The United States Public Administration System - Essay Example

The United s Public Administration System Contents 3 Introduction 4 The relationship between public administration theory and the United States public administration 4 Internal environmental relationship that affect the United States public administration 6 Internal environmental relationship that affect the United States public administration 8 Public administration process in the United States 9 Conclusion 10 Recommendations 11 References: 13 Abstract Public administration in the United States has been crowded with erred of challenges. However, the public administration theory denotes on the effective ways of running the affairs of public administration. This paper will articulate on some of the problems affecting the United States public administration. Through examining the public administration theory, tenets that can be applied will be evaluated. Suggestions on the best practices in the public administration will be examined. The paper will recommend different facet that can be utilized by the United States public administration in order to foster efficiency in the service delivery. Introduction For a long time, public administration has reluctantly been viewed as a science by several other disciplines. Perhaps, this is attributable to the idea that public administration theories rely on other disciplines in predicting and explaining relationships among elements articulated in its administrative functions. Nevertheless, public administration system entails studying human beings in an organizational setting, but which operates in a political environment (Rabin et al 2006). In this regard, public administration theory is derived from other disciplines, but studied as a single entity due to its unique traits of enjoining different dynamics to have an effective administration. In a broader sense, public administration is explained by two theories; universal design theory and situational design theory (Farazmand, 2001). In universal design theory, scientific management, classical and bureaucratic theories explains the structuring the public administration. Situational theory denotes on the human aspect of the organization. Common theories that emphasize on this theory include behavioral approach, system approach and human relations theory among others. The relationship between public administration theory and the United States public administration In the United States, the public administration can be argued to have utilized theories of public administration effectively. However, Milakovich & Gordon (2012) argued that it is indispensable for the public administration to consider exploring all available ways of bridging the existing gaps. For instance, with the increase in the number of migrants in the United States, the department of homeland security has been face with the challenge of controlling foreigners streaming to the United States. Going by the scientific management theory, Fredrick Winslow Taylor emphasized on the need to have social prosperity between the workers and the management. This aims at developing science of each element of man’s work and applying scientific methods to train and teach the workers for better results (Denhardt, 2011). With this deliberation, it is evident that if the United States administration can utilize the scientific management theory effectively, some of the intrigues facing many public administration sectors can be minimized (Reddick, 2012). For instance, with the increased instances of terrorism, which mostly target the United Sates, the public administration, and specifically the department of security can use the theory of scientific management theory in developing a competent public servant in order to do minimize the problems affecting the department. In addition, human relations theory emphasizes on the role of psychology and sociology in the understanding of individual’s behavior in an organization. Further, the theory advocates for cooperation between employees rather than command in order to produce top results. If the department of health can utilize human relations theory, the issue of the increased number of Americans without medical cover would have been reduced. For instance, although the Obama care was introduced to take care of all Americans, it is evident that the plan is not adequate in terms of enabling the low earning citizens to pay for the cover. If the civil servants working in this department are well equipped with the knowledge of collaboration and scientific training endorsed by scientific management theory, cases of inadequate resources to take care of all Americans’ health would not be recorded (Farazmand, 2001). One of the things that make healthcare expensive is due to lack of scientific methods that can used to make service delivery in hospitals effective. For example, the use of electronic health record has been found to have numerous advantages both to patients and the physicians. The most outstanding is the reduction of work load that is contributed by the use of paper work. If public servants can come up with such scientific innovations, service provision would be reduced thus reducing the cost incurred during slow operations in the healthcare provision. In regard to the importance of behavioral approach denoted in the situation design theory, cases of corruption can be eliminated if the public administration can make use of the approach. The approach stipulates that behavior can be learned and can be unlearned as well. According to behavioral approach, it is difficult to see what people think, but one can see the behavior people exhibit (Basu, 2004). Through these behaviors, it becomes easy to draw conclusions of what is in the mind of a particular individual. Since behavioral approach assumes that behavior is learned, it becomes easy to change the thinking of an individual by instituting mechanisms of changing a negative behavior. In this regard, public servants can make use of behavioral approach so that they can come up with programs that can be used to teach and train public servants to avoid bad behaviors that can lead to serious problems such as corruption and failure to deliver in their work (Farazmand, 2001). Internal environmental relationship that affect the United States public administration There are several issues that affect delivery of services by the public administration. The first and most essential is the issue related to leadership style