Decision Making and the Policy Process - Essay Example

3. Decision Making and the Policy Process The decision making process is aimed at creating decisions, by the public administrators. This is done with an aim to help them in the realisation of a set of objectives, which they have already laid down. Implementation and its concern for the Public Administrators Indeed it can be said that it is the implementation step, which helps the public administrators to achieve their goals. Because of this reason, the implementation is always considered to be the step, which puts the decisions into solid reality through a set of actions. The set of decisions and the policies that are being formulated by the public administrators could seem to be very good on paper but if it is not being implemented within the time frame, the decision becomes really futile. Any delay in the implementation process could mean a loss of public money, which could backfire on the image of the public administrators and could make their positions unstable, in the public administration department. They could very well be indicted for any shortcomings in the implementation of policies and held accountable for squandering public money. Due to this, the administrators could have very good decision makers as well as policy formulators within their group, who could very well formulate good policies and decisions. When the administrators feel that, a particular policy has to be formulated or in case an existing one has to be amended, then they should chart out a plan, whereby the particular policy can be analysed from various angles. As a first step which starts with the decision making process and policy formulation, the problem that the public face is first stated in clear terms, along with the objectives or goals. Once this process is completed, then the series of steps needed for reaching the goal, along with the statement of the resources is clearly mentioned. The final step is the implementation of the whole process. Thus public administrators often consider the implementation process, to be a very complex combination of various activities, which result in the successful achievement of the laid out objectives. These activities which are listed by the administrators during the implementation process are very clearly delegated to the persons, who are supposed to put them into action before the public. Any type of shortcomings or drawbacks during the implementation process regarding the laid out policies, could result in backlash for the public administrators, who are held responsible for the same. Most of the public administrators around the world are very much aware of this fact and take the utmost pain during the implementation process. Mostly a projection about the outcomes of the decisions and policies are very well thought in advance, which helps the public administrators to realise, whether there will be any shortcomings when the laid out policies are implemented. This is due to the reason that, the whole process of launching new policies and revisions of the existing policies in the public administration is a very time consuming and complex exercise, which is also irreversible in nature. Implementation is that final stage wherein the public are able to get the benefits of the policies being formulated by the administrators, without which the policies cannot be realised by the people. Hence it is through the effective implementation, that the policies become fruitful to the public and the public administrators get the platform for launching their set of policies, for which they have been chosen. Thus the implementation process completes the whole cycle right from the identification of the problem, the laying out of policies and decisions and resources for resolving the problem and finding out a suitable solution. 4. Performance Budgeting It has been a long time, since the concept of budget has come into existence in the modern world and almost all the economies of the world are very much reliant on this. As such budget can be defined as a financial tool, which is prepared and submitted in the form of a document, which gives a very good projection, regarding the flow of income as well as expenses which could be incurred in the future. The budgeting system thus ensures financial freedom to the government officials as well as to the managers in the decision making process, within the limits of the funds allocated within the respective budgets. Thus this has become a very powerful tool for the business establishments and the various governments, to give a projection of the state of their future economies. From the management point of view budgets are very vital components of any system, which helps in the process of planning and controlling of the entire management process. Traditional Public Budgets Traditional public budgets have been the most primitive types of budgets, which have been used by the various organisations. Public utility systems have been controlled by the allocation of funds for achieving the desired results, by means of the traditional public budgets. Traditional public budgets like the zero based budgets; flexible budgets have been used in most of the public administration departments, for a long time till now. But the main drawback of the traditional public budgets is that, they give more impetus on the expenditure of any department without taking into account, the final outcome or the results that are being obtained for which funds have been spent. Due to this reason the traditional public budgets, have been long been considered as quite ineffective by the financial experts across the world. They do not curb the expenses or help in achieving the desired results. Thus the traditional public budgets fall back due to the lack of proper planning and control, when it comes to the allocation of funds to achieve the desired results. Another big drawback of the traditional