Random Thoughts on Public Administration Part 1
NOTES ON PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
MEANING OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
The society is
made up of both public and private sectors.
The public sector is the entire
collectivity of any polity or society with the control under the aegis of the government. The private sector concerns the narrow
interest of the individual or the few rather than the entire societal populace.
Public
administration is a combination of ‘public’ and ‘administration’ which have individual interpretations. Public administration as combined words can
therefore be simply defined as the organization and management of public
resources for the attainment of public goals.
Dwight Waldo
(1955) sees public administration as a process of carrying into effect
governmental law contained in various policies, which is an expression of
government’s authoritative allocation of values and action.
In a similar way,
Herald Gortner (1977) views
public administration as
involving co-ordination of all organized activities, having as its
purpose the implementation of public
policy.
From these
descriptions, public administration is
the vehicle for implementing
government programmes
Public administration is
the action part
of government. Actions of
government and what it does are best perceived through what public officials
are seen doing.
Public administration performs
some traditional roles
which are best categorized by
Luther Gulick’s famous
acronym – POSDCORB. The acronym
contains the first
initials of the
seven most obvious
tasks administrators perform. The
letters in the acronym respectively stand for –
Planning; organizing; staffing;
directing; coordinating; reporting;
and budgeting. Let us explain them in details.
Planning:
Kunle Ajayi (2000:3)
describes planning as
a process of decision – making which involves
developing a broad outline of activities to be carried out and the methods
of execution as to how to accomplish
goal or objectives of the
establishment.
Planning has two
broad categories namely tactical
planning and strategic planning.
Tactical Planning concerns short range, short duration programmes ranging from one, to five years. An example of this is government’s annual
budgets. Strategic planning covers a
much longer period, usually ranging
from five to fifty years or more. Strategic
planning is more prevalent in developed countries of Canada, United States,
France, Germany, and Britain, to mention
a few. Some developing countries also have such long-range
plans, for examples,
Nigeria under the
Abacha regime instituted VISION
2010, while South Korea has 2020 economic agenda.
In general,
planning is concerned with “what” and how of organizations. The
“what’ are the
objectives/goals, while “how”
concerns parameters for
achieving the goals.
Organising. This
deals with designing
the structural framework
of an establishment. It
provides the formal
structure, flow of
authority, the hierarchy and flow
of communication. The organizational chart depicts the
structure of the establishment. The
efficiency of any organization, in part, is determined by its level of
organization.
Staffing: No organization can attain its goals without
the human resources. Staffing borders
on personnel recruitment
and employment into
the establishment. It also covers
the whole range of
personnel management including industrial relations.
Directing; Personnel act on instructions and directives
in carrying out their duties. Directing therefore concerns giving specific
and general directions on a continuous and regular basis by supervisors to the subordinates.
Directives,
guidance and initiatives are provided by the leadership during policy-making process
and execution, in
Nigeria, the Minister
or Commissioner gives policy
directives in his ministry.
Coordinating: Organisations are
structured into various
departments sections, divisions and units. The activities of sub-units need be coordinated
if organizational goals are to be realized.
At the federal level, the activities of
the various ministries
are coordinated by
the Secretary to
the federal government.
Reporting: This is a feedback system from subordinates
to the superiors on the
achievement of the
set goals of
the organization. The
problems encountered in the process of attaining the goals are also forwarded
upward to the management for the desired attention and rectification. Reporting also provides a system of measuring
the success or failures of the organization with a view to know if there is a
need for improvement where necessary.
Budgeting: Budgeting
concerns the financial
management of the organization. No organization can effectively
function without financial resources
either internally or
externally sourced. Therefore, budgeting covers fiscal planning, accounting
and control.
It also involves
the need for accountability and plugging of financial leakages and
corruption in the
public set up.
Budgeting also suggests
ways of generating financial resources which may
include both internal and external avenues.
Auditing of the
public resources is also part of budgeting.
This is necessary in order to instill financial discipline and prevent
misappropriation, wastage and embezzlement of public resources.
Public
administrators performs all these functions in.
In addition to these, they also
perform some other functions.
1. They maintain
the cont6inuity of
government. During
periods of political
instability when constituted governments
are either sacked by
coup de tats
or societal revolt
resulting in the
removal of authorized
public administrators civil servants
usually hold force by continuing to
provide the necessary
social services until
a government can
emerge. Public administrators in
Nigeria have performed this role several times, especially during the coups of
1966 and 1983.
2. Public administrators maintain law and order. They assist
in the maintenance of law
and order. They
assist in the
provision of administrative legislation for the
regulation of certain activities. For instance, regulations guiding sales of
patient medicine.
3. In developing
countries like Nigeria,
public administrators are responsible for the provision of some
social amenities and services such as pipe-borne water, electricity and refuse
disposal.
PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION VERSUS BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
You learned in
the last unit
that public administrators perform
various functions including the
traditional functions of
administrators in general. You will recall that these traditional functions
are planning, organizing,
staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting and budgeting. Other functions
of public administrators are:
participating in decision-making either
directly or in terms
of merely providing the necessary
information and advice; Implementation of
government policies delegated
legislating; administrative
judicial functions; administrative and maintenance of social services;
performing regulatory roles; and
government during periods of political instability and uncertainty.
Public
administration is remarkably different from private administration otherwise
called business administration.
We shall only
highlight the basic distinctions between
them by merely stating the characteristics of business
administration only:
1 Business administration is
the marshalling of
resources for the attainment of private ends often
referred to as profit. Whereas, public
administration mobilized governmental resources
for the realization
of public goals embracing the
people’s welfare and happiness. Thus, government business is not run for the
purpose of financial profits.
2. Private enterprise
are financed
with private funds
often sourced through share-holding and raising of capital
from financial institutions and the
stock exchange with
substantial interests paid.
Whereas, public enterprises are mostly financed through public funds.
3. Business
Administrators are risk takers. They
can invest money in any type of
business with only a hope of
success rather than
any assured certainty. If the investment succeeds, the businessman
reaps its profit, and if it fails, he
records losses. Public
administrators avoid risk taking,
since it is public money that is involved, any misuse or misappropriation of public money is often
punished. While public corporations
may not be profit oriented, at
the same time, they are not expected to
run at a loss.
Despite the differences between public administration and
business administration, they
share a common
feature in that
both operate within a formal bureaucratic, organizational
set up.
REQUIREMENTS
FOR SCIENCE OF
POLITICS AND PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION
Public
administration is a social science or management discipline which relies on
scientific approach in its findings. It
is about understanding all variables/phenomena
in administrative settings. To
make its findings
valid, it relies
on observations for
factual data. Similar
variables are grouped together, while variations are
noted. Feit et al (1978) note in their
introduction that the
more variations displayed
by examples, the
more likely it
is that many
cases will have
to be studied
before reliable generalizations will
be possible, thus,
to make a
valid explanatory generalization on any issue, we need to
compare assembled facts (data).
It is therefore
a key requirement of science to gather information (data) and examples, compare them,
and based on
this make accurate
explanatory generalizations,
which are later built into theories. Observations
make comparison possible, the
latter in turn make scienitific
generalization and theory building possible.
UNDERSTANDING
ADMINISTRATIVE BEHAVIOUR
Your knowledge of
comparative public administration will enable you to
appreciate the behavioural
attitude in different
milieu. Public administrators across
dress differently, exhibit
various degrees of
efficiency, earn different
salaries, different degrees
of conformity with
administrative law, perceive accountability and abuse of office
(corruption) from different
perspectives, and so on. All these are a
function of varied factors.
Administrative practices are therefore similar in some countries, which share some commonalities of factors, while not so in many others due to variations in these factors.
Comparative public
administration provides the
methodological tool for
understanding and comprehending whatever similarities and differences
in the different political systems.
PUBLIC POLICY
Government
exists to provide for the welfare and
happiness of the citizens. Crucial to the effective performance of this
function by government is the
satisfaction of the basic needs
of the people which include food,
shelter, clothing and
physical security. Government must
also shoulder the
responsibility of providing
basic ingredients for
economic and social
development by making available the essential social infrastructure,
such as good roads,
treated water, electricity, telecommunication and
other amenities. These
government programmes and activities are duly referred to as public policy.
Public policy
can therefore be technically defined as government decisions or actions on how to resolve the various
societal problems or issues that are perceived as requiring collective rather than
individual actions. It can also be seen as “policy developed by a
governmental body and officials for the
benefit of a society” (Kunle
Ajayi, 1998:450-452). Public policy aims at
promoting public good and public
interests rather than a narrow
private interest.
Deductions from
the definition of Public Policy
We can
draw certain deductions, from the above descriptions of
public policy. These deductions, in the analysis of Ajayi are:
1 Public Policy
is a predetermined action with a goal or
purpose. This means, public policy is not a random action or chance behaviour
of government but an action or decision purposely carried out by public officials
2 Public Policy
is a decision of governmental officials and not a private or personal decision of an individual outside
government.
3 Public policy,
for its public
orientation in terms of its
source and target of action, is backed up by modalities
for its implementation and
enforcement. For instance, the
universal Basic Education Poverty
Reduction and Anti-Corruption Policies
of the Obasanjo
regime. These policies
are backed by
Acts of Parliament
for their implementation and
where necessary, spell
out penalties where
necessary.
4 Public policy is
what has been actually decided
and carried out by government and not
just what government is planning or intend to do. It is therefore what is actually done in concrete terms and not mere
policy pronouncements.
5 Public Policy
is regarded as positive when its effects are specifically directed
at a particular
problem. For instance,
the Babangida regime’s
Anti-smoking Policy was
directed at reducing
cigarette smoking induced ailment
and death. Also, Buhari’s anti-corruption stance is directed at fighting corruption
to a standstill.
6 Public Policy
is authoritative and legitimate as it is based on law .
Public policy is
made by constitutionally powered
governmental officials in the
various arms of government. It is on this basis
that public laws and policies are
seen as binding on all.
TYPES OF PUBLIC POLICY
Public policy can be
classified into three major categories
based on its intention and purpose.
These categories
are:
(a) Distributive
Public Policy: These are policies which concern large- scale service delivery
or benefits to specific sections of the population or
groups. Examples of
these policies include
the National Directorate of Employment, the peoples Bank, Better
Life for Rural Women,
Poverty Reduction and
Familu Support programmes
by successive regimes
in Nigeria. These
programmes have specific
objectives. for instance,
the Poverty Reduction Programme
of the Obasanjo regime is to provide
atleast 10,000 job opportunities in each
state of the
federation. Likewise, the
regime’s Universal Basic Education Policy, is to reduce the
level of illiteracy in the country.
(b) Regulatory
Public Policies: These are policies
to regulate the
activities and behaviour of individuals
in certain aspects and
fields. Significant among
these policies are
those regulating business
activities such as those dealing
with food and drinks consumption.
Pharmacy
department of the Ministry of Health regulates the issuance of
patient medicine licensed
for the sale
of drugs. The
National Agency for Food and
Drugs Control and Administration
(NAFDAC) regulates the preparation of
food items and drugs including the sale of
“pure water” in Nigeria,
poor quality foods, drugs
and drinks are
usually impounded by the Agency.
The
Anti-corruption Act and the Code of
Conduct Bureau in Nigeria are
meant to check political and administrative corruption by public officials.
(c)
Redistributive Policies
These are
policies that government
deliberately want to
employ measure to correct social
injustice or provide some level of equality in
the population. For
instance, the free education and free medical treatment for the underprivileged people such
as the under –age and the aged by some state governments. The Land Redistribution Policy by the
Mugabe government in Zimbabwe
aims to redress the gross
inequality in land
ownership between blacks
and whites in
the country. Progressive Taxation
System also aims
to re-distribute wealth in a country where such is adopted.
IMPERATIVES FOR COMPARATIVE STUDY
EVERYDAY
EXPERIENCES
You go out
everyday either to your school or
workplace, market, church,
mosque, travel to other cities,
tourist centres or to other
countries to find out that we are meeting people with familiar
looks. We also find out that in our
daily contacts, we evaluate some
people as either
beautiful or ugly, good or
bad, hostile or friendly, tall or
short, fat or thin. We also
compare non-human objects. Some houses are just simply beautiful and
attractive while others are adjudged as
unfascinating and inhabitable.