employed. Basu (2004) argued that leadership style used by organisations greatly influence the current and future success of the organisation. Since the best way for the public service to operate is on the perspective of a business entity, it is critical to point out that the management style used can ruin or prosper different departments of the public administration. For instance, security is very essential in the United States. The department of security is mandated to protecting the Americans and their property. The top personnel in this department greatly affect the operations of other savants. For instance, the human resource management is entitled to ensuring that all public servants perform their duties as expected. It is the responsibility of the human resource manager to ensure that his department employees competent and qualified public servants. This is very instrumental in regard to the quality of services offered to the citizens. If wrong people are employed to serve the people in the department of homeland security, many people would not be protected. Many instances of crime would be recorded. In the grass root level, public servants are required to serve the people in the provision of social services that affect the people. Therefore, if these individuals lack the required qualifications, it means that they would not be able to perform their duties as expected. People would not be served as is expected. Some of the services required to be executed by the public servants include healthcare services provision, garbage collection, street lighting, and water distribution among other services. In some states, some serious problems such as garbage collection and distribution of water have been contentious for a long time. In San Diego, the problem of water supply has been there for a long time, but the problem of transporting water from other regions has been cited to be an expensive venture. Propositions that storage of rain water can help in resolving the water problem in the county could be argued to be indispensable. However, unless the leadership is altered, the problem will continue as long as the leadership remains (Basu, 2004). Therefore, leadership style in any department of the public administration is imperative. Financial management is also a critical issue that affects provision of services by the public administration. Many strategies to improve public service provision have time and again been recommended in the betterment of service provision. However, due to bad leadership, embezzlement of funds allocated in such projects has always posed a challenge towards realization of an effective public servant. Therefore, financial management becomes another problem that affects public administration internally. Information technology plays a big part in aiding the operations in the public administration. With technology, public administration can came up with innovations that can help service provision to the citizens (Fang, 2002). For instance, in order to gather information about what the public would with services provided, public administration can decide to design websites where the public can be interacting with the public servants. They can post their grievances, propose areas of improvement and leave comments in regard to the services they received (Graham & Avery, 2013). This way, the public administration can be in a position to restructure itself in order to service people as expected. Through technology, internal communication between public servants can be enhanced for better provision of services. Lack of strategic plans that aims at improving service provision constitutes another great area of concern that affects public administration internally. Every department of public administration must have vision and mission that goes hand in hand with its objectives. In order to achieve the objectives of public administration, it is imperative to have strategic plans that help in enhancing services provision. For instance, outlining the needs of the people according to the urgency and priority can make the public administration to strategically arrange on the resources required to meet the needs (Garson, 1999). This is as opposed to when there is no strategic plan to execute mandates where things are done without any plan. Internal environmental relationship that affect the United States public administration The major factor that affects provision of services by the public administration is the political interference (Denhardt, 2011). Many politicians like most of the resources directed to their areas of representative. Since there are no enough resources to take care of every American, conflict on the scarce resources creates problem in the public administration. The leaders have difficult times trying to balance political influence and their mandate to offer services without discrimination. With the congress passing laws that affect distribution of resources across states, it is evident that the public administration has a challenge of using the resources allocated to it in providing the services. With some areas having larger population than others, service provision becomes difficult in such areas especially when the resources allocated are not enough. Some states are rich than others. Many people from such areas can be able to pay for some social services without problems. This is opposed to poor states that have large number of people who cannot be able to pay for such services on their own. For instance, some people can be able to pay for their medical bills without the help of the government. However, some areas would require a large budget so that the people living in the neighborhood can access healthcare services. In case the government cannot provide enough resources for such areas, healthcare provision becomes a challenge. Government financial crisis leads to inability to give adequate resources for the public administration (Milakovich & Gordon, 2013). For example, the government might find it difficult to employ enough doctors across the country. This means that the public administration has to look for other avenues to source physicians. This becomes an expensive thing to do because such physicians are highly remunerated since they work on part time basis when they are not working on their private hospitals. The same case applies to other departments when the government has financial crisis. Public administration process in the United States The major issue in the