Book Review by Martha Hall Findlay, March 2011
Approaching Public Administration – Core Debates and Emerging Issues Edited by Roberto P. Leone (Wilfrid Laurier University) and Frank L.K. Ohemeng (University of Ottawa); 2011, Emond Montgomery Publications
I recommend this book to all Members of Parliament. I will go further, and suggest that it should be mandatory reading for all Ministers. As an MP, I was very pleased to be asked to read it and to provide my thoughts. As I responded when first asked to do this, “We are seeing some real challenges in our public administration, and this will encourage me to read a book that I know I should read, but which I might not otherwise rush to.” This is true, and therein lies a big challenge—this
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The discipline that results from those forces, and how that affects all levels of management, does not naturally exist in government. The book has done a good job of offering the different perspectives to date, but I hope to see more discussion on how to combine the best of both worlds. It is telling that the essays discussing the role of the private sector in delivering public services are NOT part of this discussion, but found in a separate section of the book. My only comment on those chapters would be to suggest that our procurement processes need to evolve to better understand what is being asked for in terms of private delivery of services, why, and what limits there need to be. I hope to see more analysis comparing both theory and practice in this regard.
As an MP, I particularly enjoyed the chapters addressing questions such as “Do Politicians Control Government?”, “Should the Bureaucracy be Politically Neutral?” and “Is Ministerial Responsibility a Dead Concept?” These go to the core of the relationship between, on the one side, the politicians and the policies they are mandated to implement by the people who elected them, and on the other side, the civil service, representing the need for a consistent, effective, efficient, reliable provision of the various services that over time we have deemed to be part of the public service. The essay by Tom Urbaniak, “Ministerial Responsibility: A Post Mortem” is based on a very blunt, but
While Jim helps Billy recover from his stroke, Billy tells Jim about his former who want his sea chest
HEADER: PAD709 BOOK REVIEW 1 Book Review Maynard-Moody, S., & Musheno, M. (2009). Cops, Teachers, Counselors: Stories from the front lines of public service. Riccucci, N. (2005). How management matters: Street-level bureaucrats and welfare reform. Key Findings
The task assigned is a review of the book Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen. I will provide examples and summarize the main concepts of the book to include Intimate Partner Violence, Battering, and Intimate Terrorism. I will reference the text Family Violence, Across the Lifespan by Ola W. Barnett, Cindy Miller-Perrin, and Robin D. Perrin in order to support my theoretical claims. I will select a critical part of the book and explain why it was challenging to read and understand based on my perspective, and then select a character to analyze using one of the theoretical perspective. This book is sad and disturbing, the punishment inflicted on Fran by her husband Bobby Benedetto is unacceptable and
Mr Birling and the Inspector have opposing political views. This is evident when Mr Birling says, “You’ll apologize at once … I’m a public man –” and the Inspector replies, “Public men, Mr Birling have responsibilities as well as privileges.” The Inspector is challenging Mr Birling’s authority, taking control of the situation and ‘massively’ silencing him, shutting down the argument. This shows that the Inspector has a great deal of power over Mr Birling. The Inspector sees ‘responsibilities’ and ‘privileges’ as being linked, whereas Mr Birling does not. Here, Priestley emphasises Mr Birling’s failure to see that with his public position, there comes a duty of responsibility to
The book is about how unwed fathers are seen as a leading social problem, but goes on to explain the flaws that occur after pregnancy that lead to the end of the couple’s romance. The book looks at the bond between the father and child rather than that between the parents. The book also goes through how changes economically and culturally for the urban poor as well as the obstacles they must overcome has changed fatherhood.
Kernaghan, K. 2000. The Post-Bureaucratic Organization and Public Services Values. Interational Review of Administrative Sciences 66. 2000, pp. 92-93.
Hyam, R. (2006). ‘Rugged and tangled difficulties: the Churchill and Eden governments and the end o
The impressions with which I first undertook the arduous trust were explained on the proper occasion. In the discharge of this trust I will only say that I have, with good intentions, contributed toward the organization and administration of the Government the best exertions of which a very fallible judgment was capable, Not unconscious in the outset of the inferiority of my qualifications, experience in my own eyes, perhaps still more in the eyes of others, has strengthened the motives to diffidence of myself; and every day the increasing weight of years admonishes me more and more that the shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it will be welcome. Satisfied that if any circumstances have given peculiar value to my services they were temporary, I have the consolation to believe that, while choice and prudence invite me to quit the political scene, patriotism does not forbid it.