While you
do all these,
we are directly
or indirectly engaging
in comparative analysis. To compare, identify similarities and
differences by us are part of the in-built nature of man. Comparison, is therefore, a daily affair
in our contracts and observation with people and objects.
Public
Administration Theory is the amalgamation of history, organizational
theory, social theory, political theory and related studies focused on the
meanings, structures and functions of public service in all its forms. It often
recounts major historical foundations for the study of bureaucracy as
well as epistemological issues associated with public service as a
profession and as an academic field.
Generally
speaking, there are three different common approaches to understanding public
administration: Classical Public Administration Theory, New Public Management
Theory, and Postmodern Public Administration Theory, offering different
perspectives of how an administrator practices public administration.
Important
figures of study include: Max Weber, Frederick Winslow
Taylor, Luther
Gulick, Mary Parker Follett, Chester Barnard, Herbert A. Simon,
and Dwight Waldo. Herbert Simon advanced
a public administration theory that was informed by positivism. The
influence of positivism today can be seen in journals such as the Journal
of Public Administration Research and Theory and the Journal
of Policy Analysis and Management. Notable
Public Administration Theorist such as Max Weber expressed the importance of
values in the development of public administration theory. However, theory
cannot simply be derived from empirical observation of facts, it must be
constructed using value judgements that direct our empirical observations and
then guide out interpretation of those observations. Values are essential for
the construction of public administration theories because it takes into
account the meaningful ethical principles and philosophies of a culture which
ensure appropriate theory practice. Public Administration theories are put into
practice or considered through a few distinct strategies: Parallel, Transfer,
or Collaboration also known as the theory-gap practice. This practice is used
to transfer knowledge between practitioners and scholars.
Types of Public Administration Theory
Public Administration Theory recently has been
divided into three branches. The three branches are, Classical Public
Administration Theory, New Public Management Theory and Postmodern Public
Administration Theory. Each of these three branches study Public Administration
from a different perspective. These types of theories are some of the ways
which an administrator can understand and exercise their duties as a public
administrator.
Classical Public Administration Theory
Classical Public Administration is often
associated with Woodrow Wilson and Max Weber. In the United States, Woodrow Wilson is known as 'The
Father of Public Administration' , having written "The Study of
Administration" in 1887, in which he argued that a bureaucracy should be
run like a business. Wilson promoted ideas like merit-based promotions,
professionalization, and a non-political system. Sympathy can lead to downfall
in an administration, means there should be pragmatism in bureaucracy.
New Public Management Theory
New Public Management asset of administrative
practices, a consulting fad, and a body of theory that interprets recent
developments in public administration. Many scholars argue persuasively that
scholars should pay more attention to New Public management as a theory than as
a fad. New public management is part and parcel of the massive intrusion
of freemarket values into public space, which threatens to drive out political
values altogether. It is worth noting that, in this sense, new public
management is the radical opposite of the notion of migrating political values
into "private" space in the interest of further democratizing society.
However, new public management theory fails to addresses political questions in
a meaningful way. This theory looks at public administration from its roots of capitalism, and goes on through the perspective of global capitalism. Intentional or not, new public management
has served the interests of elites, particularly corporate elites, has degraded
the ability of governments to address the public interest, and has served as a
vehicle for elevating the apolitical governance of free trade and other supranational organizations, which have fully
embraced the political philosophy of economic rationalism and new managerialism.
Postmodern Public Administration Theory
Post-modern public administration is referring
to the inner workings of nearly every government entity in existence. Whether
it is the congress men and women in Washington D.C. or the Department
of Public Safety representatives
located at any DPS office handling the paper work of applicants wanted to
obtain a drivers license. The idea of public administration is broad enough to
encompass all government positions that affect the public. Members of public
administration come in different forms and quantities. When understanding the
theory of postmodern public administration, it is important to make a
differentiation between postmodern theory and the postmodern era as well as
being able to differentiate between post-modernity (period of time) and postmodernism (theory/philosophy).
Postmodern theory evolves out of the
postmodern era. Chuck Fox and Hugh Miller are two of the main contributors to
postmodern theory because they were able to recognize the postmodern condition
and how it was playing out in public administration and public policy. Fox and Miller argue that the traditional approach to public
administration "robs public administration theorists of the independence
required to imagine more emancipating conditions of work and
governance." Miller proposes a network model based on economic
utility which would explain events better than traditional approach to public
administration. Miller states that "policy networks provide a way of
processing dissension, articulating values, and airing possible policy
implementation strategies. Maneuvering on behalf of the public interest in this
complex politically subtle network is the task of post-progressive public
administration." This theory began in the 1990s, even though this
theory had been around in other disciplines for a while. An estimation of time
could date back to Plato and his ideas of a public and communal
government where there are policy making actions and steps through levels of
democracy. This theory has since been revisited and changed through three
intellectual movements, interrogating the loop model of democracy, which many
have argued that it is largely a myth, showing the symbolic nature of policy
and politics in the United States, and discourse theory. One of the downsides
of this theory is that it is based on the slippery slope of relativism. This theory also provides people with the tools to rebuild our
infrastructures of symbolic and social order. This theory addresses big
questions of what is right and wrong and tries to address the issue to find
antidotes for anomieand relativity.
The founding father of postmodern public
administration is commonly referred to as Woodrow Wilson, while many can find his roots of inspiration
from the works of Friedrich Nietzsche. Using Woodrow Wilson as a reference point, it can be shown
that in his essay The Study of Administration, is it “traditionally accepted
that with his study, Wilson applied positivist principles to public administration…based on the belief
that social reality would be objectively known with the separation of
positivist traditional values from facts.” (Traces of Postmodernism in the New
Public Management Paradigm, Kerim Ozcan-Veysel Agca).
Public Administration Theory Development
Public Administration theory is derived from
several contemporary theory building tools such as Max Weber's Ideal type
method. Theories are also derived from studies of evolving governments around
the world, such as China's expanding bureaucracy. Different aspects to take
into account are: accountability, state-citizen relations, and services for all
in times of fiscal scarcity. When developing theories, the most effective
theories are the ones tailored for a particular country taking aspects such as
values into account. When empirical evidence is the only aspect taken into
account it leads to an ineffective policy because the theory will not reflect
the values of the citizens, resulting in bad citizen- state
relationships. The Theory-Gap Practice is used to analyze the correlations
between Public Administration theory and practice. The three fields of the
theory gap-practice that describe the relationship between scholars and
practitioners are: Parallel, Transfer, and Collaboration strategy.
Max Weber's Ideal- Type Method
The ideal-type method developed by Max Weber
is a useful tool in contemporary public administration theory development
because the method takes into account the culture of a society that is then
integrated into a theory. Weber referred to it as cultural science or
interpretive sociology, which, is to understand ideas and practices from within
their own intellectual and cultural horizon and on the basis of categories that
are grounded in a meaningful social and historical context. According to
Margaret Stout, Ideal-type methods are used to frame observation and analysis
and to evaluate what is found. Weber's method must be developed using value
judgments that direct our empirical observations and then guide our
interpretation of those observations. Through this theory building method,
Weber insisted that all interpretations of meaning must remain at best "a
peculiarly plausible hypothesis", as opposed to a claim of relevance of a
theory. Weber's purpose for using this method is to clarify the importance of
values in sense making, but how they are also extremely important for the
conduct of meaningful social science. Weber’s interpretive sociology employs a
type of functional analysis that begins with the whole, proceeds to the parts,
and then goes back from the parts to the whole. His ideal-type method is
thereby simultaneously useful in both the study of social structure and social
action. Social action is linked to subjective meaning at the individual level
of analysis, and structural forms are a consequence or construction of social
action. This combination is particularly valuable to public administration
because the manner in which administrative action and the social structures of
governance interrelate requires an approach that considers both. On the one hand,
ideal-types enable consideration of things like alternative meanings of
important concepts or alternative motivations held by social actors. On the
other hand, they enable analysis of associated or resulting social structures.
In this way, an ideal-type can concurrently help interpret the meaning of the
administrative role as well as critique the institutions of governance.
Theory- Gap Practice
Parallel- Proponents of this strategy of relating theory and
practice believe that practical knowledge cannot be derived from theories. For
the practitioners of this strategy, practice and theory remain separate
components of knowledge. Practical knowledge aims to how to handle problems in
particular situations while theory aims at handling a specific situation in a
general set of principles. Advocates for the parallel strategy claim there can
be a complementary relationship between practical and theoretical knowledge or
that they can substitute each other in certain situations because particular
situations will require practice and theory to work together. Thus advocates
that champion parallel strategy argue that it is essential for management
studies to maintain an autonomous communication system.
Transfer- This second strategy frames the theory-practice problem as
one of translating and diffusing research knowledge into management. This
strategy confronts the issue of public managers lack of interest or studying of
the work of scholars. This is the result of the scholarly work not being easily
applicable to practice, and the complexity of the journals, thus knowledge is
not being transferred from theory to practice. The transfer strategy proponents
claim the popularizing the scholarly work, and making it more relevant to
current issues faced in public administration would enhance the transfer of
knowledge from scholars to street level bureaucrats and public managers.
However, some argue this approach falls short of expectations because many
practitioners of public administration have little influence on the content of
knowledge offered by scholars.
Collaboration- This strategy aims to enhance communication
between scholars and practitioners before the theory is developed in order to
build a dialectic method of inquiry, building on the idea that communication is
necessary throughout the whole theory building process in order to have a well
development practical theory. Scholars Van de Ven and P.E. Johnson put it as:
"Engagement is relationship that involves
negotiation and collaboration between researchers and practitioners in a
learning community; such a community jointly produces knowledge that can both
advance the scientific enterprise and enlighten a community of
practitioners."
Important Figures in Public Administration Theory
Max Weber
Max Weber, one of the
many theorists.
Max Weber was a German political economist,
social scientist, and renowned Philosopher is an important father to the theory
of Public Administration and the bureaucratic side of it. He did extensive
research studying ancient and modern states to gather a better perspective of
bureaucracies in multiple eras for his Magnum Opus Economy and Society
published in 1922. That piece of work has contributed countless insight into
the Public Administration Theory. Max Weber considered bureaucracy to be the
most rational form of administration yet devised by man. In his writings he
asserts that domination is exerted through administration and that for legal
domination to take place bureaucracy is required.
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson,
another one of the theorists of Public Administration.
Woodrow Wilson defined public administration
as a detailed and systematic execution of public law, he divided government
institutions into two separate sectors, administration and politics. According
to him politics is dealt with policy formulation and questions regarding such,
whereas administration is equipped with carrying said policies out. In his own
words in his early essay, "The Study of Administration" he said
"it is getting to be harder to run a constitution than to frame one."
Wilson very much so tried to establish a distinction between politics and
administration; he saw administration as a field of business which lies outside
politics. He thought the theory of public administration existed simply because
of technicalities and was around for the behind the scenes business aspect of
politics.
Frederick Winslow Taylor
Frederick Taylor was an engineer by profession
who saw much of life from a scientific aspect. He is a popular less
conservative contributor to the Theory of Public Administration in that he
produced his own, very popular, theory of traditional public administration,
The Scientific Management Theory. He was concerned with finding the best and
most efficient way to complete a task for a particular job, reducing the
overall labor a worker had to exert with the least amount of movements.
Frederick Taylors work approached motivation with a very authoritative, cold,
scientific motivator which weighed heavy over any sort of humane aspect to scientific
management. Overall many intricacies in Public Administration such as
management, control and accounting are subject to scientific principles and
Taylor draws on these to find his own, efficient theory approach to Public
Administration Theory.
Public Administration Theory in Practice
Classical Public Administration- United States
Often considered the best way for organizing
public sector work, it was used highly in the western world in the 19th and
early 20th century. A differing proponent between America and Europe is the
transferring of effective management methods between large private and public
organizations. The first effective theory in America was Scientific Theory
coined by Frederick W. Taylor in 1911. His work "Principles and Methods of
Scientific Management" was used to implement ideas that would increase the
efficiency of American government. Taylor's ideas of standardizing work,
systematic control, and a hierarchical organization were perfect fits for the
public sector of the 1940s.
