Lecture 2: Role and Principles of Public Administration

CHAPTER 1: PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: CONCEPTS, APPROACHES AND CONTEXT

ROLE AND PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION:

Public administration is a complex process that encompasses social, economic, legal, and political concerns. Due to the complexity of the public sector, management and regulation become a challenge. To ensure that public administration is adequately regulated and administered, comprehensive legislation covering all areas and aspects of the sector had to be adopted. A unified common law to govern the public sector has been a highly contentious topic in the United States; this could be attributed to the governor's reluctance to be constrained by statutes that would bind the public sector's enhanced benefits.

However, over time, as democratic inclinations emerged, features that promote excellent management and governance were accepted. Political progress has resulted in agreement on the critical principles that can be adopted to ensure that the government's services to the people are outstanding.

The following principles have been considered critical:

1. Reliability and predictability: This principle states that in order for a government initiative to be deemed satisfactory, whether, in the form of services or practices, it must be trustworthy in terms of being consistent and accurate in addressing the prospective needs for which it was intended. Government programs should be predictable, which can only be accomplished through a concerted effort on the part of the government agencies responsible for the programs to remain consistent in their execution of their duties in a methodical manner. On the same note, government programs designed to meet public needs should have legal certainty or judicial security.

2. Openness and transparency: The government helps society by levying taxes and imposing various customs on them through increased costs. In exchange, the government is expected to manage the resources collected, and plan and allocate them to various public initiatives in order to better meet public requirements.

3. Accountability: Generally, government-sponsored programs are accountable for all activities and procedures associated with their programs that aim to satisfy the public. Accountability in and of itself is the process by which the government defends the acts it does in the service of the public while also accepting responsibility for the actions it takes in attaining its objectives, whether they have positive or negative consequences.

4. Efficiency and effectiveness: Efficiency is a principle used by government-sponsored initiatives to guarantee that all available resources are utilized without wasting time, money, or effort. When the government practices efficiency, it becomes more effective at serving public demands without wasting time, effort, or money.