Arbitrary synonym
Arbitrary synonym
Fundamental of Public Administration PPA 101
NANCY GENOVA, MPA
INSTRUCTOR/ CHAPTER 2 (P.35-75)
Learning Objectives Chapter 2
- Understanding the organization and function of the branches of the federal government
- Understanding the organization and function of the other levels of government
- Understanding the policy process
- Exploring the controls exerted by the legislative branch on administrators
- Exploring the controls exerted by the judicial branch on administrators
Administrative Organizations
- The Executive Office of the President
- Cabinet-Level Executive Departments
- Independent Agencies, Regulatory Commissions, and Public Corporations
- Agencies Supporting the Legislature and the Judiciary
The State Level
- Its own constitution
- Its own asssets
- Numerous departments and commissions
The Local Level
- Cities
- Counties
- Native American Tribes
- Special Purpose Governments
- Nonprofit Organizations and Associations
RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE LEGISLATIVE BODY
- The Policy Process
Exploring Concepts: STAGES IN THE POLICY PROCESS
- Agenda Setting
- Policy Formulation
- Policy Legitimation
- Policy Implementation
- Policy Evaluation and Change
Political Context of PA
- Public administrators need awareness of how all the government systems work in an effort to become more effective in regards to what they do
- Attention to how leadership works in our political settings is essential to understanding how to get things done as a public administrator
Public Administrators
- Public administrators are responsible for implementing public policy
- Proposals are written and submitted the process includes….
- Organizations develop policies to guide their activities
- Public agencies work together with executive, the legislature and the judiciary to seek important policy goals
Federal Government 3 Branches
- Executive
- Legislature
- Judiciary
- ‘Founding Father’s’ had fears of concentrated power that’s why they divided the power
Administrative Organizations & Executive Leadership
Executive Office of the President- Office of Management & Budget, National Security Council, Council of Economic Advisers
Cabinet level executive departments- Department of Defense, Health & Human Services, Treasury, Agriculture, Housing & Urban Development, Education, Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security (2002,) Ambassador to United Nations
Independent Agencies, Regulatory Commissions, and Public Corporations
Jurisdiction & Federalism
- Jurisdiction- territorial range of government authority is sometimes used as a synonym for city or town
- Federalism- a system of government in which powers are divided between a central (national) government and regional (state) goverments.
Relationship Among 3 Levels of the Government
- Federal
- State
- Local
- Cooperation vs. conflict
- Who has policy making authority?
The Capacity of States & Localities
- In the 1950’s & 60’s policy reflected the interest of the elite
- 1980’s state government transformed from weak links to progressive political units
- 1990’s brought about local governments being ‘proactive rather than reactive’
How States & Localities Increased Their Capacities
- Two-party competition
- Lobbying presence
- More effective, capable & professional leaders
- Unified court system, hiring of court administrators, and creation of additional layers of court
Improved Revenue System
- Taxing legalized gambling, alcohol, tobacco
- Providing property-tax relief to residents
- Increasing local sales tax
- NYC sales replicas of street signs
Expanding the Scope of State Operations
- States are now policy innovators; i.e. family leave act, Amber alert then the federal government followed suit
- Before the federal government reformed welfare several states had established workfare program and imposed time limits on the receipt of welfare benefits
Leaders & Followers
- Here are some examples of states adopting policy and then the federal government following; stopping telephone solicitation, self extinguishing cigarettes, privatizing the running the schools ‘charter’, use of social media to inform and share
Inter-jurisdictional Cooperation
- Joint problem solving; aide one another when natural disasters happen, 42 states banned together in a lawsuit to recover the Medicaid cost of treating tobacco related diseases against tobacco companies
- Anti-trust lawsuit against Microsoft (1998) the firm illegally stifled competition, harmed consumers, undercut competition
Increased National-State Conflict
- One states interest negatively affects another state; i.e.