New Public Management - United Kingdom
New Public Management was the prominent theory
that inspired health care reforms for the United Kingdom. Its application to
health care coincided with the growing expenditures that were being used due to
the progress of technology and an aging population. The difference between
private and public sectors in terms of budget process and ideology provided a
clash of interest. 1990 saw the National Health Service create an internal
market of separate care providers and hospitals. This creation of markets in
turn stopped the State from being the funder and service provider
simultaneously, to just primarily the funder. Although not privatized, these
markets became competitive in nature. Assumption that the competition would
lead to more empowerment, efficiency, and equity became rampant. Soon the
publicly owned hospitals were granted a quasiautonomous status from the
District Health Authorities leading to the competition for patients and funds.
Their status acquired led to little if any interference in the everyday
operations.
Postmodern Public Administration - United States
Postmodern Public Administration is linked to
the capitalist model of the late 20th and 21st century. It relates to
globalization, consumerism, and the fragmentation of authority and state. The
concepts of science and reason are de-centered and viewed as the defining
truths. It tends to negate any faith based actions.
PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION (Meaning,
definitions,objectives,types and significance)
Personnel
administration is concerned with people at work
and their relationships within an organization.
• It refers to
the entire spectrum of an organization's interaction with its human resources
from recruitment activity to retirement process.
• It involves
personnel training and forecasting ,appraising human performance , selection
and staffing , training and development and maintenance and improvement of
performance and productivity. It is closely related to an organization's
overall effectiveness.
• Personnel
administration is systematized ,specialized knowledge and technique , which can
help the organizations in administering their personnel for achieving their
optimum performance.
Definitions : • According to Dimock and
Dimock, “ Public personnel administration is the staff function which advises
and facilitates the work of the programme manager in matters relating to the
recruitment , deployment, motivation and training of employees , so as to
improve the morale and the effectiveness of the service”. • According to Felix Negro, “Public
personnel administration is the art of selecting new employees and making use
of old ones in such a manner that the maximum quality and quantity of output and
service are obtained from the working force”.
• According to
Thomas G.Spates, “Personnel administration is a code of the ways of organizing
and treating individual at work so that they will each get the greatest
possible realisation of their intrinsic abilities, thus attaining maximum
efficiency for themselves and their group and thereby giving to the enterprise
of which they are a part, its determining competitive advantage and optimum
results”.
• The Institute
of Personnel Management in U.K defined Personnel Management as , “That part of the
management function which is concerned with people at work and with their
relationship within an enterprise. Its aim is to bring together and develop
into an effective organization the men and women who make up an enterprise and
having regard to the well being of an individual and of working groups,to
enable them to make their best contribution to its success.”
In particular, personnel management is
concerned with the development of policies governing : • Manpower planning,
recruitment, selection, placement and termination. • Education and training
,career development. • Terms of employment, methods and standards of
remunerations. • Working conditions and employees services. • Formal and
informal communication and consultation both through the representatives of
employers and employees and all levels throughout the organizations. •
Negotiation and application of agreements on wages and working conditions,
procedures for the avoidance and settlement of disputes.
Objectives of Personnel Administration:
To utilize
human resources effectively.
To establish
and maintain a productive and self respecting relationship among all the
members of the organization.
To enable each
person to make his maximum personal contribution to the effective working of
the organization.
To ensure
maximum individual development of the personnel.
To achieve an
effective utilization of human resources ( besides material resources) for the
attainment of organizational goals.
To establish
and maintain an adequate organizational structure and a desirable working
relationship among all the members of the organization by dividing
organizational tasks into functions , positions job ,authority and
responsibility.
To generate
maximum group and individual development within the organization by offering
opportunities for advancement to employees or by training and job education; by
effecting transfers or by offering retraining facilities.
To reduce
friction amongst the employees by securing the integration of individuals
and groups in such a manner that the
employees feel a sense of involvement, commitment and loyalty to the
organization . In the absence of such an integration, friction may develop
which will produce inefficiency and lead to failure.
To reorganize
and satisfy individual needs and group goals by offering adequate and equitable
remuneration ,economic and social security so that the employees feel secure
and work willingly and co-operate to achieve the organization’s goals.
To maintain
high morale and better human relations inside the organization by sustaining
and improving the conditions which have been established so that the employees
may stick to their jobs for a longer period.
According to
Michael J. Jucious, personnel management should aim at : Attaining
economically and effectively the organizational goals; Serving to the highest
possible degree the individual goals; and Preserving and advancing the general
welfare of the community To
obtain these objectives ,personnel administration is concerned with
planning,organizing,directing,coordinating and controlling the cooperative
efforts of individuals within an organization.
Different types
of personnel systems
Bureaucratic
system
Aristocratic
system
Democratic
system
Significance of
Personnel Administration
• Success of any administrative system depends
on how effectively it handles its personnel functions.
• Out of three
‘M’s i.e Men ,Money and Material, men is the most important factor that
determines the quantity and quality of the performance and output. With their
requisite skills ,aptitude, integrity and organizing capacity, they can build
the image of their organizations or effective institutions in the nation
building process.
• Personnel
administration reduces the chasm between organizational objectives and the
individual to the desirable extent by treating individuals at work in such a
way that they will realise their maximum possible intrinsic abilities ,to
create an effective organization
• Now
organizations perform a large number of varied and complex tasks which requires
efficient, effective, able and, competent personnel with the right aptitude and
attitude.
• Investment in developing
human resources through training, career development, planning, counseling,
selection, job enrichment programs and designing suitable performance
appraisals and reward system can go a long way in maintaining the morale and
motivation of people at a high level.
• The role of
personnel administration is witnessed in the form of various policies and
programs adopted for these purposes.
Public Financial Administration
Meanings of
financial administration W. Fox and Ivan H. Meyer [1995:50] view financial
administration as activities involving finance and taxation. It includes
central and regional institutions for accounting, auditing and budgeting, the
supervision of local government finances; tax administration; collection,
custody and disbursement of funds; administration of employee – retirement
systems; debt and investment administration; and the like. Public financial
administration which is an important facet of public administration, operates
through the instrument of budget encompassing the entire budgetary cycle,
namely, formulation of the budget, enactment of the budget, execution of
budget, accounting and auditing. The term budget was used in its present sense
for the first time in 1773, in a satire entitled „Opening the budget‟ directed against
Walpole‟s financial plan for that year [S. B. M. Marume: Academic work no. 14
of 1988].
Significance
The popular
statements made by various authorities on the significance of financial
administration to the government administration are mentioned below:
L. D. White:
Every administrative act has its financial implications; either creating a
charge on the treasury or making a contribution to it.
Gladstone:
Budgets are not merely matters of arithmetic but in a thousand ways go to the
root of prosperity of individuals, the relations of classes and the strength of
kingdoms
Plowden
Committee: Budget is a process in which the instruments of taxation and the
expenditure are used to influence the course of economy
F. A. Nigro:
Financial administration is of special importance today for the simple reason
that, while there seems to be no limit to what we may ask of government, there
is always a limit to the funds available.
Hoover
Commission: Financial administration is at the core of modern government.
Willoughby:
Budget is an integral and indispensable tool of administration. He also
observed: The real significance of the budget system lies in providing for the
orderly administration of the financial affairs of a government.
Lloyd George;
Government is finance
Morstein Marx:
Finance is as universally involved in administration as oxygen is in the
atmosphere
Meaning of budget
The next
question is: What is meant by the concept budget? The term budget is derived
from an old English word Bougett which means a sack or pouch. It was a leather
bag from which the British Chancellor of Exchequer extracted his papers to
present to the Parliament the government‟s financial programmes for the
ensuring fiscal year. From that association, it came to mean the papers
themselves, especially those containing financial proposals.
Bruce: A budget
is a financial statement, prepared in advance of the opening of a fiscal year,
of the estimates revenues and proposed expenditures of a given organisations
for the ensuring fiscal year.
Wilne: Budget is
a detail of estimated revenues and expenditures – a comparative chart of
revenue and expenditures – and over and above this, it is an authority and
direction of the competent authority given for the collection of revenue and
expenditure of public money.
Dimock; A budget
is a financial plan summarizing the financial experience of the past, starting
a current plan and project it over a specified period of time in future.
Munro: Budget is
a plan of financial for the incoming fiscal year. This involves an itemized
estimate of all revenues on the one hand and all expenditures on the other
Lynch: The one
common subject in any budget discussion is money. Other subjects are important,
but they are mentioned in relationship to money or are translated into money
Willoughby: The
budget is something much more than a mere estimate of revenues and
expenditures. It is, or should be, at once a report, an estimate and a
proposal. Thus, the budget is a statement of the estimated receipts (revenue or
income) and expenditure of the government in respect to a financial year. In
other words, it is a financial document of the government as presented to the
legislature and as sanctioned by the legislature.
Functions
The appropriate
question here is: What are the functions of budgeting? These are highlighted as
follows:
1.
It
ensures the financial and legal accountability of the executive to the
legislature.
2.
It
ensures the accountability of subordinates to superiors in the administrative
hierarchy
3.
It
is an instrument of social and economic policy to serve the functions of
allocation, distribution and stabilization.
4.
It
facilitates the efficient execution of the functions and services of
government.
5.
It
facilitates administrative management and coordination as it unifies the
various activities of the government departments into a single plan.
Principles
and practices of budgeting The next appropriate question is: What are the
principles of sound budgeting? Ten principles of sound budgeting which are
normative or prescriptive in nature are listed as follows:
a.
Budget should be on annual basis; properly and thoroughly considered and
examined by parliament which is the highest legislative authority in a
country.
b. Estimates should be on departmental
basis.
c. Budget should be a balanced one which
means the estimated expenditure should not exceed the estimated revenue.
d. Estimates should be on a cash basis
which means the expenditure and revenue estimates of budget should be prepared
on the basis of what is expected to be actually spent or received during the
financial year.
e. One budget for all financial
transactions which implies the government should incorporate all its revenues
and expenditure (of all the departments) in a single budget.
f. Budgeting should be gross and not net
which means all transactions of receipts and expenditure of the government
should be fully and separately shown in the budget and not merely the resultant
net position.
g. Estimating should be close which
implies the budgetary estimates should be as exact as possible, because
overestimation leads to excessive taxation and underestimating leads to
ineffective execution of the budget.
h. Rule of lapse of the budget should be
on annual basis, that is, the legislature should grant money to the executive
for one financial year. If the granted money is not spent by the end of the
financial year, then the balance would expire and should be returned to the
treasury. This practice is known as the rule of lapse.
i. Revenue and capital portions should
be separated which implies the current financial transactions of the government
should be distinguished from the transactions of a capital nature and the two
must be shown in two separate parts of the budget called the revenue budget and
the capital budget.
j. Form of estimates should correspond to
form of accounts which means the form of budgetary estimates should correspond
to the form of accounts to facilitate effective financial control.
Various forms or
systems of budgeting
Six forms or
systems of budgeting which have evolved over a period of time are explained
below.
1. Line – item
budgeting This is also called as traditional budgeting or conventional
budgeting. This system of budgeting was developed in the 18th and 19th century.
It emphasizes on the items of expenditure without highlighting its purpose and
conceives budget in financial terms. Under this system, the amount granted by
the legislature on a specific item should be spent on that item only. The
objectives of this budgeting are to prevent wastage, over-spending and misuse
of money granted by the legislature. This system of budgeting facilitates
maximum control of public expenditure. In fact, the sole object of line-item
budgeting has been the accountability of funds, that is, ensuring legality and
regularity of expenditure.
2. Performance
budgeting. The system of performance budgeting (earlier called as functional
budgeting or activity budgeting) originated in the USA. The term performance
budget was coined by the First Hoover Commission (1949). This commission
recommended the adoption of performance budgeting in the USA to make effective
management approach to budgeting. Accordingly, it was introduced in 1950 by
President Truman. The advantages of the performance budgeting are as follows:
a. It presents more clearly, the purposes and objectives for which the funds
are sought by the executive from the parliament. b. It brings out the
programmes and accomplishes on financial and physical terms. c. It facilitates
a better understanding and better review of the budget by the Parliament. d. It
improves the formulation of budget. e. It facilitates the process of decision-making
at all levels of government. f. It increases the accountability of the
management. g. It provides an extra tool of management control of financial
operations. h. It renders performance audit more purposeful and effective.
3. Programming
budgeting Like performance budgeting, programme budgeting (also known as
planning – programming – budgeting system – PPBS) also originated in the USA.
