Chapter 8Public Administration: Budgeting and Service Delivery

Public Employees in State and Local Government: Who They Are, What They Do

Budgeting in State and Local GovernmentHuman Resource Policy in State and Local

Government: From Patronage to MeritThe Politics of BureaucracyReinventing GovernmentThe Quality of Public Administration

Bureaucracy

Bureaucracy is the administrative branch of government, consisting of all executive offices and their workers.

Bureaucracy is frequently depicted as out of control, wasteful and inefficient. Yet, bureaucratic organization is key to public administration.

Government workers are just as motivated, competent, and ethical as private-sector workers.

Comparing Public- and Private-Sector Employees

Public Employees in State and Local Government

More than 19.3 million employees work for states and localities.

The total payroll costs for state and local governments exceed $700 billion.

States and localities with large populations and high levels of per capita income provide more services and thus employ larger numbers of workers than do smaller, less affluent jurisdictions.

Approximately one of every six working Americans is employed by the government at some level.

Budgeting in State and Local Government

The politics of the budgetary process involve all of the familiar political and bureaucratic players: chief executives, interest groups, other government employees, the general public, firms and industries, and the recipients of legislative appropriations.

Without a budgetary appropriation, state and local organizations would cease to exist.

Public Management and Private Management: What are the Distinctions?

The Budget Cycle

Budgets are normally based on a fiscal (financial) year rather than on the calendar year.

Fiscal years run in all but four states from July 1 through June 30.

Most local governments’ fiscal years also extend July 1 to June 30.

The budgeting cycle can be identified as: preparation, formulation, adoption, execution and audit.

The Budget Process

The Budget Process

Formulation, or initial development, of the budget documentation is the responsibility of the chief executive in most states and localities.

Once the executive budget has gone through a lengthy review process, the legislative body enacts the amended budget.

During budget execution, monies from the state or local general fund are periodically allocated to agencies to try to achieve program goals.

The audits can be either fiscal, performance, or operational and management in nature.

The Actors in Budgeting

The four main actors participating in the budget process are:

Interest groupsAgenciesThe Chief ExecutiveThe Legislative Body

Interest groups organize testimony at budget hearings and pressure the other three actors to pursue favored policies and programs.

Types of Budgets

Line-item budget: a budget that lists detailed expenditure items such as personal computers and paper, with no attention to the goals or objectives of spending.

Performance budget: budgeting that is organized to account for the outcomes of government programs. The idea here is to focus attention on how effectively work is being done rather than on what is being acquired.

Capital budget: a budget that plans large expenditures for long-term investments, such as buildings or highways.

Human Resource Policy in State and Local Government

President Andrew Jackson wanted to open up national government jobs to all segments of white, male society. In an attempt to do so, he created the patronage system. Hiring could depend on party affiliation and other political alliances rather than job-related qualifications.

The patronage system made appointees accountable to the governor, or whoever appointed them, but did nothing to ensure honesty and competence.

The Merit System

The concept of the Merit System is usually associated with the national campaign for the passage of the Pendleton Act of 1883.

The Pendleton Act set up an independent, bipartisan civil service commission to make objective, merit-based selections for federal job openings.

Merit System: the organization of government personnel providing for hiring and promotion on the basis of knowledge, skills, and abilities rather than patronage or other influences.

Merit-System Controversies

Representative BureaucracyThe concept of representative bureaucracy suggests

that the structure of government employment should reflect major sexual, racial, socioeconomic, religious, geographic, and related components in society.

A controversial question is how to achieve a representative workforce. One way to achieve this is through affirmative action.

Affirmative action is the special efforts to recruit, hire, and promote members of disadvantaged groups to eliminate the effects of past discrimination.

Merit-System Controversies

Sexual HarassmentSexual harassment is common in the workplace, yet is

illegal according to federal and state law. It is increasingly being prosecuted in the courts.

UnionsPublic-employee unions present a potentially serious

threat to the merit principle. Until the 1960s, federal legislation protected the rights of workers in industry to organize and engage in collective bargaining.

Collective Bargaining is a formal arrangement in which representatives of labor and management negotiate wages, benefits, and working conditions.

Collective Bargaining

The Politics of Bureaucracy

Bureaucrats are involved in making public policy, from the design of legislation to its implementation.

Bureaucratic discretion is the ability of public employees to make decisions interpreting law and administrative regulations.

Clientele groups are groups that benefit from a specific government program, such as contractors and construction firms in state highway department spending programs.

Reinventing Government

Although state and local government employment has increased dramatically, this does not mean that the quantity and quality of services are better.

One strategy towards more effective government is called New Public Management.

New Public Management is an international movement to improve government efficiency and effectiveness through market-based solutions.

Privatization and E-Government

Privatization shifts government functions to private or nonprofit organizations through such service arrangements as vouchers, franchises, public-private partnerships, and contracting out.

Privatization is seen as a positive reform with much support, especially among conservatives.

E-Government involves the use of information technology to simplify and improve interactions between governments and citizens, firms, and other entities.

The Quality of Public Administration

The quality of public administration in state and local government has improved markedly.

The capacity is generally higher in affluent, highly educated, and urban environments.

State and local governments, particularly through partnerships with private and nonprofit organizations, have the capacity to accomplish more than ever before.