public budgeting systems is that, most of the budgets are being finalised by looking into the performance of the public department in the past, while the needs that would arise in the future are totally neglected. This causes very big problems for the public administrators, since the future trends and events are quite uncertain and which could result in expenditure to become uncontrollable within the budget limits. All these drawbacks of the traditional budgeting systems have made the public administrators and management experts to look forward in developing a new and effective form of budgeting technique, which would help them to overcome the shortcomings. Performance Budget Performance budget is a type of budget, which shows the complete details regarding the resources which flow as input and the way it flows out as output in the form of various services. Ever since its creation, the performance budget have been used by various governments worldwide to effectively monitor the flow of funds, that are being provided to the public and the true output that is achieved, as a result of providing these public services. Thus performance budget in other words is more focussed upon the distribution of resources as well as funds, based on the results that could be achieved. Hence this budget has become a very effective tool in the hands of the government, public administration departments and also the business establishments for achieving results, which are positive and good for the nation’s economy. (www.economywatch.com) In short the performance budget can be termed as the method of linking the information’s that are available about the performance, to the respective budgets. It has been about five decades since performance budgeting has originated and ever since that, it has swept across all the government sectors alike, which includes the state, federal and national levels. Thus in all these cases the allocations of specific budget amounts as per the information’s based on performance, has much improved the decision making process of the budgets and has become very helpful to the administrators, to control and allocate the public funds. Thus performance budgeting has been hailed by the governments as well as by the public due to the effectiveness and the result orientation that it has shown over the years. (www.economywatch.com) Concept of Performance Budget In the case of setting up of a performance budget, the first step involves the statement of the main objectives for which funds are required to achieve it. Thus a performance budget can be considered to contain a single or multiple programs, which enables it to achieve the desired output or target. The cost that will be incurred for each of these programs is also determined. The final output is then quantified as the quantity or amount of the goods or services, which will be produced. The final outcome of the budget is measured by seeing, whether the budget has met with the expectations and achieved the initially laid out goals. (www.economywatch.com) 2. Accountability in Bureaucracy Bureaucracy has long been considered by the general public as a necessary evil. Thus in the modern world it is one which is a primary requirement, both in the public as well as private life. Because of this the bureaucracy in the democratic government setup is often considered to cause major problems for its citizens. Today corruption and malpractices by the bureaucrats have become very much rampant and the scholars have been discussing the ways to bring about administrative responsibility, by means of devising effective mechanisms, which can check the administrations in the public and private sectors. By doing so they feel that they would be able to make the bureaucrats and the public administrators quite responsible and accountable for their actions, which would otherwise work as a control mechanism to check corruption. By ensuring a public administration which is quite responsible to the public under a democratic framework, the public can also feel much secure and enjoy the true freedom that comes out of democracy. By making the bureaucrats accountable for their actions they will be forced to work towards the realisation of goals that have been laid out. The bureaucrats are viewed as people who make policies and implement them for the well being of the public. As a result of this their actions have a direct bearing on the public interest both at the state and the national level. Thus politics and the various issues surrounding it have a direct bearing on the bureaucracy. Because of this very reason, it is primarily necessary for the various bureaucratic agencies to act unbiased and to make themselves accountable for their various actions. The mechanisms for ensuring administrative accountability in the case of bureaucrats, curbs their freedom in many ways. In today’s world there are lot of organisations as well as government agencies, which are involved in the checking and control of the bureaucratic agencies. This goes to prove that, the survival of the bureaucratic agencies is very much dependant on the extent of support that they get from the political circles, which is vital for their development as well as growth. Potential Mechanisms for advancing Accountability Indeed it is held by the scholars and practitioners that under a democratic form of government, this is the real medium under which the bureaucracy agencies as well as bureaucratic members and employees have to work, to bring about the accountability for which, they have been elected as representatives. There is really nothing wrong as per the scholars and practitioners in creating such control mechanisms to check the freedom of bureaucratic agencies and its members. There are many mechanisms which have been put forward by the scholars. The various control mechanisms for bringing about bureaucratic accountability and thereby administrative responsibility