CHAPTER ONE: Politics and Administration
Review
1. Described by the text as the "central and eternal problem in the politics of the administrative process," the balance between bureaucratic power and accountability is one unpacked throughout three major theoretical approaches. How do these approaches tackle the issue of creating a system that makes bureaucrats powerful enough to do their jobs but no so powerful that elected officials cannot hold them accountable? How do you see this at work in the real world? What solutions can you offer?
2. Read the following excerpt from the text and respond to the questions that follow.
"In many cases, good administration requires the exercise of professional judgment. How likely is it that some drugs will cause deformities in humans or that landing an airplane in a thunderstorm is likely to be unsafe? How can a dangerous chemical dump best be cleaned? When a storm wobbles between snow, ice, and rain, when is it best to plow the roads, and how many chemicals should be applied to keep them clear (and what damage to the environment and to the roadway might the chemicals cause)? If we create a climate that punishes risk-taking, we are likely to get too-safe decisions that interfere with getting government's job done. Excessive controls increase red tape and delay action. So much energy can be spent attempting to control administrative activities—and filing the paperwork to document that the control standards have been met—that there may be little money or time left to do the job. Controls that are too tight, therefore, may reduce administration's responsiveness to its public".
Does this degree of loose controls and professional judgment among administrators seem like the right course of action to you or does it make you nervous? Why does the text say this is the case in American public administration? Do you agree? Can you contemplate a more effective way to get things done safely?
3. Describe the differences between the three elements of accountability discussed in the text: process, procedural, and fiscal? Which of them do you think is the most difficult to enforce or to measure? Why do you think this is so?
4. In the 1940s two political theorists, Carl J. Friedrich and Herman Finer, debated a critical question of accountability in American public administration: "how much to rely on formal prescriptions and control mechanisms and how much must depend on what we have called the inner compasses of persons entrusted with public responsibilities". In other words, how much can we rely on the laws to keep administrators in check and how much can we rely on the moral consciences of our administrators? Reenact this historic debate. Which do you think is a better accountability measure, external or internal controls and/or the personal character of the administrator? How do you support your choice?
Do you believe that most citizens today view public service as George W. Bush called it, "the highest and noblest calling"? Why or why not? If not, what would need to change for this to be the case?