The need for financial stringency in public organizations due to budgetary pressures and tax resistance coupled with the need to Managing /balancing budget deficits and provide quality services with a reduction in revenue has always been a major challenge for public organizations. The need to save money and at the same time provide quality services, had forced government agencies to privatize and contract out. Recently, there is greater involvement of the private and nonprofit sector in public service delivery. More and more government functions in service delivery are now carried out by private and nonprofit organization. This is one part attributed to the belief that private organizations can provide services more efficiently and effectively than government operated services. And the other is the fact that it is cost effective and takes a lesser time frame. These two process are indeed unarguably beneficial to the government and private sector as well as the beneficiaries, but they can be also very daunting accompanied with huge challenges especially when not executed in the rightful manner. The case of the crummy contractor by Rainey depicts such a complex situation , where the process of contracting out was poorly conducted. The case highlights the demand for privatization and contracting-out and most importantly some of the challenges of privatization and contracting in government organization. it goes on further to identify some crucial pointed to be
On a macro level, public administration and business management are similar in their overall functions. “At the broadest level, some organizational theorists contend that administration is administration whatever its setting, and that the problems of organizing people, leading them and supplying them with resources to do their jobs are always the same (Kettl, 2012, p. 38).” In his paper, “Public and Private Management: Are They Fundamentally Alike in All Unimportant Respects?,” Graham T. Allison explains that in comparing public and administration and business management, “it is possible to identify a set of general management functions (Allison, 2012, p. 4).” Regardless of their end goal, each administration must form strategies by setting goals, priorities and creating procedures. Public and private organizations must manage internal components by organizing staff, defining job responsibilities, hiring and managing personnel and creating budgets. Furthermore, they must manage external constituencies such as other agencies, the press and public (Allison, 2012, p. 5). His observations stem from Wallace Sayre’s famous words, “public and private management are fundamentally alike in all unimportant respects (DiIlulio, 1993).”
The management of an organization plays an integral part in determining the direction and performance of the organization. The manner in which the management of an organization is handled has a profound effect on the organization. The success of an organization is dependent upon a flexible and skilled management and workforce. The management of an organization is responsible for shaping up the organizational behavior and ultimately the culture within the organization. Public management faces a multiple of challenges and opportunities, how the management deals with these issues translates to efficiency in management. The personal judgments and skills of public managers can make a significant impact in public management. If
My Introductory to Public Administration class has taught me the range that can come with public administration. Public administrators are employed in all levels of government, across various fields including social welfare, financial administration, and human resources (Denhardt, 2014, p. 1). Despite the various type of public administration jobs that exist, the one thing all public administrators are required to do is to maintain a commitment to public service (Denhardt, 2014, p. 1). In order to better understand how public administrators are responsive to public interests, I was assigned the task of interviewing a professional in public administration. I chose to interview Jeanell Emond, program manager for Central Valley Prevention Program (CVPP) and Mental Health Systems (MHS), because of my future in social work and my interest in developing and managing programs that benefit the community. Through the interview I was able to gain valuable insight on the agency and Mrs. Emond’s role as a public administrator. More importantly, I was able to learn how interorganizational partnerships, financial management, ethics, and leadership and management skills in public administration can help develop stronger communities.
Also, we expect our public service to do the best it can with the community resources available to it. Yet there is usually great mismanagement in the public sector, Yet nobody act to resolve this issue or call the minister to order because it will harm the government’s standing and may cost it votes. This portrays a consequence of a community supported reward system unavoidably biased against good public sector management.
One way to see public administration in action is by attending a city council meeting, whether it be in an urban or rural area, public administration still has a part in each event. As Kettl (2018; p. 244) referenced in his book, there is not a civil system that would be sustainable without strong leadership. This paper will discuss the author’s description, observation, and reflection during a city council meeting.
Michael Collins had many responsibilities after leaving Frongoch. He was appointed Finance Minister and is described as ‘the unlikely Finance Minister who proved himself an administrator par excellence.’6 Collins produced a Finance Ministry that was able to organise a