Public Administration in America - Essay Example

Public opinion plays a crucial role in shifting the political power balance (Milakovich & Gordon, 2012). In their pursuit of power, bureaucratic agencies seek assistance from interest groups. These interest groups also have their individual interests. In order to establish strong backing from various interest groups, administrative agencies resort to managing government programs, which are of interest to these supportive interest groups or constituencies. As such, agencies usually focus on controlling programs with strong backing from significant constituencies (Milakovich & Gordon, 2012).

Governmental bodies (including agencies) actively participate in exercising power and decision-making process (Milakovich & Gordon, 2012). Institutions may perform as integrated bodies in pursuit of maximizing their influence on share of political benefits. Administrative agencies usually seek to balance off their capability and what they desire in order to achieve their programmatic welfare with the essentials for their survival. Agencies must have the capacity to study accurately and understand both long-term and short-term political predictions in order to maintain the balance (Milakovich & Gordon, 2012).

In order to maintain a power base within the government, administrative agencies must be able to maintain fundamental sources of bureaucratic power. First, the agencies must maintain proficiency in the area of specialization of their program accountabilities. They must also woo political support in order to retain influence within the government.