Midterm Flashcards
Political Definition of Public Administration
Public administration is what government does.
Public administration is both direct (Services) and indirect (Private Services).
Public administration is implementing the public interest.
Public administration is doing collectively that which cannot be done so well individually.
Legal Definition of Public Administration
it is both created and bound by an instrument of the law.
Public administration is the law in action.
Public administration is regulation.
Managerial Definition of Public Administration
Public administration is the executive function of government.
Public administration is a management specialty.
Translates public policies into action and is both art and science.
Occupational Definition of Public Administration
It is within the context of these occupational fields that the political, legal, and managerial aspects of public administration are transformed by public administrators into the work of government.
It is an occupational category
Public Policy
A public policy is whatever a government decides to do or not to do. It is what a government does in response to a political issue.
Policy is hierarchical- The broadest, most overarching policy is made at the top. Then increasingly more focused policies must be made at every level on down.
Representative Democracy
People make choices through their elected officials. Judicial- Interpret, Executive- Enforce, Legislative- Create
Three Kinds of Executive Power
Conservative, Executive prerogative, Stewardship
Conservative View of Executive Power
The conservative view maintains that the president, governor, or mayor is an agent of the legislature, and restricted by it.
Executive Prerogative View of Executive Power
The executive prerogative view holds that under certain circumstances, the president possesses extraordinary powers to safeguard the nation, and can go above Congress as needed.
Stewardship View of Executive Power
The stewardship view argues that the president is a trustee of the people and can take any action not forbidden by the Constitution to act on their behalf.
Policy Making Process
Agenda Setting, Decision Making, Implementation, Evaluation, Feedback
Agenda Setting
Down’s Cycle explains the stages of how a public policy appears and disappears on the political agenda.
Alarmed Discovery, Recognition of cost of change, Decline of Public Interest, Post-problem stage, Pre-problem stage… Repeat
Decision Making
Public policymaking is the totality of the processes by which a government decides to deal or not to deal with a particular problem or concern. It is a never-ending process.
Implementation
is the process of putting a government program into effect; it is the total process of translating a legal mandate, whether an executive order or an enacted statute, into appropriate program directives and structures that provide services or create goods.
Evaluation
A program evaluation is the systematic examination of activities undertaken by government to make a determination about their effects, both for the short term and the long range.
Feedback
The public policy cycle comes full circle when evaluative information creates new agenda items for subsequent decisions.
Group Theory
Special interests, not government are the ones who hold power and create social policy
Elites control the process
Government is a group that competes with other groups
Lasswell’s Rational Model
All options and means are considered.
Decisions are the products of structured evaluations.
Major changes can be made on a regular basis.
Decisions tend to be made proactively.
Decisions should be removed from political pressures.
Lindblom’s Incremental Model
Only a few options and means are considered.
Decisions are the products of negotiated settlements.
Changes are made gradually over time.
Decisions tend to be made reactively.
Political considerations are important in determining outcomes.
Organizational cultures and internal and external environments
Organizational Cultures are about the norms, values, symbols, artifacts, and other tangible and intangible things that exert influence upon a group and link it to its environment.
J. Steven Off Organizational Cultural Perspective
Organizational cultures exist.
Each organizational culture is relatively unique.
Organizational culture is a socially constructed concept.
Organizational culture provides its members with a way of understanding and making sense of events and symbols.
Organizational culture, because of its ability to informally approve or disapprove of behavior, can be a powerful tool for guiding organizations.
Machinery of Government
The machinery of government involves all the interconnected structures and processes of government at the federal, state, and local levels.
Executive Office Agencies
The Executive Office of the President is a term that includes top presidential staff agencies which provide advice in a variety of administrative areas.
Executive Departments
Executive departments. The president’s cabinet includes fourteen executive departments that advise the president.