It incorporates a scheme of planning in the budgeting process. Programme
budgeting or PPBS emphasizes the planning aspect of budgeting for selecting the
best out of a number of available programmes and for optimizing the choice in
economic terms while allocating funds in the budget. It treats budgeting as an
allocative process among competing claims to be conducted by using the relevant
planning techniques.
4. Zero – based
budgeting (ZBB) The ZBB also originated and was developed in the USA. It was
created in 1969 by Peter A. Pyhrr, a manager of a private industry. It was
introduced in the USA by President Jimmy Carter in 1978. Like the performance
budgeting or PPBS, the ZBB is also a rational system of budgeting. Under this
system, every scheme should be reviewed critically and rejustified totally from
zero before being included in the budget. Thus, the ZBB involves a total
reexamination of all schemes afresh instead of following the incremental
approach to budgeting which begins with the estimation of the current
expenditure. The basic feature of a zero – based budget is that the
departments, while preparing their budgets, should not take anything for
granted and, therefore, should start on a clean slate. The budget making for
the ensuing year should be started from zero instead of treating the current
budget as the base or the starting point. ZBB may be viewed as an operating,
planning and budgeting process which requires each manager to justify his
entire budget request in detail from scratch (hence the term zero – base), and
shifts the burden of proof to each manager, to justify why he should spend any
money at all, as well as how the job can be done better. The advantages of ZBB
technique are: a. It eliminates or minimizes the low priority programmes. b. It
improves the programme effectiveness dramatically. c. It makes the high impact
programmes to obtain more finances. d. It reduce the tax increase e. It
facilitates critical review of schemes in terms of their cost – effectiveness
and cost benefits. f. It provides for quick budget adjustments during the year.
g. It allocates the scarce resources rationally. h. It increases the
participation of the line personnel in the preparation of budget.
5. Sunset
legislation. It is a formal process of policy review for eliminating the
undesired, outdated, redundant and irrelevant programmes. This system embodies
the concept of self – retiring government programmes by providing for the
termination of statutory authorization of programmes. This is achieved by
placing time limits in government programmes in the legislative enactments
themselves and providing for their automatic termination on the prescribed
dates unless, affirmatively recreated by legislature after conducting a
detailed review. The advantages or benefits of the sunset legislation are as
follows: i. It ensures economy in government expenditure. ii. It avoids
unnecessary expansion of government activities. iii. It makes the financial
resources available for new programmes iv. It ensures administrative
rationality by facilitating the reallocation of limited funds on a continuous
basis. v. It helps in overcoming the resistance met within the executive for
eliminating an ongoing programme by shifting the major responsibility for its
evaluation to the legislature.
6. Top – down
budgeting. The system of top – down budgeting was introduced in the USA in 1981
during the Reagan era. It is also known as target base budgeting. It has the
elements of earlier systems of budgeting, that is, performance budgeting, PPBS,
Management of Objectives (MBO), ZZB and Sunset Legislation.
Formulation of
the budget means the preparation of the budget estimates, that is, preparing
the statement of estimates of expenditure and receipt of the government in
respect of each financial year. For instance, in the case of India, the
financial year in India is from 1st April to 31st March, and in the case of
Zimbabwe, the, financial year is from 1st January to 31st December, a calendar
year.
Overally, the
budget contains the following aspects:
1. Estimates of
revenue and capital receipts.
2. Ways and
means to raise the revenue,
3. Estimates of
expenditure,
4. Details of
the actual receipts and expenditure of the closing financial year and the
reasons for any deficit or surplus in that year, and
5. Economic and
financial policy of the coming year, that is, taxation proposals, prospects of
revenue, spending programme and introduction of new schemes/projects.
Agencies involved in formulation of the budget.
The four different organs involved in the
formulation of the budget are:
a. The finance
ministry: it has the overall responsibility for the formulation of the budget,
and provides the required leadership and direction.
b. The
administrative ministries: they have a detailed knowledge of administrative
requirements
c. The
planning/budget ministry/commission: it facilitates the incorporation of plan
priorities in the budget. In other words, the Finance Ministry remains in close
touch with the Planning Commission in order to incorporate the plan priorities
in the budget. d. The comptroller and auditor – general: he provides the
accounting skills which are necessary for the formulation of the budget
estimates.
Stages in
formulation of the budget.
The various stages involved in the formulation
of the budget are outlined below:
a.
Preparation
of estimates by the drawing and disbursing officers In September – October (5 –
6 months before the commencement of the financial year), the Finance Ministry
dispatches circulars and forms to Administrative Ministry in turn pass on these
forms ( in which the estimates and other requisite information have to be
filled in) to their local/field officers. That is, to the disbursing officers.
Each such form contains the following columns: Actual figures of the previous
year
Sanctioned budget estimates for the current year
Revised estimates of the current year
Proposed estimates for the next year (with explanation for any increase or
decrease) Actual of the current year available (at the time of preparation of
the estimates) Actual for the corresponding period of the previous year.
b.
Scrutiny and consolidation of estimates by the departments and ministries Head
of the department, after receiving the estimates from the drawing officers,
scrutinizes and consolidates them for the entire department and submits them to
the Administrative Ministry The Administrative Ministry also scrutinizes the
estimates in the light of its general policy and consolidates them for the
whole ministry and submits them to the Finance Ministry (Budget Division of the
Department of Economic Affairs).
c.
Scrutiny by the finance ministry. The Finance Ministry scrutinizes the
estimates received from the Administrative Ministry from the point of view of
economy of expenditure and availability of revenues. Its scrutiny is nominal in
case of standing charges and more exacting in case of new items of expenditure.
d.
Settlement of disputes. If there is a difference of opinion between the
Administrative Ministry and the Finance Ministry on the inclusion of a scheme
in the budget estimates, the former can submit such estimates to the Cabinet.
The decision of the Cabinet in this regard is final.
e.
Consolidation by the Finance Ministry. After this, the Finance Ministry
consolidates the budget estimates on the expenditure side. Based on the
estimated expenditure, the Finance Ministry prepares the estimates of revenue
in consultation with the Central Board of Direct Taxes and the Central Board of
Indirect Taxes. It is also assisted in this regard by the Income Tax Department
and central Excise and Customs Department.
f.
Approval by the cabinet. The Finance Ministry places the consolidated budget
before the cabinet. After the approval of the cabinet, the budget can be
presented to the Parliament. It must be mentioned here that the budget is a
secret document and should not be leaked out before it is presented to the
Parliament.
g.
Charged expenditure. The estimates of budget as finalized by the Finance
Ministry for presentation to the parliament consists of two types of expenditure
– the expenditure charged upon the Consolidated Fund and the expenditure made
from the Consolidated Fund. The charged expenditure is non – notable by the
Parliament that is, it can only be discussed by the parliament, while the other
type has to be voted by the parliament. The list of the charged expenditure is
as follows: i. The emoluments and allowances of the President and other
expenditure relating to his office. ii. The salaries and allowances of the
chairman and the deputy chairman of the council of states and the speaker and
the deputy speaker of the house of people iii. The salaries, allowances and
pensions of the judges of Supreme Court. iv. The pensions of the judges of high
court which exercises jurisdiction in relation to any area of the country. v. The salary, allowances and pensions of the
comptroller and auditor – general. vi. The salaries, allowances and pensions of
the chairman and members of the public service commission vii. The
administrative expenses of the Supreme Court, the Office of the Comptroller and
Auditor – General and the public service commission including the salaries,
allowances and pensions of the persons serving in these offices. viii. The debt
charges and other expenditure relating to the raising of loans and the service
and redemption of debt. ix. Any sum required to satisfy any judgement, decree
or award of any court or arbitral tribunal. x. Any other expenditure declared
by the Parliament to be so charged.
Enactment of budget.
Enactment
of budget means the passage or approval of the budget of the annual financial
statement or the statement of the estimated receipts and expenditure of the
government. This means that the government can neither collect money nor spend
money without the enactment of the budget.
Generally,
the budget goes through the following six stages in the parliament:
Presentation of budget
General discussion
Scrutiny by departmental committees
Voting on demands for grants
Passing of appropriation bill
Passing of finance bill
a.
General discussion. The general discussion on budget begins a few days after
its presentation. It takes place in both the houses of parliament and lasts
usually for three to four days. It is a British legacy.
b.
Scrutiny by departmental committees of parliament. After the general discussion
on the budget is over, the houses are adjourned for about three to four weeks.
During this period, the departmental standing committees of the parliament
examine and discuss in detail the demands for grants of the concerned
ministries and prepare reports on them. These reports are submitted to both the
Houses of Parliament for consideration.
The standing committee system makes parliamentary financial control over
the ministries much more detailed, close, in-depth and comprehensive.
c.
Voting on demands for grants In the light of the reports of the departmental
standing committee, parliament takes up voting on demands for grants. The
demands are presented ministry wise. A demand becomes a grant after it has been
duly voted. Disapproval of policy cut motion. It presents the economy that can
be affected in the proposed expenditure. It states that the amount of the
demand be reduced by a specific amount (which may be either a lump sum reduction
in the demand or omission or reduction of an item in the demand).
Token
cut motion. It ventilates a specific grievance which is within the sphere of
responsibility of the government. It states that the amount of the demand be
reduced by a certain figure. A cut motion, to be admissible, must satisfy the
following conditions:
i.
It
should relate to one demand only.
ii.
ii.
It should be clearly expressed and should not contain arguments or defamatory
statements.
iii.
It
should be confined to one specific matter.
iv.
It
should not make suggestions for the amendment or repeal of existing laws.
v.
It
should not refer to a matter that is not primarily the concern of the central
government.
vi.
It should not relate to the expenditure
charged on the consolidated fund
vii.
It
should not relate to the matter that is under adjudication by a court.
viii.
It should not raise a question of privilege.
ix.
ix.
It should not revive discussion on a matter on which a decision has been taken
in the same session
x.
It should not relate to a trivial matter.
The significance of a cut motion lies in two
things: a. It facilitates the initiation of concentrated discussion on a
specific demand; and b. It upholds the principle of responsible government by
probing the activities of the government.
Passing of appropriation bill
In certain
countries, the constitution states that no money shall be withdrawn from the
consolidated fund except under appropriation made by law. Accordingly, an
appropriation bill is introduced to provide for the appropriation out of the
consolidated fund. No such amendment can
be proposed to the appropriation bill in either house of the parliament which
will have the effect of varying the amount or altering the destination of any
grant voted, or of varying the amount of any expenditure charged on the
consolidated fund. The appropriation bill becomes the Appropriation Act after
it is assented to by the President. This Act authorizes or legalizes the
payments from the consolidated fund. This means that the government cannot
withdraw money from the consolidated fund until the enactment of the
appropriation bill.
Passing of
finance bill: The „Finance Bill‟ means the bill ordinarily introduced in each
year to give effect to the financial proposals of the government for the next
following financial year, and includes a bill to give effect to supplementary
financial proposals for any period. It is subjected to all the conditions
applicable to a Money Bill. Unlike the appropriation bill, the amendments
seeking to reject or reduce a tax can be moved in the case of finance bill. The
finance bill must be enacted that is passed by the parliament and assented to
by the president within a certain period of time. The finance act legalizes the
income side of the budget and completes the process of the enactment of the
budget. Other grants include:
Supplementary grant Additional grant Excess grant Vote of credit
Exceptional grant Token grant
Execution of budget
Execution of
budget means the enforcement or implementation of the budget after its
enactment by the parliament. In other words, it means the implementation of the
Appropriation act dealing with the expenditure and the finance act dealing with
the revenue. The budget is executed by various administrative
ministries/departments under the overall control and direction of the finance
ministry. In other words, the overall responsibility regarding the execution of
the budget lies with the finance ministry – the central financial agency of the
government of India.
Expenditure
part. The financial control exercised by
the finance ministry has been very tight due to the excessive concentration of
financial authority in it. However, this control has been relaxed in course of
time through various schemes of delegation of powers by which the
administrative ministries are granted some operational freedom and flexibility
in managing their expenditure. The finance ministry controls the expenditure of
administrative ministries/departments in the following ways: i. Approval of
policies and programmes in principle ii. Acceptance of provision in the budget
estimates. iii. Sanctioning expenditure, subject to the powers which are
delegated to the spending authorities that is ministries iv. Providing financial
advice through the integral financial advisor. v. Reappropriation of grants
that is transfer of funds from one subhead to another. vi. Internal audit
system vii. Prescribing a financial code to be followed by the spending
authorities.
