Term Paper on "Role of Public Administration in Our Postmodern"

Term Paper 7 pages (1805 words) Sources: 1

[EXCERPT] . . . .

role of public administration in our postmodern world. Specifically, they examine how we can understand ethical dilemmas so as to address them in a given social and cultural context. In taking a sociocultural approach, many of the models of public administration that we might use are based upon the needs of a society and culture of the late 1800's and 1900's. No longer are we living in the modern world; instead, we live in the postmodern world of rapid technological development as well as changing norms and values. As such, it is critical for governing to take place in a manner in which the changing norms and values of society are accounted for; to do this, the notion of "eternal vigilance" occurs when individuals work together in a democratic manner so as to create solutions and/or plans of action that reflect the changing needs of the company with the changing needs of society. Decisions arrived at through authoritarian means no longer suit the needs of the postmodern world.

We must be aware of the ways in which modernist world views conflict with the postmodern world in which we live. The modernist worldview is premised upon the following notions: (1) apply scientific method to problem solving (values: efficiency); (2) social relationships are more complex; (3) pluralization of society (increased diversity -- no common cultural bond).

Today, we use science to help us understand the world, but it is not the entire lens by which we examine the world. It is simply one way of looking at matters. In today's society, we play multitude of roles as we go through our days (protean model). As our country becomes more diverse, we lose the common cultural ties and we must remember that our future depends on our ability to understand one another and get along well.

Modernization has three major implications for public administration. First, administrators are often put in positions of political implication since we are constantly asked to make decisions regarding allocation of sparse resources. Second, any administrator is likely to have many different identities, and there will be times when conflict arises between the separate selves. In the post modern world, values are not universally accepted as of yet. Accordingly, when a conflict comes up between conflicting needs, the public administrator does not have a clear set of values to fall back upon. As such, we end up in a trading game of whose interests are more important: the interests of the administrator as an individual or the interest of the administrator as the financial manager. Third, administrators must be managers of diverse interests.

Ethical considerations emerge in the following ways: (1) agency -- political party; (2) agency -- agency; (3) agency -- constitutional branch.

The modernist way of responding to the needs of society was one of standardization: treat them all alike. Notions of equity were thought to be the means to equality. In a diverse world, to manage "rationally" does not make sense since the world is not made of the same or similar parts. We need to move away from traditional notions and focus on diverse needs.

There is a need for an adequate normative theory of public administration as well as an adequate normative ethical theory in order to deal effectively with diverse needs and interests. Ethical issues seems to emerge around three areas of life: (1) representation: should the administrator act as a trustee or a delegate; (2) education: sovereign nation implies that citizens have knowledge of issues and vote o on issues, and (3) implementation: should the administrator be the one to educate as well as the one to implement? Indeed, many questions have been raised as to what role should the administrator play in the postmodern world. The answers to this question is especially unclear given a lack of a postmodern normative theory of administration. Nonetheless, it is important to begin examining who should take responsibility.

Some say the most important word in administration is responsibility. In this case, we will examine two kinds of responsibility: objective (responsibility that comes from outside ourselves) and subjective (responsibility that comes from within ourselves/our feelings). There are two forms of objective responsibility: accountability and imposed obligation. Today's administrator needs to think beyond concerns of efficiency. There are other considerations to think about: justice, equality, fairness. Accountability includes practical and ethical considerations; and, an administrator must be able to answer for both considerations. The practicality (cost-effective side) of a decision is never the only consideration.

An administrator is responsible to elected officials, superiors, and subordinates. Moreover, there are important considerations in the postmodern world consist of asking oneself if all perspectives have been taken into consideration. If you are serving the public interest, then a beneficial strategy is to always act as though you might have to stand in front of the public and justify your actions. The author quotes Walter Lipman to define the public interest: the public interest is "what men would do if they saw clearly, thought rationally, and acted benevolently and disinterestingly." John Rawls has an interesting approach to define the public interest. He suggests first that the policymaker forget his/her own socioeconomic status and interest. This is called the "veil of ignorance" (92). In sum, the segment concludes that in making policy for the public interest, the policy maker ought to include rationality AND benevolence. Indeed, fairness needs to be a critical element in the overall administration of public policy.

Objective responsibility is that which we are bound to do; subjective responsibility pertains to what an individual believes he/she should be doing.

Sometimes subjective responsibility supports one's objective responsibility. Sometimes someone's idea of what they should be doing does not comport whatsoever with what he/she is actually doing. In fact, individuals may create a high degree of brain activities to keep their brain from falling down in a spiral. It is important to maintain one's sense of subjective responsibility. Subjective reality helps individuals maintain his/her values and helps them to foster and exude integrity. In a hypothetical case scenario such as Ms. Carmichael's situation (an aged woman who has lived in her home for a very long time without doing repairs and routine maintenance), the book outlines how objective responsibility and subjective responsibility work together to help an administrator come to a conclusion that reflects upon the public interest in devising an appropriate plan of action. In this case, the administrator was torn between what the law provided and what his sense of values was telling him to do. First, he made a list of the objective responsibilities and then he made one of his subjective responsibilities. Resolution is achieved when we are able to imagine an alternative that comports with our need for efficiency with the needs of others or our subjective needs.

Confronting conflicting responsibilities with schedules is one of the most common ethical dilemmas. In the conflicts of today's modern age, public administrators may be playing many roles; thus, the administrator may end up in a battle between the different interests represented by the roles within. The three conflicts that typically arise are as follows: conflict of authority, role conflicts, and conflicts of the self. One hypothetical is given of the policeman who was recently promoted to a leadership/supervisory position when a conflict regarding prospective salaries was occurred. He understood his objective responsibilities; however, his subjective responsibilities kept surfacing since he felt a strong sense of loyalty to his subordinates who just recently were his co-workers. His co-workers/subordinates see him as a connection to management and they rely on his concept of fairness. The management sees you as the one who can successfully communicate the policies to the staff and gain their approval. They also expect you to show compliance and loyalty to the management position and its goals. When examining the values of the two roles, they are not necessarily in conflict with one another. For instance, trust and loyalty are values that apply to both roles. According to Barnard, the more subjective roles an employee takes on, the more conflicts are bound to arise. Another theory was set forth by Banton who postulated that more conflicts between inner codes will occur in modern urban settings as opposed to traditional ones. Furthermore, the higher one moves up the ladder, the harder it is to resolve the growing conflicts amongst one's inner codes.

According to Barnard, several things occur as a result of the inner code conflicts that occur within upper management roles:

1. Moral deterioration as a result of conflict, frustration, and inability to make decisions.

2. A lessening of the sense of responsibility due to allowing external forces and chance determinants to make decisions.

3. Withdrawal from active leadership through such things as leave of absence, resignation.

4. Avoidance of responsibility by steering clear of conflict.

5. Development of ability to create other measures that satisfy needs and desires without violating the rules

Barnard sees the first four phenomenon as representing a dereliction of duties.… READ MORE

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