pp500: public administration and management unit 4 professor jamie scripps [email protected]
TRANSCRIPT
Housekeeping
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Unit 4 – Begin Group Project
Resource Allocation
This assignment will help you understand the hard decisions public administrators make when allocating financial resources.
Each year government agencies submit budget proposals to the federal government hoping to receive the amount requested. In most cases, the agency is required to fulfill its obligations with fewer resources than requested.
Unit 4 – Begin Group Project
For this project you will work with a small group to plan the annual expenditures for a federal agency.
You can “meet” with your group in the Group Project wiki space. The wiki is simply a space for you to collaborate with the other members of your group.
Click on the “Project Details” button in Unit 4 for more information about the Group Project.
Unit 4 – Written Assignment
For this project, you will create a PowerPoint presentation in which you research three government organizations.
One must be a federal agency and one must be a state or local agency.
The third organization can be federal, state, or local, based on your own interests.
Unit 4 – Written Assignment
Click on “Assignment Details” in Unit 4 for more information…
Questions?
Reading Assignment
Chapters 7 and 9
History of Public Personnel
The image of a “bloated” national bureaucracy may not completely accurate.
Since 1951, civilian employment in the national government remained relatively stable prior to the Bush administration build-up beginning in 2002, whereas state and local government employment increased dramatically.
State and Local Personnel
Total state and local employment, both full-and part- time, has nearly quadrupled, increasing from fewer than 4 million in 1951 to over 16 million in 2006. The figure for full-time equivalent ( FTE) employees was 16.14 million in March 2006 (see Table 7– 1).
State and Local Personnel
Nearly 80% of all state and local employees work as teachers, nurses, firefighters, police officers, or other public safety or correctional officers.
Public Realities
It has been suggested that it is increasingly state and local governments, along with private contractors, that actually translate national government directives into public realities.
Discussion Question
Most federal agencies have reduced the size of their workforces. Simultaneously, smaller staffs have to deal with increasing workloads, often using outdated technology. Should federal agency budgets be increased to compensate for this trend? What alternatives exist? Are these alternatives desirable? Why or why not?
President Clinton
The Clinton administration (1993– 2001) reduced civilian federal government employment by eliminating several layers of supervisory positions in nearly all federal executive departments.
President Bush
Under President Bush, growth in total federal employment increased by 7.4% between 2002 and 2006, but most of that was limited to homeland security, national defense, and federal criminal justice, with other functional areas absorbing deep cuts.
President Obama?
What has been the trend under the Obama Administration?
Which factors have contributed to this trend?
Evolution of Public Personnel Administration
The evolution of public personnel administration, from 1789 to the present, did not occur in a social or political vacuum.
Rather, development of the personnel function and of specific practices was related to other changes in public administration and society.
7 Stages of Evolution
Government by “gentlemen” reflected the powerful influence of the American quasi- aristocracy on all of politics.
7 Stages of Evolution
Government by the “common man” resulted from a movement toward a more egalitarian political system.
7 Stages of Evolution
Government by the “good” focused on elimination of corruption in hiring practices and equality of access to competitive entrance examinations.
7 Stages of Evolution
Government by the “efficient” was characterized by maintenance of the merit system and of political neutrality and by the pursuit of management efficiency.
7 Stages of Evolution
Government by “administrators” saw the development of an activist political role for public administrators.
7 Stages of Evolution
Government by “professionals” was a period of greater concern for recruiting, testing generalized skills of job applicants, and meeting the challenges of, as well as the opportunities for, increased professionalism in the public service.
7 Stages of Evolution
Government by “citizens, experts, and results” is driven by changes in technology, such as e- government facilitated by the Internet, and calls for increased accountability, performance, and minority participation.
The advent of electronic government has brought about nearly “real-time responses,” and access to information on the Internet has brought about a more informed and participatory citizenry.
Discussion Question
Which mode of public administration is preferable? Gentlemen? Common man? Good? Efficient? Administrators? Professionals? Citizens, experts, and results?
Historical Development of Public-Employee Organizations
Since the late 1950s, collective bargaining procedures— modeled largely after those in the private sector— have replaced traditional management- oriented, and management-controlled, personnel practices in many jurisdictions and at all levels of government.
Collective Bargaining
formalized process of negotiation between management and labor; involves specified steps, in a specified sequence, aimed at reaching an agreement (usually stipulated in contractual form) on terms and conditions of employment, covering an agreed- on period of time; a cycle that is repeated upon expiration of each labor– management con-tract or other agreement.
Who’s the boss?
If nothing else, the taxpayer still has to foot the bill (however indirectly) for costs incurred in reaching agreements.
It is no longer the case that formal bargaining and other forms of decision making in this area can take place without some accounting being made to the ultimate board of directors, that is, the people.
Discussion Question
What are the apparent impacts and implications of public- sector collective bargaining? What areas of the subject, if any, merit further study?
Administrative Process
Formal Arrangements of Personnel Systems
Formal Tasks of Personnel AdministrationPosition ClassificationRecruitment, examination, and selection.
Summary
Public personnel administration has evolved from a fairly routine function of government to a very controversial one. Personnel practices have varied, reflecting at different times the values of strong executive leadership and political representativeness on the one hand and politically neutral competence on the other.
Questions?