Governance Models
Governance is all of the
processes of governing, whether undertaken by a government, market or network,
whether over a family, tribe, formal or informal organization or territory and
whether through the laws, norms, power or language of
an organized society. It relates to "the processes of interaction and
decision-making among the actors involved in a collective problem that lead to
the creation, reinforcement, or reproduction of social norms and
institutions." In lay terms, it could be described as the political
processes that exist in between formal institutions.
A variety of entities (known generically
as governing bodies) can govern. The most formal is a government,
a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in
a given geopolitical system (such as a state)
by establishing laws.
Other types of governing include an organization (such as a corporation recognized
as a legal entity by a government), a socio-political group (chiefdom, tribe,
family, religious denomination, etc.), or another, informal group of people. In
business and outsourcing relationships, governance frameworks are built
into relational contracts that foster long-term
collaboration and innovation. Poor governance can lead to contract failure.
Governance is the way the rules, norms
and actions are structured, sustained, regulated and held accountable.
The degree of formality depends on the internal rules of a given organization and,
externally, with its business partners. As such, governance may take many
forms, driven by many different motivations and with many different results.
For instance, a government may operate as a democracy where
citizens vote on who should govern and the public good is the goal, while
a non-profit organization may be
governed by a small board of directors and pursue more specific
aims.
In addition, a variety of external
actors without decision-making power can influence the process of governing.
These include lobbies, think
tanks, political parties, non-government organizations and the media.
Public
governance is a distinction between the
concepts of governance and politics. Politics involves processes by which a group of people
(perhaps with divergent opinions or interests) reach collective decisions
generally regarded as binding on the group, and enforced as common policy. Governance, on the other hand, conveys the administrative and
process-oriented elements of governing rather than its antagonistic
ones. Such an argument continues to assume the possibility of the
traditional separation between "politics" and
"administration". Contemporary governance practice and theory
sometimes questions this distinction, premising that both
"governance" and "politics" involve aspects of power and accountability.
In general terms, public governance occurs in three broad
ways:
·
Through networks involving public-private partnerships (PPP) or with the collaboration of community
organisations;
·
Through the use of market mechanisms
whereby market principles of competition serve to allocate resources while
operating under government regulation;
Private
governance
Private governance occurs when non-governmental entities,
including private organizations, dispute resolution
organizations, or other third party groups, make
rules and/or standards which have a binding effect on the "quality of life
and opportunities of the larger public." Simply put, private—not
public—entities are making public
policy. For example, insurance companies
exert a great societal impact, largely invisible and freely accepted, that is a
private form of governance in society; in turn, reinsurers, as private
companies, may exert similar private governance over their underlying
carriers. The term "public policy" should not be exclusively
associated with policy that is made by government. Public policy may be created by either the private sector
or the public sector. If one wishes to refer only to public policy that is made
by government, the best term to use is "governmental policy," which
eliminates the ambiguity regarding the agent of the policy making.
Global
governance
Global
governance is defined as "the complex of formal and informal institutions,
mechanisms, relationships, and processes between and among states, markets,
citizens and organizations, both inter- and non-governmental, through which
collective interests on the global plane are articulated, right and obligations
are established, and differences are mediated". In contrast to the
traditional meaning of "governance", some authors like James
Rosenau have used the term
"global governance" to denote the regulation of interdependent
relations in the absence of an overarching political authority. The best
example of this is the international system or relationships between
independent states. The term, however, can apply wherever a group of free
equals needs to form a regular relationship.
Governance
Analytical Framework
The Governance Analytical Framework (GAF) is a practical
methodology for investigating governance processes, where various stakeholders
interact and make decisions regarding collective issues, thus creating or
reinforcing social norms and institutions. It is postulated that governance
processes can be found in any society, and unlike other approaches, that these
can be observed and analysed from a non-normative perspective. It proposes a methodology based on five
main analytical units: problems, actors, norms, processes and "nodal
points". These logically articulated analytical units make up a coherent
methodology aimed at being used as a tool for empirical social
policy research.
Nonprofit
governance
Nonprofit governance has a dual focus: achieving the
organization's social mission and the ensuring the organization is viable. Both
responsibilities relate to fiduciary responsibility that a board of trustees
(sometimes called directors, or Board, or Management Committee—the terms are
interchangeable) has with respect to the exercise of authority over the
explicit actions the organization takes. Public trust and accountability is an
essential aspect of organizational viability so it achieves the social mission
in a way that is respected by those whom the organization serves and the
society in which it is located.
Corporate
governance
Corporate
organizations often use the word governance to
describe both:
2.
The laws and customs (rules)
applying to that direction
Corporate governance consists of the set of processes,
customs, policies, laws and institutions affecting the way people direct,
administer or control a corporation. Corporate governance also includes the
relationships among the many players involved (the stakeholders)
and the corporate goals.
The principal players include the shareholders, management, and the board of directors.
Other stakeholders include employees, suppliers, customers, banks and other
lenders, regulators, the environment and the community at large.
The first documented use of the word "corporate
governance" is by Richard Eells (1960, p. 108) to denote "the
structure and functioning of the corporate polity". The "corporate
government" concept itself is older and was already used in finance
textbooks at the beginning of the 20th century (Becht, Bolton, Röell 2004).
Project
governance
The term governance as used in industry
(especially in the information technology (IT) sector) describes the processes
that need to exist for a successful project. Eriksson and Westerberg
(2011); Li, Arditi, and Wang (2012); Chen and Manley (2014), and
Cardenas, Voordijk, and Dewulf (2017) have hypothesized, developed and
extensively tested conceptual models in which relevant project governance
instruments and factors were identified and related to the performance of
projects.
Fair governance
When discussing governance in
particular organizations, the quality of governance within the organization is
often compared to a standard of good
governance. In the case of a business or
of a non-profit organization, for example, good
governance relates to consistent management, cohesive policies, guidance,
processes and decision-rights for a given area of responsibility, and proper
oversight and accountability. "Good governance" implies that
mechanisms function in a way that allows the executives (the
"agents") to respect the rights and interests of the stakeholders (the
"principals"), in a spirit of democracy.
Good governance
Good governance is an indeterminate
term used in international development literature to describe various normative
accounts of how public institutions ought to conduct public affairs and manage
public resources. These normative accounts are often justified on the grounds
that they are thought to be conducive to economic ends, such as the eradication
of poverty and successful economic development. Unsurprisingly different
organizations have defined governance and good governance differently to
promote different normative ends.
The World Bank defines
governance as: the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a
country's economic and social resources for development.
The Worldwide Governance Indicators project
of the World Bank defines governance as: the traditions and institutions by
which authority in a country is exercised.
This considers the process by which
governments are selected, monitored and replaced; the capacity of the
government to effectively formulate and implement sound policies and the
respect of citizens and the state of the institutions that govern economic and
social interactions among them.
An alternate definition sees
governance as: the use of institutions, structures of authority and even collaboration to
allocate resources and coordinate or control
activity in society or the economy.
According to the United Nations Development
Programme's Regional Project on Local Governance for Latin America:
Governance has been defined as the
rules of the political system to solve conflicts between actors and adopt
decision (legality). It has also been used to describe the "proper
functioning of institutions and their acceptance by the public"
(legitimacy). And it has been used to invoke the efficacy of government and the
achievement of consensus by democratic means (participation).
Meaning, Definition and
Characteristics of Public Enterprises.
Public enterprises as
a form of business organisation has attained a great deal of significance in
recent times. During 20th century various governments have taken active part in
the industrial and commercial activities. The term public enterprise denotes a
form of business organisation owned and managed by the state government or any
other public authority. So it is an undertaking owned and controlled by the
local or state or central government. The whole or most of the investment is
made by the government. According to A. H. Hansen, a public enterprise
denotes “state ownership and operation of industrial, agricultural, financial
and commercial undertakings”.
According to N. N. Malaya, “Public enterprises are
autonomous or semi-autonomous corporations and companies established, owned and
controlled by the state and engaged in industrial and commercial undertakings”.
Characteristics
The chief characteristics of public enterprises are:
Autonomous or semi-autonomous
organisation: Public
enterprise is an autonomous or semi-autonomous organisation because some
enterprises work under the direct control of the government and some
organisations are established under statutes and companies act.
State control: The public enterprises are financed, owned and managed by
the government may be a central or state government.
Rendering service: The primary objective of the establishment of public
enterprises is to serve the public at large by supplying the essential goods at
a reasonable price and creating employment opportunities.
Useful to various
sectors: The state enterprises
serve all sectors of the people of the company. They do not serve a particular
section of the people in the community.
Monopoly Enterprises: In some specific cases private sectors are not allowed
and as such the public enterprises enjoy monopoly in operation. The state
enterprises enjoy monopoly in Railways, Post and Telegraph and Energy
production.
A direct channel for use of
Foreign money: Sometimes the
government receive foreign assistance from industrially advanced countries for
the development of industries. These advances received are spent through public
enterprises.
Public accountability: The state enterprises are liable to the general public
for their performances because they are responsible for the nation.
Agent for implementing
government plans: The public
enterprises run as per the whims of the government and as such the economic
policies and plans of the government are implemented through public
enterprises.
Financial Independence: Though investment in government undertaking are done by
the government, they become financially independent by arranging finance for
day-to-day operation.
Globalisation and Governmental Administration
Globalization
with the revolution of information technology has been dramatically changing
human behavior, management of corporations, and governance of states much more
than the industrial revolution transformed the agricultural society. The
markets and trade, in fact, are borderless, communication is much easier via
the Internet and mobile instruments, and the world is getting much closer.
While globalization is dramatically dividing the world into powerful and
powerless countries with regards to information technology, trade, and economy,
the winner and the loser inevitably happen in the global marketplace.
Nonetheless, the vast majority of people in the planet still get their signals
not from global financial markets, let alone cyberspace, but from the national
capital, and personal access to the twenty-four-hour interconnected world still
remains restricted to a minority of the world’s population (Yergin and
Stanislaw 2002, 396). Meanwhile, public administration systems appear to help
some countries to have far more benefits than others, even if many social
scientists believe that international economic, trade, and political systems
have played more significant role in helping some countries to get far more
benefits than others. Public administration systems in both developed and
developing countries tend to respond differently to the challenge of global
forces. Why have some countries benefited far more from globalization than
others? Is this due to public administration or governance? If so, why and how
have developed and transitioning public administration systems responded
differentially to the challenges for greater efficiency, responsiveness, and
transparency while preserving democratic values in the age of globalization? If
not, what has led some countries to get far more benefits from globalization
than others? These research questions are directly or indirectly responded in
this article. After discussing how globalization has changed public
administration, this article explores how public administration systems in more
developed and less developed countries have responded differentially to global
forces and what kinds of limitations of public administration responding to
globalization beyond public administration systems exist.
Global forces
are penetrating at all levels of government, on the one hand, and a national or
local policy in a particular country has often global effects cross national
boundaries, on the other. Global pressures, in fact, have played a significant
role in helping public bureaucracies in the Western European and North American
countries streamline their personnel, budgets, and organizations by
privatizing, outsourcing, contracting out, deregulating, downsizing, or
restructuring government functions and services. Governmental functions and
services are actually being outsourced at all levels of government, and the
incidence of outsourcing in government agencies is continuously growing, though
governmental functions and services outsourced vary substantially.1 For
instance, all levels of government have been outsourcing most human resources
functions and services from staffing to compensation and benefits to HR
information system operations with exception of the training and development
cluster of activities (Siegel 2000, 228-229). Further, state and local
governments have contracted out most of their social service programs, and the
spread of horizontal relationships replaces traditional hierarchical authority
and multilayered federalism with “networks-sometimes formally constructed
through contracts and other legal agreements, sometimes informally drawn
through pragmatic working relationships” (Kettl 2000, 494). Market forces and
market model principles have increasingly made public administration more like
“business.” Like business administration, public administration has been
increasingly focusing on efficiency, effectiveness, productivity, performance,
accountability, responsiveness, and flexibility by adopting techniques mainly
used in corporations. The Weberian assumptions of an ideal type of bureaucracy
are no longer compatible with management of modern public organizations.