public administration is the processes used in execution of the services. The way public administration operates is highly determined by the government and its control measures of all public administration processes. For instance, public procurement has been contentious for a long time. In most situations, the accountability of the public administration has been to a larger extent connected to public procurement (Khan, 2008). However, public procurement occupies a problematic position in the United States public administration. Due to the fact that public procurement lacks thorough scrutiny from Government Accountability office (GAO) makes it contentious in that the inefficient of the public administration is related to corruption. The public procurement accounts for a wide range of products from major weapon systems to municipal services. For all of these, public procurement determines price, delivery schedule and quality of the products. Therefore, this translates to determination of the effectiveness of the products or services offered by the public administration (Basu, 2004). In this regard, the policies employed by the public administration greatly determine the quality and effectiveness of services offered to the public. In regard to the expectations of the public, there is a need to have proficient public procurement that influences every other decision and operations in the public administration. Conclusion With many deliberations on the issue of relationship between public administration theory and the current operations in the United States public administration, it is evident that there is a lot that needs to be done to have an effective public administration as outlined by the public administration theory. Universal design theory stipulates on the structuring of the public administration. This entails the bureaucratic nature of the public administration. Situational theory stipulates on the behaviors of the public servants and system approach. Leadership style has been cited to be critical in the management of the public administration. Effective leaders in the public administration can yield top results in the provision of the services. Financial management also determines the effectiveness of the public administration. This constitute to the internal factor that affect public administration operations especially if the resources allocated are used accordingly. The use of IT is critical in ensuring that the public administration is effective. This can be used to enhance the public and the public administration communication, which aims at improving services provision. The public administration can also benefit from the use of technology in its operations internally. Strategic plans are essential in the public administration. They help in organizing different functions in a way that the operations are arranged in the order of priority. External factors also highly influence provision of services in the public administration. Political interference mostly influences the public administration in the negative way. Distribution of resources to different departments across the country is very indispensable. Some departments receive fewer resources than others. This affects service provision in such departments. Government financial crisis affects the operations of the public administration. This is seen when the government fails to provide enough resources to the public administration. Public administration process affects operations in the public administration. The most notable area is the public procurement. Decisions made in the procurement process affects other operations in the public administration. Recommendations The United States public administration should utilize information technology in its operations. Studies have documented that organizations that use information technology maintain competitive advantage than those that do not. Training the public servants in regard to their responsibilities would help the United States public administration offer better services. Competent and experienced employees have been found to produce top results. Good leadership is essential to any organization including the public administration. The leaders in the public administration should be encouraged to use good practices in their work. This would ensure that those that they lead adapt the same leadership that would at the end yield good services provision. Laws should be enacted to regulate politics in the public administration. The spirit of service provision should guide the congress and any other political institution that directly or indirectly influence the public administration. It is indispensable that the public be educated on their rights to social services provision by the public administration. This way, they will be in a position to tell when the public administration fails to deliver to them. References: Basu, R. (2004). Public administration: concepts and theories. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Private. Bekkers, M, et al. (2006). Information and communication technology and public innovation: assessing the ICT-driven modernization of public administration. Amsterdam; Washington, DC: IOS Press. Denhardt, R. (2011). Theories of public organization .Boston, Mass. : Wadsworth/Cengage Learning. Fang, Z. (2002). E-Government in Digital Era: Concept, Practice, and Development. International Journal of The Computer, The Internet and Management, 10 (2), 1-22.. Garson, D. (1999). Information technology and computer applications in public administration: issues and trends. Hershey [u.a.] Idea Group Publ. Graham, M. & Avery, E. (2013). Government Public Relations and Social Media: An Analysis of the Perceptions and Trends of Social Media Use at the Local Government Level. Public Relations Journal, 7 (4), 1-23. Farazmand, A. (2001). Handbook of Comparative and Development Public Administration. New York: CRC Press. Khan, H. (2008).An introduction to public administration. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America. Milakovich, M & Gordon, A. (2013). Public administration in America. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Milakovich, M. & Gordon, G. (2012). Public Administration in America. New York: Cengage Learning. Rabin, J. et al. (2006). Handbook of Public Administration, Third Edition. New York: CRC Press. Reddick, C. (2012). Public administration and information technology. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Read More