6:00pm
Think piece essays -
read assignment description on page 6 of syllabus-
note what the goals and objectives are: we do not expect you to have the readings mastered. We realize that you are learning a new language- the language of pa and high theory. – just like Spanish you need to learn one word at a time.- word by word you make it your own.
3 arguments and 3 assumptions= 6
– the arguments and assumptions may come from the same sentence, same author or can be about a bigger picture/larger overall paradigm or epistemology.
Readings- Henry ch. 2, Richardson handout, Weber, Appleby, Simon, Merton, Waldo, Grodzins, Krislov- frame within the key debates or paradigms.
USE APPLIED EXAMPLES FROM YOUR INTEREST AREAS- EXPRESS YOUR INFORMED OPINION
Apply the paradigms from Henry ch.2 to the readings in Shafritz.- note that Henry came up with a 6 th paradigm since the 5 paradigms he laid out in the 1975 article I gave you last week. – note his use of time frames- accurate? Aren't many of these paradigms still going on today?
Example #1 Appleby: He writes about who is qualified to work in the public sector and who is not. Further, he challenged the politics/administration dichotomy. He argued that politics acted as a check on the arbitrary use of bureaucratic power- political involvement was good, not evil. He wrote about another dichotomy- the private/public sector dichotomy. He argued that the public sector is different from the private sector because the public is politics and business is not. Therefore, public administration should cease looking to business for guidance. Further, public organizations should abide by stricter ethical standards than those of business. He cautions against the “elite minority” of business owners who form a special interest group and can influence the decisions of the public sector. Result?= no public/private partnerships.
This is why it is so important to read the classics directly, rather than just read Henry's interpretation of them. For example, some of you may have picked up on Henry's reference to Appleby at the end of ch.2. Henry notes that Appleby called for “a mesh of things” in government. However, when you read Appleby, he did call for a meshing of politics and administration within government, but he made a very clear argument that the public sector is different- stands apart from the rest of society. Had you not read the original, you might not have known the nuances of Appleby's argument.
Example #2 Simon: Simon argued that public administration is ultimately about decision making. Specifically, the study of public administration should focus on the means (process) of decision making rather than the ends. He rejected the politics/administration dichotomy and did not believe that decision makers are just self-interested power maximizers or that politics spoil administration. Instead he saw decision makers as complex people in a complex world. Simon proposed that decision making involves some variant of three steps: scanning the environment, developing alternatives, and choosing alternatives. Therefore, decision making and administration exist within politics, but can follow the scientific method= rational model of decision making: we can separate facts from values and make decisions scientifically by rationally weighing alternatives. Therefore, while Simon offers a challenge to the classics and to traditional PA scholarship of that time (1946) by contesting the politics/administration dichotomy, he ends up reinforcing another dichotomy= facts vs. values.
Another tool that might help you with the readings is to use the questions from our syllabus. Last week we talked about who are the public and what is administration and then ultimately who are public administrators, but we did not get to the last two questions:
Why does public administration matter? To whom?
What is the power and knowledge nexus? Where is it?
-who do you give power and knowledge recognition to? What institutions, science, laws or policies do you give power/knowledge recognition to?
Groups - time to form this week and next- no more than 5, no less than 4 people per group. These are the groups you will work with for assignments 3 and 4. We'll go over the specifics of that assignment some tonight and some next week (ex. Team charter tonight, lit review next week.)
Library time next week plus free q & a time with me.
Your readings have focused on some major tensions within the discipline and practice of public administration. Henry refers to them as the locus (where) and focus (what) of the field. Some are distinct and some are blurred. We have the same debates going in the practice of public administration- where should specific functions be located? What does our system of government require of its administrators and its public? (these questions come up at all levels of government). The tension between bureaucracy and democracy is no exception. We have two general systems of government in the U.S. : Bureaucracy and Democracy. – you can think of them as general attitudes (Appleby) or orientations towards government.
Bureaucratic : came from Weber and his observation of a pin factory. Top down, hierarchy, formal authority, rational, efficiency, expertise/specialization, and accountability. Result of the classics: impose the “one best way” procedure on the whole workforce, universally , in any organization or place. If there was one best way to accomplish a production task then there was one best way to accomplish the task of setting up organizations= bureaucracy.
Democratic : bottom up, informal authority, based on values, flat citizen participation, serving/engaging public interests and needs, and social equity.
Both of these systems have resulted in functions of government. Example: Democracy resulted in the civil service commission-ensure that people are advanced in the public sector based on merit rather than on political affiliation. Example: Bureaucracy resulted in the Grace Commission under Reagan to get rid of big government, we saw this again with the Clinton/Gore reports to reinvent government. Example: Health care is a function that resulted from both systems of government- show the Johnson & Broder book.
Different approaches to the systems and functions of government, but both are arguably based on the concept of checks and balances . – no one ruler- no king
Systems can create functions of government and functions can also create systems. (examples at the federal, city, non-profit, tribal levels)
6:40pm
Teamwork
Click here to view Joan's powerpoint presentation about teams.
Click here to view processes and strategies for successful groups and teams.
Click here to view a sample team charter.
7:40pm
Brainstorming session- Write group project ideas on board
7:50pm
BREAK
8:15pm
Writing Center resource presentation by Sandy Yannone
Click here to view more information.
9:00pm
Seminar