The Nature of Public Agency Decision-Making - Essay Example

? Management Management How has the interaction between public managers and the public information resource changed the nature of public agency decision-making and the future of governing? The public sector in recent times has had numerous problems in terms of managing resources of information that are unique to it. These problems are usually referred to as public information resource management or sometimes as knowledge management. According to Henry (2011, p. 155), this is “the collection, administration, and use of social and organizational data, including the development of policies and procedures for information resources and systems, for the purpose of forming and delivering public policy.” Public managers play a key role in the management of public information resources in that they assure well and operational information systems that provide critical knowledge that is used in developing strategies that ensure organizational success (Henry, 2011, p. 155). The management of resources entails the collection, administration, and the use of social and organizational data. This includes the development of policies and procedures for information resources and systems, for the purpose of forming and delivering public policy (Henry, 2011, p. 155). Henry (2011, p. 157) asserts that the use of information technology has been embraced by public bodies in information management in that it possesses a higher rate of success. This is partly due to the fact that it is more inclusive as it encourages participation of the persons affected by the particular information that is to be managed (Henry, 2011, p. 158). For successful public knowledge management, Henry (2011, p. 160) argues that there are salient features that must be considered in order for it to be a success. Firstly, public managers must offer well anchored leadership in the management of information based on skilled knowledge. They must strive to upgrade their knowledge in the relevant areas of their public engagement (Henry, 2011, p. 162). Secondly, the information system management ideals must conform to the legislative and agency aims of the organization in question. According to Henry (2011, p. 163) this makes it easier to monitor progress of the strategies employed by the organization in its day-to-day activities. Thirdly, the organizational process should be the focus in the introduction and management of information resources (Henry, 2011, p. 163). Fourthly, Henry (2011, p. 164) asserts that there is need to develop strong skills among information resource managers to foster strong relationship between the managers and the rest of the organization and lastly, public policy decision making should always ensure that there is minimal risk in the management of information. However, Henry (2011, p. 164) argues that public information resource management faces numerous challenges. One challenge is the dilemma of sharing of private information via public information agencies. To cure this challenge, Henry (2011, p. 165) affirms that the government of the United States has enacted several legislations that protect individual citizens in regards the management of information. An example of such legislation is The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 that created the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board which protects a citizen’s financial and other personal records from undue scrutiny by federal authorities or agencies (Henry, 2011, p. 166). Governments and other public agencies also fear what people may use with the information they gather. This is due to the risks associated with information technology such as cybercrime in the form of hacking, harrowing and humiliation (Henry, 2011, p. 167). To counteract this, the government and public agencies insist on certain standards in information management security. The measures include ensuring that there is compliance with standards, policies and the law, ensuring of the effectiveness of information security controls and the overall impact of the information security program (Henry, 2011, pp. 168-169). All in all, future governance has been left entirely to the techno-savvy personnel who will replace street-level bureaucracies with system-level bureaucracies. This is because automation has made it possible for biases to be reduced as well as increase efficiencies that benefit the citizens greatly. Infocrats replace bureaucrats allowing the citizens to benefit from the change in the mode of representation (Henry, 2011, pp. 168). All tax systems share five features that determine their tolerability to taxpayers. What are these features? In what ways does the federal tax structure violate these principles? According to Henry (2011, p. 220), all tax systems share five features that determine their tolerability to taxpayers. These features include transparency, Administerability, simplicity, efficiency and equity. In demonstrating these five features, Henry (2011, p. 220) suggests the use of Income Tax as a means of demonstration. Transparency This basically means tax structure that taxpayers are able to understand. All governments rely on revenue from taxes in the running of public affairs. The citizen must be able to understand that the revenue collected by the government will be expended to fund public policies through taxation, spending and borrowing (Henry, 2011, p. 220). Administerability The government should be able to collect all revenue with ease and without incurring extra costs. Henry (2011, p. 220) believes that this requires the government to make a full disclosure to the taxpayer on how the tax is administered and the measures the government puts in place to minimize costs in taxation. Simplicity The taxpayer should incur low costs in complying with tax policies. The costs could be in terms of both time and resources employed in paying for the tax. To illustrate how the tax system in United States fails the tolerability test, Henry states that “The United States Tax Code is nearing 4 million words. The instruction booklet accompanying Form 1040, the individual itemized income tax form has grown from 2 pages in 1935 to 179 pages today” (Henry, 2011, p. 221). The government should, therefore, ensure that it is easier to file tax returns in the shortest time possible and in an affordable manner. Efficiency Costs The tax feature should be efficient in the sense that the price of creating and collecting the tax should be minimal. This ensures maximum collection of revenue and minimization of deficits Equity All taxes must be fair to the different categories of taxpayers. This is calculated in terms of ratio and the kind of tax adopted for a particular group or category. Federal authorities violate these aspects through lack of transparency in ensuring that the taxpayer understands how their tax liabilities are computed, the reason behind the taxation and the tax due from them (Henry, 2011, p. 221). Matters are not made any better by failure by the government to disclose to the taxpayer whether the tax regime it adopts is cost effective and whether it collects the tax easily. For example, research has found that the U.S government should adopt a tax regime that is easier to manage in terms of administration costs. Federal authorities have also failed to develop a simple tax system that is affordable to taxpayers in complying with the tax policies. For example, it is reported that at least 19 hours is spent in the preparation of returns at an average cost of 250 dollars per taxpayer (Henry, 2011, p. 221). The price of creating and collecting the tax by the federal authorities is faulty in many ways. In the U.S this has been found to occupy a larger percentage of the GDP with the additional costs passed on the taxpayer who, in most cases, is willing to pay the tax on demand. This leads to non-collection of tax that is due to the government that would go a long way in covering the deficits budgeted by the government. Henry has stated “…Just by collecting the taxes owed it, Washington could have eliminated almost all of the preceding federal deficits” (Henry, 2011, p. 221). There are also numerous facets of the tax regime that show inequities in the taxation regime. This shows that the taxation system is not fair to all the taxpayers. For example, federal exemptions on income taxes showed unfairness in terms of meeting the revenue target and gaps. Estimates by the federal authorities show that the top 400 income earners' whose average annual income is almost 345,000 dollars and who are required to pay the topmost tax bracket of 35% pay only 17% in income taxes down by more than a third over 15 years. This is clearly costly to those taxpayers that do not qualify for such exemptions as it constitutes 7.5% of the Gross Domestic Product of U.S and yet receive tax reliefs of such proportions are awarded (Henry, 2011, p. 221). Reference Henry, N. (2011). Public administration and public affairs. New York: Pearson. Read More