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CHAPTER FOUR: Organizational Theory and the Role of Government's Structure

Review

1. The chapter begins by discussing administration at its most basic level: structure. Just as the cell is the most basic level of analysis in the human body, structure is the analogous most basic unit in the administrational body politic. The chapter defines structure as "a formal arrangement of the relationships among the persons and groups engaged in the administrative enterprise". The chapter then proceeds to discuss different ways of arranging these relationships. At first glance, how does this basic building block of administration strike you? Does it seem strange that at the most basic level of public administration is relationships? Do you think the emphasis on relationships among people in an organization simplifies or unnecessarily complicates the study of public administration? Why?


2. What do you think about the text's discussion of governmental legitimacy as it applies to authority and hierarchy?


3. The text discusses an incident on February 1, 2003, when a NASA space shuttle disintegrated upon reentry from orbit killing all seven astronauts on board. The incident revealed that NASA's organizational culture was not adept at discussing and resolving problems. What do you think of organizational culture as a concept? Do you think it is too "fuzzy" to serve as a measurement for theory or practice or do you think it reveals useful information about organizations? Tie your views into the NASA incident or any other experiences you have with governmental organizations and the peculiar cultures you have encountered there.


4. Which of the models, hierarchical or pluralistic, appeals the most to your conception of government? Though both have useful things to contribute to our understanding, which one do you think should be emphasized in our conceptualizations and why?


5. Do you agree with the underlying assumption of the principal-agent theory that individuals seek their self-interests? Do you further agree that contracts are the way to solve potential organizational problems among principals and agents? Discuss the dilemma built into the theory and the potential strengths and weaknesses of this concept.