National and local governments are expected to be more efficient, effective,
responsive, and accountable through structural and behavioral adjustments or
adaptations. Meanwhile, public employees are expected to do more with less,
employee rights and job security are diminished, and more importantly, social
equity, justice, fairness, legitimacy, and diversity are questioned. For example,
the pay-for-performance system seeks productivity, accountability, and
flexibility through the compensation of workers based on their contribution to
the organization. Measuring and compensating performances, contributions, and
merits of public employees, however, are ambiguous. Under the
productivity-based pay system, employee rights, job security, or social equity
would be diminished. Additionally, budget constraints, union settlements, legal
issues, political circumstances, or organizational cultures keep public
agencies from maintaining the pay-for-performance system. Globalization
provides more freedom and discretion for the low level of government due to the
revolution of information technology. To attract investment or promote trade,
local governments directly work with foreign governments and big corporations,
and thus create more jobs and stimulate the local economy. In addition, local
programs and services are delivered and managed more efficiently via
e-government, though local governments rely heavily on state transfers to
maintain municipal programs, e.g., transfer payments make up 30 to 50 percent
of total municipal payments in the United States. When contracting out
municipal programs like social service programs with notfor-profit or for-profit
agencies, local governments can manage them efficiently by using advanced
information technology (see Brown and Brudney 1998; Globerman and Vining 1998;
Gooden 1998; Jones and Thompson, 2007). Consequently, quality of municipal
services, level of customer satisfaction, and accountability and performance of
municipal employees can be improved.
Global forces
demand fundamental changes of the social, economic, political, and
administrative systems throughout the countries. The impact of global forces on
public management, however, is remarkably different among countries, especially
between Western and Non-western countries, between more developed and less
developed countries, and between Christian and Non-Christian countries.
National bureaucracies respond differentially to global forces, while the
international environment is increasingly affecting national bureaucracies. The
first type of national bureaucracies tends to happen in developed countries
(e.g., the Western European and North American countries) where globalization
leads to strong public administration systems which in turn respond positively
to globalization. In the second type of national bureaucracies where religious
or authoritarian elites or single parties are most likely to control the flows
of information, however, these positive interactive effects between
globalization and public administration are not quite effective. Examples are
developing African, Asian, and South American countries, Muslim countries
(e.g., Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Syria), and socialist states (e. g., China,
North Korea, and Cuba). Those countries open to globalization seek to keep
their culture, norms, and social or political systems intact, while technical,
scientific, financial, and economic activities are affected and changed by
global forces. The role of public administration on globalization in those
countries is limited. Public bureaucracies in many developing countries are
likely to attempt to control or manipulate the distribution and circulation of
government information to maintain their regime at the expense of the public
interest. Utilizing information technology, citizens in Western nations are
more likely to have access to government information, whereas citizens in
non-Western nations are not equally accessible to government information (Welch
and Wong 1998, 46). Advanced information system is usually available in only
developed countries, while many developing countries are limited in the
application of advanced information technology to public management. The last
type of national bureaucracies happens in rapidly developing countries,
including the East Asian countries and Eastern European countries, where the
economy is booming and information technology is emerging. However, it remains
questionable whether those countries have benefited from globalization due to
their public administration systems. The first-tier Newly Industrialized
Economies (NIEs), including the East Asian countries, such as Hong Kong,
Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea, and the Eastern European countries, such as
Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, and Czechoslovakia that have benefited from
globalization appear to have done so by strong political leadership,
technocrats’ economic development plans, and citizens’ efforts rather than
transitioning public administration systems.
FACTORS BEYOND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION SYSTEMS IN THE
AGE OF GLOBALIZATION
Developed
countries, including the Western European and North American countries, have
definitely benefited far more from globalization than others because of the
nature of globalization as well as strong public administration systems. By
contrast, many developing countries have benefited less from globalization
because they have considerable disadvantages in the global marketplace in
addition to weak public administration systems. The issue is the nature of
globalization and the global market systems which are beyond public
administration systems; and the limitations of public administration responding
to those factors beyond public administration systems. Those factors are
directly related to the reason public administration systems in developing
countries have not effectively respond to globalization and the reason
developing countries have benefited far less from globalization than developed
countries. Globalization has been primarily caused and accelerated by
capitalism and the markets rather than democracy, politics, and public
administration. When shifted from national capitalism to global capitalism, the
logic of capital and markets tends to dominate the democratic principles.
Capitalism, however, seeks a strong state with a stable environment for its
prosperity (Offe 1985). Global markets would not function efficiently without
an appropriate national or global intervention for market failures which
substantially keep domestic and international markets from working efficiently
or fairly. In the global market place, for instance, unfair competition, unfair
trade, price control, and manipulation of financial flows have remarkably
affected cross national boundaries. Some Asian countries from South Korea to
Taiwan were financially devastated in the late 1990s due to the unregulated
financial and currency flows from the major international financial agents.
Millions of private and public employees in those countries lost their jobs,
and their human and social interests were sacrificed. Public administration in
those countries could not effectively respond to financial devastation because
the global financial attacks were beyond public administrational systems or
governance. Hence, states are required to be interdependent in handling
domestic and international issues. The emerging contemporary issues, including
environmental and ecological protection and war on terror, which can not be
controlled within national boundaries, are universal and have common global
roots (Caiden 1994, 50).
Globalization
has been transforming the traditional nation-state governance by utilizing more
supranational, subnational, for-profit, and nonprofit organizations, that is, nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs). The total number of NGOs around the world, from
neighborhood-based groups to large international organizations, surely numbers
in the millions (Mathews 1991). National sovereignty has shrunk along with
government’s capacity to understand and shape the emerging issues and the
conflicts, including economic, financial, environmental, ecological, cultural,
labor, and human rights issues (Kettl 2000, 492). Concerning environmental
protection, “governments are already knowingly and unwittingly delegating
power, both upward to international institutions and downward to
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and the corporate sector” (Mathews 1991,
34). Likewise, governments have come to depend heavily on for-profit and
nonprofit organizations for delivering goods and services. Suprastate governing
agencies and nongovernmental organizations have been gaining more importance in
collaborating with global efforts.
Globalization
keeps changing public administration in non-Western nations as well as Western
nations and makes it easier to compare the similarities between non-Western
nations and Western nations with regard to public administration systems and
governance. The impact of globalization on public administration in non-Western
and developing nations, however, is not yet remarkable as opposed to Western
and developed nations. Likewise, public administration systems in many
developing countries are not yet significantly either proactive or positive to
globalization. Strong public administration systems seem to help their
countries to have more benefits from globalization than others in spite of the
fact that plural social and political systems limit a proactive role of public
administration.
Decentralisation and Intergovernmental Relations
Introduction
In recent decades, the decentralization of resources and
decision-making has strengthened the role of subnational governments (SNGs) in
promoting growth and shared prosperity. On the revenue side, SNGs are
increasingly involved in resource mobilization (including local taxation). On
the expenditure side, SNGs have broadened and deepened their responsibilities
for service delivery related to water and sanitation, health, education,
and infrastructure, as well as local economic development. For SNGs to
successfully deliver on their mandates, effective intergovernmental systems in
fiscal, political and administrative areas are required.
The Definition and purpose of Decentralization.
Decentralization
can be defined as giving some of the powers of a central government,
organization, among others to smaller parts or organizations around the
country. Decentralization is used to refer to the delegation of authority and
managerial responsibility of specific functions to organizations outside the
central government structure. The organizations and agencies enjoy varying
degrees of autonomy. Furthermore, decentralization is also used to refer
specifically to the transfer of responsibility for budgets and financial
decisions from higher to lower levels of government. This is called fiscal
decentralization, which is at the heart of the relationship between the central
government and the sub-national government units – commonly referred to as
“Intergovernmental relations.” (Adamolekun: 2002:50).
Decentralization
is a twin process of deconcentration and devolution. In deconcentration, a
superior officer, in order to make his department function effectively and
efficiently, delegates to his subordinate field officials the power to act in
his name without transferring to them the authority he enjoys. Devolution,
which also implies dispersal of authority, is a process wherein power is
transferred from one organ of government to another by means of a piece of
legislation or constitution. A certain sphere or jurisdiction, either
functional or territorial, is set apart from a legal constituted body which,
while administering its authority, enjoys “some power of self-determination”.
Thus, decentralization denotes dispersal of authority among a number of individuals
or units. The purpose of decentralization includes the demand for political
participation, policies making and to achieve balance socio-economic
development among different states. Other arguments for decentralization
include the view that citizens within self-governing sub-national governments
are likely to be more willing to contribute financially in support of
development activities that are identified and implemented at the local level
than they would contribute to central governments.
Factors Affecting the Nature and Degree of
Decentralization
The degree and
the nature of decentralization in any organization will be greatly influenced
by the following factors: i. Management Philosophy: The character of top
executives and their philosophy have an important influence on the extent to
which authority is decentralized. If the top executives like concentrate
authority in their hand, it would result in centralization. On the other hand,
some top executives think decentralization as a means to make a complex
function efficiently, such a philosophy would encourage decentralization in the
organization. ii. History of Organisation: If the organization has developed
from the small structures to complex ones, it shows the sign of centralised
features. On the other hand, organizations which are created due to
amalgamation are bound to possess decentralization tendency. For example, World
Health Organization (WHO) is a decentralised organization as it was born out of
a number of regional organizations existing at that time. iii. Availability of
competent subordinate managers: A real shortage of competent and qualified
managers limits the extent of decentralization of authority since the transfer
of decision making requires the availability of trained managers at lower
levels. iv. Costliness of Decision: Perhaps the most important factor
determining the extent of decentralization is, in the aspect of policy – the
criterion of costliness. Decentralised operation should not be costly. v.
Stability of policies and methods: Stability of policies and methods is
fundamental to decentralization. Thus, decentralization should take place only
when the policies and methods: Stability of policies and methods is fundamental
to decentralization. Thus, decentralization should take place only when the
policies and methods have been stabilised at headquarters. (Ekhator: 2002: 228
and 229)
ADVANTAGES OF DECENTRALIZATION
Decentralisation
has both practical and theoretical advantages. i. It creates a corporate sense
of responsibility. ii. It gives training in self-government. iii. It quickens
the process of socio-political and economic development. iv. It ensures the
complete utilisation of available resources so as to attain the set goals and
objectives.
DISADVANTAGES OF DECENTRALISATION
Decentralization has its own demerits. The beliefs that complete
decentralisation is a desirable state of affairs is fallacious as this would
definitely lead to disintegration. Other crucial problems associated with
decentralization are; how really efficient is decentralisation? How much of
decentralization is likely to be useful? Etc. (Ekhafor 2002: 229).
Local Government
The definition
and features of local Government.
There are many definitions of Local
Government, depending on one’s perspective. For example, what may constitute
“local” in one probably differ in the other. But local government system has
two basic objectives all over the world; to develop rural areas and bring
government closer to the people. Nevertheless, here are some definitions of
Local Government.
N.U Akpan (1967:
50) defined Local Government as follows: By local government is meant the
breaking down of a country into small units or localities for the purpose of
administration in which the inhabitants of different units or localities for
the purpose of administration in which the inhabitants of different units or
localities concerned play a direct and full part through their elected
representatives who exercise power or undertake functions under the general
authority of the national government. What is deduced from the above definition
is that local government is determined by some basic features, which includes
that, the unit of administration must be large enough to take in reasonable
essential services, the unit must at the same time be small enough to be able
to arouse and sustain the interest and civil pride of the local inhabitants;
and it serves as a training ground for national responsibilities and
leadership.
Montahu
(1968:17) defined Local Government as Government by Local bodies, freely
elected which while subject to the supremacy of the national (or state)
government are endowed in some respect with power, discretion and
responsibility, which they can exercise without control over their decision by
the higher authority. Meanwhile, Whalen listed the following characteristics as
the main features of Local Government: a given territory and population, an
institutional structure of legislative, executive and administrative purposes,
a separate legal identity, a range of powers and functions authorized by
delegation from the appropriate central or intermediate legislature and within
the ambit of such delegation, autonomy introducing fiscal autonomy (Yakubu
2003:31)
Furthermore,
(Oyediran (1988:16) stressed that Local government is referred to as a
government in which popular participation both in the choice of decision makers
and in the decision-making process is conducted by local bodies, and recognize
the supremacy of the central government but still able and willing to accept
responsibility for its decisions.