- Very common inter-jurisdictional conflict in areas of natural resources and economic development; i.e. one states water supply, moving business to another state
Political Corruption
- Corruption can undermine public trust
- Data indicates that political corruption are associated with declines in job growth because corruption creates uncertainty and inflates costs
- Transparency more openness and more rules
How is Local Government Organized
- Local government is organized in 3 ways
- 47% of municipalities use mayor-council form (council or mayor are elected). Strong mayor systems are used in most large and industrial cities, sometimes the Deputy Mayor has the role of administrator (internal management)
- Council -manager- (52% municipalities employ this model) council makes policy, appropriation, primary executive responsibilities lies with the city manager (populations of 25-250,000)
- Counties- (small to huge populations,) provide services on behalf of state government; public works, mental health, police. Elected officials such as a sheriff, auditor, tresurer. A chief executive and holds power similar to that of a governor
Native American Tribes
- Native Americans have inherent rights to possess and use their land and sovereignty over running their own affairs/ American government acts a guardian (Supreme Court Justice Marshall, known as the Marshall Trilogy 1827-32)
- There are more than 500 recognized tribes in the United States
Special Purpose Governments
School districts
Economic development (public non-profit)
Non-profit organizations & associations- can have a profit but can only be used for purposes of the organization it cannot be distributed to shareholders or members (faith based organizations, healthcare, unions, colleges, youth activities/ Boy Scouts) 1.5 million organizations nationwide. Provide services for public benefit or to some segment of the public. They are tax exempt and must be governed by a board of trustees
Policy Process
Agenda setting- problems needing action
Policy formulation- development of formal policy statement
Policy legitimation- giving legal force to decision justifying policy action (political as once a policy is in place how to role out???)
Policy implementation- activities directed toward putting a program
Policy evaluation and change- assessment as to whether policies are working well (cost, programs worth)
Types of Policy
Regulatory- i.e.; criminal justice laws, business practice laws, access to certain goods clean water and air….
Distributive- (most common form of government policy) tax revenues provide benefits to individuals or groups (grants, subsidies) military, parks….
Redistributive- takes taxes from one group and gives them to others (Medicare, Medicaid
Constituent- intended to benefit the public or serve the government, i.e; foreign defense policies
Sources of Bureaucratic Power
- Government agencies have influence in government because they have specific expertise in their area so they can provide guidance in design and implementation
- Many times the legislation is vague so the government is reliant on the expertise of a particular agency
- Support can come to agency from members of the legislature that champion the agency’s cause
- You can get support from the executive branch
- Lobbying strategies
- Commitment by it’s members
Legislative Supervision: Structural Controls
- Legislative Veto- Statutory provision that gives Congress the authority to approve or disapprove certain executive actions.
- Sunset Laws- Provision that sets a specific termination date for a program.
- Sunshine Laws- Provision that requires agencies to conduct business in public view.
- Agency Conduct
*
Legislative Supervision: Structural Controls
- Judicial review; courts may review administrative actions through this process. They can set aside actions deemed unconstitutional that extend beyond the limits of statutory authority, that are arbitrary, capricious or abuse discretion that are procedurally unfair or without substantive justification
- Courts have ruled in cases involving the managing of prisons,
Legislative Supervision: Oversight
Legislative Supervision: Casework
- Students analyze the power of the governor in your state, giving special attention to the governor’s power to exercise executive leadership over the agencies of state government. The analysis should be based on the formal and informal powers of officeholders discussed in Chapter 2. How do the governor’s executive powers compare to those of the president of the United States? How do they compare to those of the local mayor?
RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE JUDICIARY
- Quasi-legislative Action
- Quasi-judicial Action
- Agency Discretion
- Judicial Review
- Concerns for Due Process
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION in History: THE SPOTTED OWL AND AGENCY INTERPRETATION OF THE LAW
- The Courts and Agency Administration
Group Discussion
- Let’s choose a current event or topic and walk students through the process of how a policy might be developed to address this topic. Base your discussion on the stages of the policy process outlined in this chapter.
Summary
- Now you’re realizing that public administrators require vast knowledge of how policies, local government, and executive branch work and affect day to day operations of public agencies
Resources
- The following are links to websites that can provide information about the executive branch of the federal government and of state and local governments:
- The White House: (www.whitehouse.gov).
- The federal executive branch: (www.usa.gov/Agencies//Federal/Executive.shtml).
- Executive orders: (http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/executive-orders).
- State, local, and tribal governments: (http://www.usa.gov/Agencies.shtml).
- The following are links to websites that can provide information about nonprofit organizations:
- Alliance for Nonprofit Management: (www.allianceonline.org/).
- The following are links to sources about policy making and legislative and judiciary controls:
- The United States Congress: (http://house.gov/).
- The United States Senate: (http://www.senate.gov/).
- The Urban Institute: (http://www.urban.org/
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!