Public Administration involves the development, implementation and management of policies for the attainment of set goals and objectives that will be to the benefit of the general public. Since Public Administration involves taking decisions that affect the use of public resources there is often the question of how to utilize public resources for maximum public good. The National Association of Public Administration has identified four pillars of public administration: economy, efficiency, effectiveness and social equity. These pillars are equally important in the practice of public administration and to its success. This paper seeks to explain the role of each of the pillars in the practice of public administration. ECONOMY: Economy as the first pillar mainly concerns with the allocation of scarce resources for optimum development. It involves the combination of available resources in their right proportions for the provision of goods and services. It is the careful use of resources and it involves the best combination of resources for optimum result. In public administration it is expected that quality public service be provided at the least possible cost. Public officials therefore must figure out how to provide services required by the people at the lowest cost through cost saving mechanisms while still maintaining quality. The employment of economics in the public sector ensures that resource usage is optimized and not wasted as usually happens in the public sector. Another dimension is to look at economy in terms of the deployment of resources in order to achieve the optimal benefit from them. EFFICIENCY: This simply means making the most out of available resources. Thus in public administration it could be the provision ... ... middle of paper ... ...r pillars of public administration are equally important in the process of public administration and complement one another in the provision of quality public service. When public administrators have economy in mind they focus on the best combination of available resources to provide optimum public service. To ensure that public service is not limited to only a section of the public, the issue of equity is taken into consideration so that public interest is realized. Efficiency and effectiveness additionally go hand in hand in ensuring that allocated resources are used in the best possible manner to attain set goals. Thus whereas the first three public administration pillars – Economy, efficiency and effectiveness are concerned with how public service is provided the fourth and most recent addition (Equity) concerns with for whom public service is provided.
Pandey, S. K., Coursey, D. H., Moynihan, D. P., (2007). Organizational effectiveness and bureaucratic red tape. Public Performance & Management Review 30 (3), pp 398-425.
Efficiency is highly prized in a culture turned toward productivity. It is therefore cultivated in contemporary business administration theories. It also tends to be prized above all other values in modern society, as society is more and more oriented toward technological advancement. Efficiency is also defined here as the most economic or the shortest or fastest or most simple way of realizing or achieving a goal with the least cost.
Stillman II, R. (2005). The Study of Public Administration in the United States: “The Eminently Practical Science” (Ed) Public Administration Concepts and Cases, 8th ed. (pp. 17-29). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
This essay discusses the radical transformation of the principles and foundations of public administration from traditional to New Public Management. Firstly the essay will attempt to define the key terms of traditional public administration and the doctrine of New Public Management. Rabin J. (2003) explains that New Public Management embodies “a process in public administration that uses information and experiences obtained in business management and other disciplines to improve efficiency, usefulness and general operation of public services in contemporary bureaucracies.“Traditional Public Administration progresses from governmental contributions, with services perceived by the bureaucracy.
1. The purpose of this response is to assert the active role of public managers in policy making. By using their technical, analytical and managerial skills public managers can be effective in the policy process and just in implementation.
Pfiffner, J. P. (2004). Traditional Public Administration versus The New Public Management:Accountability versus Efficiency. Unied States: George Mason University.
It aims towards economic principles and to apply these principles in decision making while administration is fixated on the structural principles and policy implementation. Public administration centres on the procedures within an institute and they see everyone as being detached and professional in the workplace. Public administrative theories also emphasise that these organizations have a bureaucratic structure. The separation between public administration and public choice arise in a hypothetical field. Their concepts vary greatly in many features of procedures.
The study of public administration only continued to grow over the course of the next two decades. As the study of public administration expanded, so did the development of s...
Despite these criticisms, the reforms in public administration have had a widespread impact across this country and around the world. The principles underlying these reforms have enhanced government performance and accountability, public administration has employed various strategies to streamline management and enhance pubic service. It is important to keep in mind that while there may be significant improvement in productivity as a result of technological advances or reform, the most meaningful long-term gains will come about as a result of attention to the humans side of the organization. Successful public administration demands a successful balance between the concerns of the technical side of the agency and paying attention to people.
Max Weber, Henri Fayol and Luther Halsey Gulick all addressed issues, concerning how an overall organization should be structured, bureaucratic administration, while Frederick Taylor’s theory of scientific management concentrated on techniques for increasing production (Tomkins, 2005). This essay will focus on the disadvantages and the advantages, including the effective and efficient components, of bureaucracy in public management.
This paper discusses my understanding of public sector prior to entering CSULA’s Masters of Science in Public Administration program (MSPA), by examining the unique circumstances involved in administering public organizations while studying different techniques of public management. The courses in the program fulfilled my understanding of public sector, and how I perceive the profession of public service now that I have completed the MSPA program.
In the political approach, political authority is divided between a central government and the provincial or state governments. This means that some provinces or states are accorded a substantial measure of constitutional or legal sovereignty, although they still remain subordinates of the central government in certain constitutional or legal respects. The political approach promotes the political values of military strength, economic development, union, and representation. In addition, it is characterized by three central features: state sovereignty, bicameralism, and multiple layers of representation.
The claim that bureaucracies are inefficient is the main driving factor for the New Public Management (NPM) come to exist in the 1980s.Though the public sector continues in its inflexibility, bureaucracy, expensiveness and inefficiency, the private sector was obliged to transform itself radically because of the sever competition confronted at the global level and explore new opportunities (Deal and Kennedy,
According to Villanueva (2013 internet source)Public administration involves government officials or public officials that apply particular policy and approaches inside a specific sphere or level of government, normally in the local level of government. Public administrators must ensure and promise that all facets of a particular policy or approach in a state are fulfilled and applied in the correct way.
Efficiency, on the other hand, is the practice of basing appointments on ability and performance, rather than politics. The individual rights of employees are often preserved by national and regional laws, such as the Constitution in the United States; merit systems; and collective bargaining systems, if applicable. Social equity guarantees that groups that cannot compete fairly are given preferences in job selection and promotion decisions.