Finally on
definitions, Hickey, (1966:168) emphasizes local government as: The management
of services and regulatory functions by locally elected councils and officials
responsible to them, under statutory and inspectoral supervision of central
legislative and executive, but with enough financial and other independence to
admit of a fair degree of local initiative and policy making
FEATURES OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT
In the
guidelines for Local Government Reforms, 1976, Local Government was defined as:
“Government at Local level exercised through representative council established
by law to exercise specified powers within defined areas”: These power should
be given the control over local affairs as well as the staff and institutional
and financial power to initiate and direct the provisions of services and to
determine and implement projects so as to compliment the activities of the
state and Federal Government in their areas and to ensure, through devolution
of functions to their councils and through the active participation of the
people and their traditional institutions that local initiatives and response
to local needs and tradition are maximized. Local Government must have certain
features to qualify to be called one, other wise it becomes local
administration. These features include size, election, local scale, and seal, a
subordinate system, Legal foundation, community service, Name, Perpetual
Succession and subject to the Doctrine of Ultra-Vires. Each of these
characteristics is discussed below.
Law Creating
Local Government. A Local Government must be created by law and operates within
the provisions of that law. In legal term, a local government organization is a
corporation, which means it has a corporate status as analysed below: The
principal feature of corporate status is that it vests the group of individuals
acquiring it with a collective entity existing independently of the persons who
comprise it. Upon incorporation the collection of individuals becomes a singly
body, or legal personal, having rights and duties, capable to holding and
disposing property, and of bringing and defending actions at law, quite
independently of the rights and duties of any of its members.
Therefore, Local
Government must have: Name - A corporation must have a name and enter into all
transactions under that name.
Perpetual
Succession - A corporation has perpetual succession and therefore continue to
exist independently of its members. The mere fact that the membership of a
local government council change after an election has no legal effect on the
position of the authority itself, and thus obligations entered into on behalf
of the authority by past members continue to bind it.
Seal -Local
Government as a corporation has seal and as general rule its acts will be
authentically by the fixing of the seal. The Doctrine of Ultra-Vires The status
of incorporation acquired by legal governments a subject to the doctrine of
ultra-vires. The doctrine of Ultra-Vires relates to limited legal powers.
Making Laws
(Bye-Law ) - Local government makes laws, which are called bye-laws. A bye law
is a Law made under the auspicious of a statutory grant of prenabling local
authorities to make laws having force for area of their authority. Any exercise
of power is not in accordance with the provisions of the statutes could be
declared ultra or void. The process of nullifying or declaring laws or acts
vires are two. It could be done on either substantive procedural way. If it is
done on a substantive ground, it may be the local government did not have such
powers at all. On the other hand, if it is on procedural ground, it means
procedure adopted was wrong. (1976 Local Government Reforms Guidelines).
Other
characteristics of Local Government include Size. A local government should be
small. It should not be as large as a state. On the other hand it should not be
too small. The 1979 local government reforms attempted to solve this problem by
specifying population limits for an area of local government. In order to
achieve sufficiency large scale of operations to be able to perform all types
of functions, reasonably economically, while remaining sufficiently local,
local government should, as far as possible, serve local population of between
150,000 and 800,000 provided that these limits may not be varied in exceptional
geographical circumstances and provided further that there should be no upper
limit to the size of local government covering major towns so as to ensure that
such town is within a single unit. (1976 Local Government Reform Guidelines).
The essence of this provision is to balance
the economy with locality. If a local government is too large, it will no
longer be local. On the other hand, if it is too small, it may not be
economically viable. A Subordinate System - Local Government is subordinate to
the central government. But it should be stressed that this subordinate is not
complete like the case of a ministry. It enjoys some relative autonomy in those
areas of function, which are allocated to it. Also as a tier of government
councillors are elected with specific mandates within the area of their local
competence.
Local Scale-This
involves the administration of functions on a local scale. The term local
varies according to the philosophy of government in question.
Election-The
ideal form of local government is the one that is managed by elected
councillors and not appointed civil servants. Regular election are therefore a
feature of a local government system. Community Services - A good
administrative system should be able to provide services to clientele. This is
one feature of local government administration. Each community has its peculiar
administrative problems which local government are meant to solve.
(Abdullahi:2005:11).
Intergovernmental Relations
Intergovernmental
relations refer to the interactions between the national government and the
sub-national governments. There is the formal constitutional allocation of
governmental functions between federal and state governments in a federal
system but such functions are absent in a unitary system. In the unitary state
it is the central government that determines what functions to allocate to the
sub-national government. The central government can also decide to modify the
functional allocations without consulting the lower unit. In the context of
federation, the federal and state governments are said to be “co-ordinate”
which is in contrast to the unitary system where the sub-national governments
are “subordinate” to the central government.
In a federal
system like Nigeria, Intergovernmental relations are dominated by the
relationship between the central and the major subnational governments, with
the main features spelled out in the constitution. In particular, the
jurisdictional powers of each level of government are delineated in the
constitution and any rearrangement must be through a constitutional amendment
involving both levels of government. A full analysis of intergovernmental relations
within a federal administration system covers federal – state, federal - local,
federal interstates, state – local and inter-local relations. However, the
central government in a unitary state can unilaterally determine both the
substance and the style of intergovernmental interactions. In hybrid situations
where the features of a federal system are combined with some features of a
unitary system, functional allocations are explicitly stated in the situations
and there are limits to the central governments ability to determine the
substance and type of intergovernmental interactions. Such countries are said
to have a quasi – federal system and a good example is South Africa. For
obvious reasons, the arrangements for managing intergovernmental relations in
federal systems are more elaborate than in the quasi-federal and unitary
systems. (Adamolekun: 2002: 60 and 61).
THE COMPOSITION OF FEDERAL LEVEL OF GOVERNMENT
The term
federation suggests that everybody can be satisfied (or nobody permanently dissatisfied)
by nicely combining national and regional/territorial interests within a
complete web of checks and balances between a central, or national, or federal
government on the one hand, and a multiplicity of regional governments on the
other. (Mclean: 1996:179). A federal system of government incorporates the
following six elements. - Separateness and independent existence of each unit
of government; - Mutual non-interference between governments in exercising
their powers on persons/property within the areas of their constitutional
competence; - Relatively autonomous decision-making powers and possession of
own apparatus for conducting its affairs, i.e. legislature, executive,
judiciary; - Legal equality among governments in status, though not in weight.
However, inequality of resources and powers must not be so great to be
preponderant or reduce one or the other to relative impotence; - Supremacy of
the constitution over all governments and their actions; and - Power to amend
the constitution must not be lodged in either but to both or to some external
agent. The characteristic of federalism mentioned above are not exhaustive,
neither do they clarify all the polemics that surround the term federalism.
Specific ambiguities have been discovered particularly in the objective of
federalism, for example, its assignment as promoter of unity in diversity and
the belief that federalism is either a structure or a process or both.
Intergovernmental Relations: The philological origin as well as the precise
definition of intergovernmental relations (IGR) has remained quite elusive.
However, the fullest characterization of intergovernmental relations as we have
accepted them today is credited to William Anderson Deil Wright. The term IGR,
which has become an essential vocabulary of scholars, public officials, and
ordinary citizens, particularly in America, lay emphasis on interactions among
human beings ‘clothed with office’. While it is accepted that human beings are
responsible and in fact they carry out the relations between governments,
finance has emerged as the most critical element of these interactions. This
important feature of IGR, viz. fiscal relations, has assumed a very important
position in the American as in most other federal systems. Deil Wright identifies
the five distinctive features of a federal system as follows: IGR encompasses
all the permutations and combinations of relations among the units of
government in a federal system. - IGR comprises the activities and attitudes of
persons occupying positions in all the units of government under consideration
federal, state, local, political, administrative and in the judicial,
legislative or executive branches of government. - IGR includes concerted and
regularised actions of official as well as the one-time occasional occurrences
such as new statutes and landmark court decisions etc; - Politics, economics
and administration combine to put finance at the policy centre of IGR; and -
Whereas some federal systems exclude references to local governments; IGR encompasses
all relationship between governments including local governments. (Akindele and
Elaigwu: 1996:309 and 310).
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management
For more than a
century now, human resource management, as a discipline and practice in the management
of people in an organisation, has evolved and developed into different areas.
These disciplines and practices have gone through a process of trial and error,
theory building and testing of various concepts by practicing managers and
academics (Farnham & Pimlott 1979; Storey 1989; Armstrong 1995). The
underlying forces behind the evolution and development of human resource
management have been (and still are) mainly environmental, and the quest for
knowledge of better ways of acquiring and utilising labour. The changing
organisational environment in the marketplace pushed managers to improve
efficiency in the production and service delivery processes by increasing their
ability to use the best practices of people management at the time. That is, employee
management techniques or methods that would improve production, reduce service
delivery costs, and at the same time ensure sustained availability of competent
staff in the organisation.
Guiding theories
in human resource management Human resource management principles and
techniques for people management in competitive organisations are drawn from
theories found in different disciplines. Indeed, it is impractical to present
all the disciplines and relevant theoretical aspects that have shaped the understanding
of human resource management today. Therefore, it is believed that it is only
important to give the reader a cursory view of some relevant theories
underpinning human resource management and whoever may be interested in knowing
more about the genesis and developments of a specific theory may do so by
taking extra homework.
Organisation life cycle theory- Cameron &
Whetton (1981) advanced organisation life cycle theory which characterises
organisational development from formation, growth, maturity, decline and death.
According to the theory, the driving force in all these stages is the nature of
workforce. At the maturity stage the organisation cannot continue to grow or
survive if there is no organisational structure that supports human resource
creativity, innovation, teamwork and high performance, which will withstand
pressure from competitors.
Role behaviour theory - Role
behaviour theory aims to explain and predict the behaviour of individuals and
teams in organisations, which, in turn, inform managers for the purposes of
decision making, and what steps they take on people management as well as the
expected consequences. Some of the key ideas focus on the need to improve the
working environment including the resources in order to stimulate new behaviour
in employees in order for them to cope with new demands (Prachaska et al.
1982), it includes the use of rewards to induce and promote positive work
behaviour, and punishments to control negative behaviour (Rogers 1983).
Resource dependency theory - One of the
challenges faced by managers during the economic recessions in the 1970s is how
organisations can best acquire scarce resources and effectively utilise them in
order to remain competitive in the market. The ability to utilise one’s own resources
including (financial, technological and labour), and acquire more from the
external environment was one of the areas of concern in many organisations. The
more organisations were able to harness resources, the more competitive they
became. Therefore, resources were seen as the essence of organisational power
(Emerson 1962). However, overdependence on external resources appeared to be
risky due to the uncertainties that cannot be controlled by the organisation
(Pfeffer & Solansick 1978). Concerning useful labour, the emphasis shifted
to seeing employees as scarce resources that should be acquired effectively,
utilised, developed and retained.
Institutional theory - The word
‘institution’ means different things to different people depending on academic
and professional orientation (Peters 2000). However, it is a discipline that
combines politics, law, psychology, public administration, and economics
amongst other things, in order to explain why certain decisions are made or
actions taken and their impact on the organisation. Commons (1931: 648) defines
‘institutions’ as ‘collective action in control, liberation and expansion of
individual action’. Collective action covers areas such as custom, law and
procedures. The main objective of collective action is less or greater control
of the acts of individuals, which result in either gains or losses in the
process of executing joint transactions.
Transaction cost theory - Transaction
cost theory is based on the economic view of the costs of conducting business
transactions. The thesis is that companies will grow if the costs of exchanging
resources in the company are cheaper in comparison to competitors (Commons
1934; Coase 1984; Williamson 1998). Such costs include bureaucratic employment
structures, procedures and the enforcement of employment contracts. For that
matter employment relationships that may lead to high costs of exchange, should
be minimised.
Comparative advantage theory - The main
architect of comparative advantage theory is the economist David Ricardo who
talked of the specialisation and division of labour among nations and firms.
Ricardo postulated that nations should produce goods in which they have a domestic
comparative advantage over others (Ricardo 1891). Since then, organisations and
nations have focused on strengthening internal capacity in order to have more
advantages relative to competitors and hence to reduce production and
distribution costs per unit. Improving internal capacities include having the
best human resources who are best utilised to produce cheaper and better
quality goods and services (Porter 1980; Grant 1991).
General systems theory - No
organisation can survive without interacting with its environment.
