The Concepts of Public Administration and their Contribution to Effective Governance - Paper Example

Introduction

The 2003 State of the Union speech was delivered by President George W. Bush of the United States in January of the same year. This memorable speech was delivered at a time in history when Americans were in the process of recovering from the devastating effects of the 9/11 terror attack. The Department of Homeland Security was hurriedly formed to improve internal security, and the nation was finalizing on its plan to confront the proliferation of nuclear bombs production in Iraq. Besides terrorism, America was in a deep state of economic crisis. Unemployment was at the highest level since the great depression period. The legislature was working on legislative reforms to improve taxation and to combat organized corporate crimes. This discussion examines the contribution of different public administration concepts mentioned in the President's speech in solving the many problems America was facing at the time the speech was delivered.

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Ethical Perspectives on Public Administration

The President mentions the commitment of his government to observe the ethical obligation to the people. Ethics in public administration is interpreted as the moral conduct that provides the framework that guides the relationship between the public and the government. Under the codes that define the ethical responsibility in the public administration sector, the government is mandated with the task of compulsory intervention to ascertain that its citizens can access essential services like healthcare and education (Plant, 2018). Ethically, it is the responsibility of the government to facilitate the establishment of the private agencies that are willing to supplement the provision of services alongside the government agencies. The government also has a responsibility to regulate the private agencies to ensure they operate in compliance with the law.

Among the essential provision of services that are the duties of the government are healthcare and education and security. It is the government's ethical obligation to provide education and ensure access to healthcare for all the citizens. The security of the citizens too is the sole responsibility of the government. It is for this reason that every administration must fight drug trade and drug use within its borders. Drug abuse and drug trade are some of the worst crimes that costs the tax payers billions of dollars to fight.

The President reiterates the position of the government in ensuring they provide better healthcare, education and participate in fighting drug abuse. The government plans to make the healthcare system efficiently functional. The President asserts that the problems of healthcare would not be with a rigid and socially discriminative coverage and rationed care (THE WHITE HOUSE, 2013). He submits that the solution lies with the adoption of an all-inclusive healthcare system that provides an affordable and effective healthcare policy. This message in support of health reforms set America to prioritize health care over any other thing (Plant, 2018). Today, the Department of Health spends the biggest portion of America's national budget. The government is alive to its ethical obligations for the provision of affordable healthcare for all the citizens.

Social Equity & Leadership in the Public Sector

Promoting social equity and leadership is an essential element of the President's speech. Social capital can be defined as a set of standards that define our relationships with other people and groups. The University of San Francisco defines social equity in public administration as, "the commitment to promote fairness, justice, and equity in the formation of public policy (The University of San Francisco, n.d.)." The government is committed to ensuring that the public institutions serve all Americans with the utmost respect and dignity. The President's position on this issue is that the government must work on lifting the standards of the public schools as part of education reform (THE WHITE HOUSE). Education must be made available and accessible to all children. Observance of social equity is a vital element of preserving the essence of democracy and human dignity in America.

According to the President, promoting social equity does not end with uplifting the plight of the less privileged alone, but also in ensuring that everyone is treated equally and the laws of the land do not discriminate against any citizen. The President talks of "passing tough reforms" to tame corporate crime (THE WHITE HOUSE, 2013). The taxation reform policies are modeled in a way that will define how to deal with the established business that practices the unethical conduct of tax evasion.

The implementation of social equity is an essential aspect of ensuring there is a transparent resource distribution framework that embodies fairness and equality. The principles of social equity dictate that all citizens have a voice in matters of national interest (Johnson, 2015). Social equity is measured through the indices of procedural fairness, distributional and process equity together with outcome disparities. The essence of these indicators is to make it practical for the government to adhere to the due process in the protection of her citizens, distribution of resources and service deliveries.

Public Administration and Public Values

Upholding public values is part of the United States' public administration. In public administration, public values involve the benefits and assistance that an organization is giving to the society (Bryson, Crosby & Bloomberg, 2015). America describes itself as a blessed land regarding resources and opportunities. In observing public values, America extends its reach beyond its borders. The nation is actively involved in fighting poverty, inequality by promoting food security and access to affordable healthcare to poor countries, especially in Africa. State agencies like the USAID represent America's effort of uplifting the status of the marginalized people in the whole world. In his speech, the President informs the public of America's extensive plan to help fight diseases in the mostly impoverished Africa where HIV/AIDS is prevalent, but only 10 percent of the population can access healthcare. To solve this problem, the President suggests the Congress support his suggestion to allocate a total of US $ 15 billion for five years.