have been broadly classified into two types. These are the internal and the external types of mechanisms. Under the internal mechanisms are the hierarchy in bureaucracy, following a laid out set of rules and regulations and developing a good budget. The control wielded by the superiors, also play a vital role in bringing about bureaucratic accountability. Apart from this the bureaucratic agencies have to be subjected to regular audits, which will keep a control over their financial transactions and transparency in their records. Within the bureaucratic agency regular performance appraisal and impartment of good training for the bureaucrats, is also very much needed to hone their skills. Professionalism and the strict compliance of an ethics code and good conduct will also help to enable to make the bureaucrats, much more accountable for their actions. The external mechanisms which help to control are brought about by means of external committees, parliament committees, ombudsman as well as tribunals who can review the actions of the bureaucratic agencies. It is found through many kinds of surveys that the ombudsman has been acting very effectively, in bringing about administrative responsibility by the bureaucrats. Another external mechanism by which bureaucracy is being made accountable is through the legislature, which has complete control over all the activities of bureaucracy, both at the state and the federal level. Since the legislature has complete control over the funds of the state and federal government, the bureaucracy agencies are at their mercy. The decision making authority rests with the set of legislatures and they decide regarding the funding of the present and future programs, which are brought about by the bureaucratic agencies. If it is found that the bureaucratic agencies wrongly utilise funds in activities and programs which are considered as unethical and unlawful as per the legislatures, they could very well block such funds. The media and also the views from the public have also been very effective control mechanisms, which have played a very important role in bringing about the effectiveness of the bureaucratic agencies. The information freedom has also been a very important factor in serving the purpose of administrative responsibility. The critical comments and views aired by the various political parties of a country also have been a very good mechanism, which keeps the bureaucratic agencies on track and in the right path. The pressure from the peer groups also serves in a way to bring about administrative accountability. Thus all the above stated mechanisms can be effectively used to control the activities of the bureaucrats and make them administratively responsible and accountable to the public. Effectiveness of the Mechanisms But though many mechanisms have been devised and brought about by the scholars and practitioners from various countries across the world, it has been still found that, the bureaucrats along with the bureaucratic agencies tend to cut loose and break the controls which are meant to curb their nefarious activities. It become quite difficult for the legislatures and the various government agencies to completely monitor the activities, of all the bureaucratic agencies spread across many parts of the nation. In addition to this the bureaucratic agencies and their employees wield considerable power within the government, which helps them in getting adequate support for their activities. In many cases it is found that the corruptions is very much prevalent at the topmost circles of the government, which makes it hard for the control mechanisms to work effectively, so as to bring the much needed administrative accountability on the part of bureaucratic agencies. Lobbying at the highest level of the government helps the bureaucratic agencies, to overcome any imminent threat of funds to their programs. The issues of tax evasion and also various political nexus, have very much shattered the image of the bureaucrats in the minds of the public who feel that, certain reforms have to be made which could make the bureaucrats more administratively accountable. Hence it can be very well be concluded that, the present bureaucratic agencies that are operating are totally undemocratic and are not acting in the way they should be. Hence it is up to the respective governments and the legislatures to enact stringent laws and bring forward control mechanisms which can ensure that, the bureaucratic agencies act in a much responsible way and are always made administratively responsible and accountable. Prospects of reconciling the tensions between Administration and Democracy The prospects of reconciling the tensions between the administration and the democracy under the present economic conditions, seems to be very bleak. This is due to the existence of large scale corruption within the strata of society and governmental departments and the political nexus. This has made the public to lose faith in their respective governments and the administrations which govern them. The very concept of democracy has been utilised by the top government officials and public administrators, to overpower the public freedom and put it to their use to make profits. Transparency of the government administration has been lost and most of the laws and policies enacted by the government are kept in secrecy, away from the knowledge of the general public. If this present condition has to be overcome and faith of the public in the administration has to be restored, then the government and the public administrators have to win back the confidence of the people of the state, by means of implementation of a reform process by cleaning up the administration and the officials who work under it. Works Cited “Performance Based Budgeting,” Economy Watch, June 30. 2010. http://www.economywatch.com/budget/types/performance-based.html , December 08. 2011 Read More