Term Paper on "War and the Effects on Public Administration and Its Agencies"

Term Paper 12 pages (3482 words) Sources: 10

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War and Public Administration

War and its Effects on Public Administration

This work details the many possible effects that war can have on the public administration of a nation. The discussion spans the breath of affect possibilities with regard to both a national involvement in foreign war and resulting policy change as well as the possible affects that war my produce in a nation that has experienced civil war, which is the contingency where the most change will likely occur in public administration. Regardless of the fact that war can and often does have a fundamentally profound effect on public administration the melding of these two social phenomena is an area with only limited research focus. This work attempts to raise and discuss questions that need further address in research regarding both the effects of war in the long and short-term and on the research body of public administration in general.

Introduction

War is an affective social condition that often, depending on impetus, length, severity and level of violence seriously affects the very fiber of nations engaged in it. There is a clear sense that one of the most foundational aspects of any society democratic or otherwise is that of the public administration. No nation, no matter how large or small can function effectively in growth, recovery or even in decline without the support of the public administration. Yet, rarely within research do you see these two aspects of society, public administration and war discussed in any but the most basic manner. People often think of public administration as a necessary element in the development of any centralized entity that moves slowly, progressing through necessary changes as the need arises. Given this emphasis it might be difficult to see that during periods of war and during their aftermath public administration is therefore in an unnatural state where rapid and sweeping changes often occur literally over night. (Mohammed, 1999) When this happens the dynamics are as varied as the reasons and standards of war and change can be mostly positive, such as when public administrative changes occurred in the U.S. And the UK after WWII, (Manning & Shaw, 2000) or wholly degrading to the nation whose backbone has been altered to its very core, such as when South Africa was forced to retain a large portion of its pre-civil war public administration staff after the conflict was over. (Evans, 1997)

War can fundamentally fracture public administration to such a degree that the entire productivity of a nation comes to a screeching halt. War can pervade public administration in a real way, by allowing civil servants to become pawns in the hands of the enemy (especially when the enemy is within) or it can create long standing social strife over the composition of the public administration when such an administration, after the close of the war is reinstated in part or in whole to allow the nation to heal and redirect itself to peacetime survival or prosperity. Finally war and a nation's involvement in it can alter the manner in which public administration operates in the future, in both positive and negative ways, depending on the circumstances, possible level of corruption and ultimately on the strength of the system or its policies that predate the war. (Bruck, 1997)

It also must be noted here that during periods of war the aspects of the nation which are frequently targeted are those that are specifically under the jurisdiction of the public administration in many nations. Things like transportation, communication, infrastructure and certain military operations and functions are often governed and administered by bureaucratic departments in both peacetime and war and these areas are often those hardest hit both physically and fiscally. Additionally, public administration in many nations is the main branch of infrastructure of social services, medical care and many other fundamental programs that are not only needed but sorely needed in periods of strife. With the public administration flailing, as a result of personnel loss/replacement, swift and broad policy changes, lack of security to function or basic and broad civil unrest a nation and its people can be far more affected than can ever be expected not only by the reality of war but by the reality of not having a strong enough infrastructure to maintain it. (Mohammed, 1999) (Bruck, 1997)

When such conflicts also involve civil unrest, such as is the case in civil wars, often the desire of the victor is to clean house, removing all those in public administration that they deem aids of the former administration and this sort of change can create crippling situations of unrest where entire departments that have nothing whatsoever to do with war are rendered incapable of real operations. These very agencies are often those which are most likely to aid in reconstruction and support of civilians during and after war.

Armed conflicts have some cultural impact as they bring about the development of a long-run "culture of violence." Whole generations have grown up in cultures of armed warfare and violence.14 Wars also result in the breakdown of governments, civil societies, and public institutions. Democratic institutions disappear gradually after prolonged civil wars while neglect to civil and social institutions, deteriorating in human rights and prevalence of corruption in public administration usually follow the outbreak of armed conflicts. (Mohammed, 1999, p. 7)

When one seriously thinks about all the possible functions of public administration, from the employment of police and security forces to the administrators of medical and social service care the outcome of sweeping change can be astronomical in nature and yet little research has been done on this very question, outside the very nominal aspect of sweeping statements of possible logical change.

Discussion

Within context of our own government there has been a relatively new emphasis on treating every aspect of service as if it is a true service industry, as if it is a business with all the applications of business terminology and concepts. This trend has created a system where public administration has overlaid a template upon itself that is borrowed from a profit seeking environment, with an emphasis on consumer satisfaction and outcome testing as the final statistical product. The problem for many is that public administration is not a business, profit seeking is not a demand and the people it serves are not customers but invested citizens seeking access to programs and services which by their very nature should be considered innate, or in a sense a part of their birthright and their birth responsibility. Just as it is their responsibility to vote in a democratic society it is also their responsibility to serve and access services in an environment where civil service is paramount to citizenship. (Denhardt & Denhardt, 2007, p. 45-46) Yet, this is not the case in all nations as public service is in many places an absolutely essential aspect of the public meeting of needs, with no fundamental agent of change, secondary to the political whim of the given leader, there is no essential focus on quality, beyond the caring of an individual agent and the well meaning of a given policy developer. In many nations the civil service is one of the largest and most stable employers in the nation, and this is especially true with regard to nations in unrest. Though public administration may be corrupt at any level it still serves as one of the largest employers of people and as a foundational mainstay to life in the given society. When war occurs public administration develops cracks and fissures that leave many without some of the most basic services. Many nations have only limited privatized services and therefore alternatives do not exist when the public administration is unable to function. This is true of medical care, public utilities, transportation, building support services, transportation services and many other essential services that drive progress and movement in a nation.

An even higher rate of destruction and erosion was experienced by the railway system, a visually obvious and politically suitable target for attacks. Table 3 also indicates the constant, high level of military activity and subsequent insecurity experienced throughout the 1980s. (Bruck, 1997)

Examples are rampant where whole economies would grind to a halt if the public administration was fundamentally unable to go to work on Monday morning and for any length of time.

The front line for international interventions that exercise any degree of political authority in transition has proved to be at the level of local administration. Here, the Western-style paradigm of state building, which is preoccupied with forming a national executive, legislature, and judiciary, confronts resilient traditional structures, socially legitimate powerholders, abusive warlords out to win, or coping mechanisms communities rely on under conflict conditions. Options for the establishment or reconstruction of governing institutions seem stark: either reinforce the status quo and build on it, further empowering the already strong; or replace altogether what exists with a new administrative order. (Chopra & Hohe, 2004)

As Chopra and Hohe note in the above… READ MORE

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