America is the single largest contributor to the international food donation programs. Statistically, the amount of food that America donates to other countries sums up to at least 60 % of world total food production. Besides offering contributions, America's intervention in support of other nations to achieve stability is visible. America has been very proactive in negotiating the peace deal to restore stability and democracy in Palestine and to secure Israel from external aggression (Bryson et al., 2015). The President says, the qualities of compassion for humanity and the courage that America strives for must manifest in their conduct abroad.

Collaborative Governance and Network Management in Democracy

Part of America's effective public administrative policies is its ability to formulate workable collaborative governance and network management in democracy. The concept of collaborative governance as the constructive cross-boundary engagement between public and private agencies to achieve a common goal that is in the interest of the public (Daniela, Marco & Norma, 2016). Beyond its internal collaboration with institutions, the American government has partnered with the foreign government in the fight against terror and in the quest for the restoration of democracy that is significantly challenged by the grip of despotic rulers.

The collaborative network that America has built with nations in the Middle East has led to the arrest of many terror group leaders and the members of their militia group in the years that the world has been in a panic over the emergent of lethal violent terror groups. In the early years of 2000, America had liberated Afghanistan from the violent rule of insurgents (Daniela et al., 2016). The coordination that America does with the help of her soldiers and the citizens of goodwill in the affected nation contribute to successful cases of liberation, restoration of democracy and social order.

In his speech, President Bush applauds the triumph of coalition efforts in managing terror threats in all its targeted embassies. Part of the President's statement confirms that the government is working on closely with the like-minded nations to prevent further attacks (THE WHITE HOUSE, 2003). Public decision-making in the legislative arm of government affects the overall performance of the administration because it either gives light to or forestalls, the progress of the government (Perri, 2013). In the speech, the President is imploring the Congress to accept and pass the motions that support his budget plans. The legislative reforms of the Congress and the Senate would help his policy proposals to become laws.

Public Decision Making

The President demonstrates his knowledge in the understanding of the model of public decision-making and public participation in America. Every plan that the President talks of is a policy proposal that would still need rigorous analysis, evaluation and the revision of the Congress to become an operational law. Any dysfunctional working relationship between the executive and the legislative arms of government embodies an impending stalemate in the making and implementation of laws in America (Perri, 2013). The President expresses his gratitude to the Congress for co-operating with the executive (THE WHITE HOUSE, 2003). It is for this reason that the President is appealing to the principal law-making arm of the government to pass the proposed policies for the interest of the public.

Conclusion

The concepts of ethics in governance, public values, public participation in decision-making and collaborative governance addressed in the State of the Union speech form part of the essential tenets of governance in America. The year 2003 remains a significant period in America's historical calendar because it was a time that the nation was struggling to overcome severe economic and security challenges. The government was operating against the waves of overwhelming public expectation to resuscitate the economic glory of the nation. Threats to the safety of the American citizens and the deteriorating health care system were the most the priority of the government. The government had to embrace the public administration concepts of governance to tame corruption and collaborate with the private agencies to improve service delivery to the citizens. The collaborations are also essential in helping Americans fight terror in other parts of the world. The President's emphasis on protecting social equity is an indication that the nation has respect for democracy respect for democracy that defines the essence of equality under the law.

References

Bryson, J.M., Crosby, B. C., & Bloomberg, L. (Ed.). (2015. Public Value and Public Administration. Washington D.C: Georgetown University Press

Cristofoli, D., Meneguzzo, M., & Riccuci, N. (2016). Collaborative administration: the management of successful networks. Public Management Review, 19(3), 275-283. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2016.1209236

Johnson, N. J. (2015). Justice for all: Promoting social equity in public administration. (New York, NY): Taylor & Francis.

Perri. (2013). EXPLAINING DECISION-MAKING IN GOVERNMENT: THE NEO-DURKHEIMIAN INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK. Public Administration, 92(1), 87-103. doi:10.1111/padm.12039

Plant, J. F. (2018). Responsibility in Public...