lesson 1: what is public admin Flashcards
2 perspectives used to conceptualize public administration:
field of study, field of practice
science of management
efficiency and economy
Governments should be run like
a business
politics admin dichotomy
politics about making decisions, admin about implementing them
1947: IPAC – Institute of Public Admin in Canada
Encourage young people to enter the field of public admin to get them involved
1958: CPA – Canadian Public admin journal
issues within Canadian public admin
1987: CAPPA – canadian association of programs in the public admin
Canadian association of programs in public admin
Membership based association
field of practice
Tangible things the government does
the bureaucracy
form of work organzation
5 Elements of bureaucracy
Personnel, formal rules, policy instruments, conventions of behaviour, institutions
What role do the personnel play in the bureaucracy?
people who work for governments
Municipal, provincial, federal
Merit principle
best possible candidate hired
Designed to ensure fair and open recruitment and free from political influence
What are the Formal rules of the bureaucracy?
Services that they provide are put out in a reputable manner and regulations are being properly enforced
Rules served to treat people equally
What are the Policy instruments of the bureaucracy?
Tools gov used to provide services and enforce regulations
What are the Conventions of Behaviour in the bureaucracy?
Informal and formal rules
- React and tend to reinforce each other
Culture and norms
- Varies between and in organizations
What are the Institutions of the bureaucracy?
Modern governments are very complex orgs
Crown corps, myriad of ministries
business admin =
private admin
5 facets that are different between the public and private administration?
Time horizon, goal measurement, human resource constraints, efficiency vs equity, accountability
public time horizon
operate on short time frame
Tend to move around a lot
Driven by the electoral cycle
private time horizon
operate on long time frame
Investments, long-term projects
private goal measurement
tend to have a bottom line
Concerned with profit, market, performance and survival
public goal measurement
act in the public interest (vary over time)
Provides public goods for everyone’s benefit
what gov goals are hard measure and address on its own
. improve quality of life, reduce poverty rates
public hr constraints
more difficult for the government to hire/hire workers
public is detailed and time consuming
