Public Administration in Britain

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Public Administration in Britain

• 2 What is Public Administration?

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BS1032 Public Administration in Britain 2
What is Public Administration?

• Academic disciplines that feed into public
  administration are
• Political science
• Government
• Economics
• Law
• Sociology and Social Policy

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BS1032 Public Administration in Britain 2
What is Public Administration?

• Applied disciplines that contribute to public
  administration are
• Organisation theory
• Management Science and Operations Research
• Finance
• ICT
• Quantitative Methods

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BS1032 Public Administration in Britain 2
What is Public Administration?

• One approach is that it studies
• The activities of public servants (i.e.
  whatever roles they are called upon to perform)
• The structure of executive government i.e.
  structures and patterns of relationships

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BS1032 Public Administration in Britain 2
What is Public Administration?

• Two different approaches are
• Legal/administrative
• - A strong centralist tendency
• - Strongly influenced by legal influences
  (powers, duties of local authorities
  towards citizen, centre)
• - Very much a Continental (Napoleonic?)
  tradition

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BS1032 Public Administration in Britain 2
What is Public Administration?

• Two different approaches are
• Managerialist
• - Strategic planning
• - Management by Objectives
• - Financial Management regimes
  (e.g. cost centres)
• - Budgetary controls
• - Use of Management Information Systems,
  ICT

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BS1032 Public Administration in Britain 2
What is Public Administration?

• Modern concerns include
• Efficiency, Economy and Effectiveness (3 Es)
• Control of the executive i.e. scrutiny and
  accountability
• value for money
• Modernisaion
• Constitutional issues including
  devolution,Reform of 2nd chamber, regional
  assemblies, place in Europe

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BS1032 Public Administration in Britain 2
What is Public Administration?

• But we are now seeing the growth of Quangocracy
  i.e. institutions removed from direct government
  control
• Health (although NHS remains top of the
  political agenda!)
• Education (Schools, Higher education)
• Utilities (privatised or semi-privatised)
• Regulatory and control mechanisms (Courts,
  prisons, regulatory offices)

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BS1032 Public Administration in Britain 2
What is Public Administration?

• Stakeholder theory of the modern commercial firm
• Shareholders
• ?
• Consumers ? Managers ?
  Suppliers
• ? ?
  ?
• (Community) Employees (Legal)

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BS1032 Public Administration in Britain 2
What is Public Administration?

• Stakeholder theory of the public servant
• (Ministers) Parliament
  (Auditors)
• ? ?
  ?
• Businesses? Managers ?
  Ratepayers
• ? ?
  ?
• Community Voters
  Legal Requirements

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BS1032 Public Administration in Britain 2
What is Public Administration?

• You are organising an educational system for
  Turkghanistan.
• How do you solve the following dilemmas?
• Who pays?
• Organised centrally or locally?
• How do you measure effectiveness?
• How do you deal with opposition to your ideas?