Organisations get inputs from the external environment, they are processed and
the outputs are released to the external environment, which provides feedback
to the organisation. Customers who are part of the environment will give feedback
by using different means including value judgment on quality, price, style and
fashion. Therefore organisations are seen as systems with components and parts
that are related and interconnected in such a manner that failure of a
component or part leads to the failure of another.
Human capital theory - Human capital
theory was initially well developed by Becker (1964) and it has grown in
importance worldwide because it focuses on education and training as a source
of capital. It is now widely acknowledged that one of the key explanations for
the rapid development of Asian countries in the 1970s and 80s is high
investment in human capital (Robert 1991; Psacharopolos & Woodhall 1997).
Human capital theory changes the equation that training and development are
‘costs the organisation should try to minimise’ into training and development
as ‘returnable investments’ which should be part of the organisational
investment capital. Therefore, human resource training and development
decisions and evaluations have to be done based on clearly developed capital
investment models.
Strategic contingency theory - There is a
growing body of knowledge stipulating that since an organisation operates and
thrives in a complex environment, managers must adopt specific strategies which
will maximise gains and minimise risks from the environment (Peter &
Waterman 1982; Scott 1992; Robbins 1992). In this premise, the theory contends
that there is no one best strategy for managing people in organisations.
Overall corporate strategy and the feedback from the environment will dictate
the optimal strategies, policies, objectives, activities and tasks in human
resource management.
Organisational change theory - Gareth (2009:
291) defines organisational change as the process by which organisations move
from their present state to some desired future state to increase their
effectiveness. Organisations change in response to many developments taking
place in the internal and external environment such as technology, policies,
laws, customer tests, fashions and choices that influence peoples’ attitudes
and behaviour.
The evolution and development of human resource
management
Human resource
management as a practice happens wherever there is more than one person. It
starts at the family level where family members take different roles and
responsibilities for the accomplishment of family objectives. The head of the
household would harness all available resources including people to find the
best in them in order to achieve whatever may be needed or desired. Indeed, the
division of labour depends on the philosophies, values and expectations of
family members and which are rooted in the wider society, be it a clan, a tribe
or religion. Managing people in an organisational setting is well documented
throughout the history of mankind (Munsterberg 1913; Taylor 1960; Cuming 1985).
Organisational structures evolved, leadership emerged or was formed, roles and
responsibilities were assigned to people, accountability systems were laid
down, and rewards and punishments were also provided. In this regard, division
of labour, specialisation and accountability were systematically organised to
achieve a specific purpose. However, the documentation of the evolution and
development of human resource management practices can be traced back to the
booming European economy of the 1900s (Roethlisberg 1939). This economy created
the necessary environment for more serious thought on the role of effective
people management in the emerging labour market of the time. The economies were
preparing for the First World War and its aftermath where industrial production
required a mass of skilled, well organised and disciplined labour force. The
challenges revolved around mobilisation of resources including people, which
led to the evolution and development of four stages in managing labour. The
stages were mainly identified by looking at the changing titles of officers
responsible for managing the workforce and different roles that were emerging
over time.
Human resource management philosophies and
objectives
Philosophies of human resource management
The Harvard and
British human resource management schools and the two definitions cited from
John Storey and Michael Armstrong and others (Terrington & Hall 1991;
Farnham & Pimlott 1992) suggest that human resource management is not
without philosophy. There are six elements on which human resource management
philosophy and practices are based;
First is
ownership. Human resource management is and has to be owned and driven by the
top management in the interests of the key stakeholders. The stakeholders
include shareholders, the managing board, the workers, clients and customers.
This is unlike the old tradition in which personnel management functions were
mostly vested in designated officers under a personnel department. Under human
resource management, the philosophy is that the top management owns and drives
the agenda for effective people management in an organisation.
Second, business
or organisational strategies form the basis for human resource strategies, and
there should be a strategic fit. This opposes putting emphasis on routine
activities, reactive decision making and limited vision which seemed to
characterise traditional personnel management. The implication is that an
organisation cannot have a strategic approach to managing the workforce without
organisational and business strategy. Here, an aspect of flexible human
resource planning comes in, and the ability to use the best forecasting
techniques is a precondition for human resource acquisition, utilisation,
development and retention.
Third is
considering employees as assets rather than liabilities. Under traditional
personnel management philosophy, training and development of employees was
quite often seen as a cost that should be avoided whenever possible. Now this
doctrine has been turned on its head. Investment in people, like any other
capital investment, is necessary for better returns in the future.
Fourth is
getting additional value from employees. Employees are capable of producing
added value. It is the role of the management to obtain such added value
through human resource development and performance management systems. The
concept of added value is borrowed from production economics. It stipulates that
an employee can be utilised to produce marginal output if properly trained,
does the right job and is rewarded accordingly. Work measurement and matching
jobs with the right people as well as measuring performance against the set
targets and standards stand out clearer under human resource management school
of thought.
Fifth is
employee commitment. Organisational success comes from the employees’ total
commitment to the organisational mission, goals, objectives, and values.
Employees’ understanding of the future of the organisation and their own future
in the organisation triggers commitment and hence sustained productivity. It is
the task of the management to induce and encourage that commitment. Sixth is
also based on employees’ commitment. Building a strong organisational culture
gives managers an advantage in stimulating employees’ commitment. Effective
communication, training, coaching, mentoring and performance management
processes are effective tools for building a strong corporate culture. These philosophies
have been accused of being insensitive to the human face of working
relationships because they are, in many ways, about tightening the nuts and
bolts in every aspect of employment. As a strategy to reduce what seemed to be
extreme hard-nosed human resource management philosophies and practices (that
is employers were becoming too selfish, individualistic and greedy – trying to
maximise whatever possible benefits at the expense of employees), the focus in
the 1990s changed somewhat. The direction changed more towards team working,
employee empowerment; organisational learning and competence based human
resource management. Human resource management debates of the 1990s and 2000s
became focused on trying to understand these new concepts and how useful they
are in improving human resource management functions in modern organisations.
Other areas are the internationalisation of human resource management and the
impact of globalisation in human resource management, particularly in the
developing world.
Objectives of Human Resource Management
The objectives
of human resource management are derived from the philosophies which tie the
emergence and development of human resource management together, both as a
discipline and profession (Beer & Spector 1985; Cuming 1985; Armstrong;
1995; Dessler 2005).
First, the whole
aim was on trying to achieve an organisational mission, vision, goals and
objectives using people as valuable resources. Unlike with the traditional
personnel management theory whereby employees were seen as instruments needed
to accomplish work in organisations, human resource management managers
recognise and appreciate the need for putting people at the top of the agenda
in achieving organisational objectives. As the power of the organisation
depends on the nature of the workforce, putting employees first in all human
resource management functions in the organisation and making them feel that
they are at the top is seen as a step further in putting the organisation first
among competitors.
The second
objective concerns the utilisation of staff capacity. Successful organisations
are those that can fully utilise the potential of their employees. This
manifests itself in different approaches used in job design, recruitment, and
placement. This includes redesigning jobs so that related jobs can be done by
one person, recruitment of multi-skilled employees, part time work
arrangements, sub-contracting etc.
The third
objective involves ensuring that employees are committed to their jobs, teams,
departments and the entire organisation. Striving for total employee commitment
is intended to minimise unnecessary conflicts between the employees and the
management that could result in low morale among the employees, high employee
turnover and ultimately low productivity. Commitment is fostered by using
various strategies includ ing employees being nurtured through coaching,
mentoring and the provision of lucrative reward.
The fourth
objective is to ensure that organisational systems, processes and activities
are integrated and synergised through a strong organisational culture.
Organisational culture is made up of values, attitudes, norms, myths and
practices that is ‘how things are done around’. Different categories of jobs,
professions and departments are seen as a ‘whole’ rather than disjointed.
Organisational symbols, songs, artefacts etc. are used to foster a culture of
uniqueness, which makes employees feel proud of their jobs and the
organisation.
The fifth is
optimal utilisation of available resources. In the language of economics,
resources are always scarce. Organisations cannot succeed if resources
(employees, finance, machinery and equipment, energy) are over utilised,
underutilised or are utilised at the wrong time or in the wrong place. Each of
these scenarios would suggest that there is a waste of resources because some
will be easily depleted, unnecessarily leaving them idle or are being used
unwisely. In this case, matching resources with performance is a mechanism for
monitoring organisational efficiency. Quite often time/activity/outcome and
budget schedules are used to match resources with performance. Any observed
underutilisation or over utilisation of resources has implications in terms of
how the human resources were used and measures are taken accordingly.
The sixth reason
for embracing human resource management practices is derived from
organisational cybernetics and systems theory whereby the underlying principle
is that ‘the sum is less than the whole’. From a human resource management
perspective, each job, organisational unit, section, department and all
categories of staff are seen in their totality. Working together instead of as
an individual is a method for improving synergy at all levels. Departmental
outdoor training programmes are some of the initiatives used to improve synergy
at functional level.
The last but one
objective covers the utilities of creativity, innovation, teamwork and high
quality management as key drivers in organisational excellence. Matching with
changing customer needs and expectations requires the presence of an
environment for creativity, innovation, team working and an obsession with
quality. These ideas are largely borrowed from Tom Peters and Robert Waterman
on an ideal situation for effective organisations in search of excellence,
Joseph Schumpeter on the power of creativity and innovation, Joseph Juran,
Edwards Deming and Ishikawa Kaoru on the emphasis of ‘quality in the first time
and zero defects’ as part of organisational culture in high quality management.
Recommended
Textbooks for further reading
Abdullahi, M.Y.
(2005). Comparative Local Government. Abuja
Heady,
Ferrel. 2001. Public Administration: A Comparative
Perspective. (6th Ed.) New York: Marcel
Dekker, Inc.
Fox, C.J., & Miller, H.T. (1995). Postmodern
public administration: Bureaucracy, modernity, and postmodernity. Tuscaloosa,
Alabama: University of Alabama Press.
Ladipo
Adamolekun (2002) Public Administration in Africa: Main Issues and selected
Country Studies, Ibadan: Spectrum Books
Akindele, R.A.
(and Elaigwu, J.I (eds) (1996). Foundation of Nigeria federation 1960 – 1995.
Abuja: National Council on Intergovernemntal Relations.
Wright, D.S.
(1988). Understading Intergovernmental Relations. California: Brooks/Cole Publishing
Company.
Pfiffner, J.M
and R.V. Presthus (1960) Public Administration, New York, Ronald Press.
Stillman, H.R.J.
(1980) Public Administration: Concepts
and Cases, London, Houghton
Mifflin.
Waldo, Dwight
(1955) The Study of Public Administration, New York, Random House
Feit, E. et at
(1978) Government and Leaders: An
approach to Comparative Politics, Houghton, Mifflin Company
Brown, M. M. and
J. L. Brudney, 1998. A “Smarter, Better, and Cheaper” Government: Contracting
and Geographic Information Systems. Public Administration Review 58 (4):
335-345.
Caiden, G. E.,
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Praeger.
Farazmand, A., 1999. “Globalization and Public Administration.” Public
Administration Review 59 (6): 509-522.
Farazmand, A.,
2001. “Privatization and Public Enterprise in Post-Revolutionary Iran.” In Ali
Farazmand, ed., Privatization or Public Enterprise Reform: International Case
studies with Implications for Public Management. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Globerman, S.
and A. R. Vining, 1998. A Framework for Evaluating the Government
Contracting-Out Decision with an Application to Information Technology. Public
Administration Review 58 (6): 577-586.
Gooden, V.,
1998. “Contracting and Negotiation: Effective Practices of Successful Human
Service Contract Managers.” Public Administration Review 58 (6): 499-509.
Hodge, G. A.,
2000. Privatization: AN International Review of Performance. Westview Press.
Hoogvelt, A.,
2001. Globalization and the Postcolonial World: The New Political Economy of
Development.
Palgrave. Jones,
L. R. and F. Thompson, 2007. From Bureaucracy to Hyperarchy in Netcentric and
Quick Learning Organizations. (Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing).
Kamarck, E. C.,
2004. Government Innovation around the World. John F. Kennedy School of
Government. Harvard University (Faculty Research Working Articles Series:
RWP04-101).
Adamolekun, L(ed) (2002). Public
administration in Africa. Main issues and selected country studies. Ibadan
spectrum books limited.
Ekhator, V. E
(2002). Rudiments of public Administration. Kaduna: Joyce Graphic Printers and
publishers co.
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