stages):



Mediation (voluntary)
Fact-finding (judicial)
Arbitration (binding)
LEADERSHIP
Theories:



Great Man: Heredity, background
Environmental: Result of time, pla
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 assignm
establishing formal work relations
Consideration: Friendship, trust,
respect between leader and staff
Leadership Matrix:
Initiating Structure
High Low
High
2
3
Low
1
4
Leadership Matrix
Initiating Structure
High
Consideration
High
Low
Low
Leadership Effectiveness
-24
-18
-12
-6
0
6
12
18
Communication: Making
Decisions
Initial Process: Agenda Setting:
 Systemic Agenda: Undefined
problem, discussion agenda.
 Institutional Agenda: Formal
problem, actions within instituti
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, consensu
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 compar
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
More
Economic
Mixed Scanning
Increm
FINANCIAL
ADMINISTRATION
Budgeting and Finance
in the Public Sector
Basic Definitions:


BUDGET: Proposal for expendit
drafted in advance of actual
appropriations.
BUDGETING PROCESS: All
decisions affecting the outflow o
money, both before and after th
appropriations process.
Basic Definitions:


APPROPRIATIONS: Approval of
budget by a legislative body,
including necessary authorizatio
FISCAL YEAR: Any twelve-mon
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 contr
3. Centralized purchasing
4. Standardized accounting
DEVELOPMENT

1921 - passage of the Budget an
Accounting Act (first federal
executive budget)

Seen as a mechanism to contro
spending.

Used Line-Item format.
DEVELOPMENT



After WW II , the Hoover
Commission suggested a
"programatic emphasis" which
resulted in the Performance Bud
Performance budgeting is
concerned for what is received f
the money.
Little impact, quickly dropped.
DEVELOPMENT



During 1950s, return to line-item
budget.
Next reform in 1960s, LBJ borro
from the Dept. of Defense the PP
budget:
Planning, Programming Budget
System
DEVELOPMENT




PLANNING PROGRAMMING BUDGET
SYSTEM (PPBS):
Designed to provide full documentatio
the purpose and assumptions of budg
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 implementatio
DEVELOPMENT





Next reform, 1976, Carter's
ZERO-BASE BUDGET (ZBB)
Designed to inject rationality in
the budget process. No base,
periodic complete program
review.
Key feature: Decision Package
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 acto
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 pub
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 produce
Types of Public Policy



from Theodore Lowi
Forms are a product of the coer
power of government.
Coercion can be:


Remote or Immediate
Direct or Indirect
Lowi’s Policy Typology
Direct
Immediate Regulatory
Remote
Indirect
Redistributive
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
Evaluate
Monitor
Verification
Feedback
Iteration
Agend
Prob.
Alt.
Implement
Decision
Alt. Test