Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Foundation of public administration


By; Emmmanuel A Turuka


"politicians and public administrators fulfill different and potential overlapping roles within the U.S system governance. What advantages and disadvantages are there to the lack of “ administration” in the U.S Constitution? What specific Constitution amendments would you suggest to correct this situation? [If none, how would you suggest overcoming the disadvantages?]"
The United States of America is well known around the world as the father of democracy because of the good principles, especially the separation of powers that have been outlined in the Constitution. The genius of the American system of government is that its powers and authority are deliberately divided. This division means that the President (Executive), the Congress (Legislative), and the courts (Judicial) each mathematically can serve as one-third of the American governmental body. This doctrine of separation of powers is a fundamental rule of law deeply embedded in American culture and governmental commitment to equal distribution of power, and makes the U.S. Constitution as a living document. Beckett and Koening  (2005) argues:
The discussions of legal foundations of government commonly begin with the U.S. Constitution because it is the founding document and the supreme law of the land. The constitution establishes the foundation and authority of government and provides the structure and functions of the three primary branches: legislative, executive and judicial. (p. 1)
The clear goal of the Constitution is to have a perfectly balanced scale because, if powers were not shared and checked, a dictator or power monger would control the destiny of the rights and the liberties of citizens.
In modern times, every society has a government and the role of government is to fulfill the need of society. Government is the composition of politicians on one hand and administrators on the other hand. Politicians are elected officials who are selected for a specific time while administrators are appointed by governing boards. The role of administrators is the execution of the law, policy, and chinks. In fulfilling their duties, politicians and administrators fulfill different and potentially overlapping roles, because administrators are committed to politicians’ goals and at the same time engage in interactions with politicians. Box  (2004) argue:
Public service practitioners are often involved in providing information and giving recommendations to policy makers as they formulate a policy, before policy decision is made. However, it was also recognized that the relationship between practitioners and elected officials is an ongoing part of governance in public organizations. (p. 39)
Wilson (1887), in other words, argued that public administration is a detailed systematic execution of public law. Every particular application of general law is an act of administration.
Public administration has not been given a separate article or description in the Federal Constitution. When one reads the constitution Article 1 gives power to the Legislative branch (Congress), Article 2 Gives power to Executive branch (President) and Article 3 gives power to judicial branch (Court).  There is no place where administration has been mentioned in these three major foundation Articles in the U.S. Constitution.
The advantage of a lack of administration in the Constitution is that, in essence, all three government functions have been collapsed to the administration; thus, public administrators make rules, (legislature) implement these rules (Executive) and adjudicate questions concerning their application and execution (Judicial). According to Beckett and Koening (2005),” Public administrators rule every branch of government. The source and structure for public administrators is an essential concern in bureaucratic theory.” (p. 3). Other theories have also argued that public administration should base more on management side rather than the foundation of law.
The disadvantage of the lack of constitutional language about administration affects the importance and legitimacy of public administration practice. Public administration is organized around the professional responsiveness. The basic concept behind responsiveness is that, since the administrative branch is a policy execution center of government, it must be structured to enable function to counteract factions by providing efficiency and effectiveness. This is well illustrated in Max Weber’s ideal type of bureaucracy, which, instead of allowing overlapping in duties Max Weber’s ideal stresses the importance of functional specialization for efficiency by adopting the concept of hierarchy for effective coordination. In this ideal overlapping should be minimized, and not overdone. The same ideas have well explained in Pendleton Act that public administrator should be based on merit rather than political connections.
A second disadvantage is that the source of legal authority for government is hard to identify. Some powers are enumerated, but there is silence as to others. Take the example of the will of the majority generally prevails, but is limited when the exercise of that would also violate individual rights. This often limits what can be done by administration in implementing public policy as the Constitutional rights of states and individuals, must be observed and protected.
            The specific Constitutional amendment I would propose to ensure that public administration is efficient, effective, responsive, and accountable is through the repeal of the 17th amendment, which talks about how to elect senators. Senators compose one branch of the Constitution (legislative), which makes laws. The changes of the method of electing senators from one whereby they are elected by legislatures of the various states to one in which they are elected by direct popular vote of the people within the state. The logic behind is to transfer more power to popular control away from the state legislature, thereby weakening the power of the state to advance its interest as defined by a majority of its people through the state legislature. The 17th Amendment removes both a built-in negation of popular sovereignty and a means of advancing state policy that was an inherent part of the original checks and balances under the Constitution. Also, by restoring the election of senators to the methods directed by the founding fathers, the rule of corruption can be weakened and the influence of the states in affecting national policy can be restored to its original stature.
As a conclusion the lack of administration in the Constitution should not be an excuse for causing mismanagement or inefficiency in enhancing the role of administrators in performing their duties. The Constitution is central to the public administration; despite administration having no chance of being in the Constitution, one cannot talk about good public practitioners outside the Constitution. Good public administration means good constitutionalism. Despite being left out, every public administrator who understands not only the importance of the constitution but also, what it means about the politics/administration dichotomy will improve his or her effectiveness. I personally believe that without Public administration the national and its constitutional system might fail to operate effectively. Nalbandian  (1994) pointes that:
Despite the desire of these managers simply to do their job, they cannot escape the fact their role places them on a very prominent stage and ensures continued examination of their roles, responsibilities and values as they continue to serve the needs of elected officials who are operating in an even more challenging environment.

Also as we have seen in the above context the lack of administration in the Constitution has devolved to the public administrators more responsibility along with the three branches of government. Because of this responsibility, selection of public administrators should be done strictly on the basis of merit to avoid litigation. Despite the lack of administration in the Constitution, the separation of politics and administration holds out the hope that public administrators can be held accountable for providing efficiency in government with the same vigor and discipline in policy execution. And if it happens that there is tension between politics and administration during the overlapping process, such a situation can be reconciled where politicians and administrators share an understanding of their roles and their limitations.


Reference:
Box R.C. (2004). Public administration and society: Critical issues in american governance. M.E Sharpe, Inc.
Beckett J., Koenig H.O. (2005). Public administration and law. M.E Sharpe, Inc.
Nalbandian J. (1994). Reflection of a pracademic on the logic of politics and administration.  Public Administration Review 54 (6) 531-536.
Wilson W. (1887) The study of administration. Political Quarterly II (2) 197-222.

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