THE PHILOSOPHY OF
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
A HOLISTIC APPROACH
JSH Gildenhuys
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The Philosophy of Public Administration: A Holistic Approach
Published by SUN PRESS, a division of AFRICAN SUN MeDIA,
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All rights reserved. Copyright © 2004 J. S. H. Gildenhuys
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In this book, unless inconsistent with the context, the masculine form is intended to include the feminine form.
CONTENTS
PREFACE 1
PART I
INTRODUCTION 7
The logic of knowledge progression 10
The holistic principle 10
The normative principle 14
The generic principle 15
A multidisciplinary approach 15
Possible examination questions 17
Chapter One: THE PUBLIC 19
INTRODUCTION 19
THE INDIVIDUAL 20
Citizenship 20
Refugees and asylum seekers 21
INDIVIDUALISM 21
COMMUNITIES 22
COMMUNALISM 25
AFRICAN COMMUNALISM 28
INTEREST GROUPS 31
The nature of the ‘public interest’ 32
POLITICAL PARTIES 33
Political parties in democracies 34
Two-party systems 34
Multiparty systems 35
One-party dictatorships 35
OTHER INTEREST GROUPS 37
ECONOMIC ORGANISATIONS 38
Trade and labour unions 39
Professional Institutes 42
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ORGANISATIONS 43
Religious and language organisations 44
Private sport organisations 45
Private welfare organisations 46
NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS 46
The four types of NGOs 47
The operational strategies of NGOs 48
SUMMARY 51
Possible examination questions 55
Chapter Two: PUBLIC NEEDS 57
INTRODUCTION 57
SOCIAL NEEDS 60
Need for education and training 60
Need for health care 61
Need for leisure, relaxation and sport 62
Cultural needs 64
Language needs 65
Religious needs 66
The need for art 68
POLITICAL NEEDS 69
ECONOMIC NEEDS 71
Household needs 71
Needs of the primary production industry 72
Needs of the manufacturing industry 72
Needs for the construction and building industry 72
Needs of the wholesale and retail business 72
Needs of the services industry 73
The general need for economic infrastructure 73
The need for government protection 74
SECURITY AND SAFETY NEEDS 74
SUMMARY 75
Possible examination questions 78
Chapter Three: PUBLIC VALUE SYSTEMS 81
INTRODUCTION 81
CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLES 83
The rule of law 83
Separation of constitutional powers 84
Constitutional checks and balances 85
Civil rights 86
Civil rights as ends 86
Civil rights as means 87
The human source of values 87
The primacy of the individual 87
The best test of truth 88
Individual human rights 88
Natural and positive human rights 88
Rights and obligations 89
Equality and inequality 91
Natural inequality 91
Moral or political inequality 92
Civil liberties 93
Civil obligations and civil obedience 93
PRINCIPLES OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 94
Authority and power 94
Devolution of authority and autonomy 95
Delegation of functional and decision making authority 96
The purpose of delegation 96
The need for delegation 96
The meaning of delegation 97
The alter ego rule 99
The rule delegatus non potest delegare 99
Types of delegation 99
The mandate or command 100
The ministerium 100
Deconcentration 100 Decentralisation 100
Distinction between deconcentration and decentralisation 102
ECONOMIC PRINCIPLES 102
Economic freedom 103
Private ownership of property 103
Free production process 104
Privatisation, deregulation and small business 104
Less licensing 104
International economics 105
POLITICAL PRINCIPLES 105
Direct participation and the will of the people 105
Participation through representation 106
Responsibility and accountability of political representatives 106
Government close to the people 106
Open-system approach 106
Global politics 107
SOCIAL PRINCIPLES 107
Non-racialism and non-sexism 107
Nationalism and solidarity 108
Inclusiveness 108
Civic pride, civic responsibility and civic obedience 109
PUBLIC MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES 109
Organisational development 109
Open-systems approach 110
Value-oriented public management 110
Public participation in decision-making 111
Free choice of public services 111
Responsibility for programme effectiveness 111
Social equity 111
Corporate management 112
Economy, efficiency, and effectiveness 112
Flexibility and management of change 113
Sustainability and consistency 113
Accountability, responsibility, and transparency 113
SUMMARY 113
Possible examination questions 118
Chapter Four: GOVERNMENT ORGANISATIONS 121
INTRODUCTION 121
THE JUDICIAL AUTHORITY 122
Origin and nature of justice 122
The naturalistic approach 122
The positivistic approach 123
THE LAW 123
Sources of law 123
Informal sources of law 123
Formal sources of law 124
Constitutions 124 Statutes 125
Regulations and proclamations 125
Judicial precedents 125
Treaties and accords 125
Codification 126
Types of law 126
Civil and criminal law 126
Domestic and international law 126
Approaches to the application of law 127
Roman-Germanic legal culture 127
Common law legal culture 127
Natural legal culture 127
Socialist legal culture 128
THE JUDICIARY 128
Appointment and dismissal of judges 128
Nomination of judges 128
Election of judges 129
Functions of the judiciary 130
Applying the law 130
Revision of legislation 130
Commissions of inquiry 131
THE LEGISLATURE 132
Structure of the legislature 133
The bicameral system 133
The unicameral system 134
Representation 135
Geographical representation 135
Proportional representation 136
The Hare system 136
The list system 137
The party list 137
Controversy over the proportional system 137
Functional representation 139
Representatives 139 Qualifications 140 Disqualifications 140
Role of elected representatives 140
Power-authority relationship between voters and the legislature 141
Meaning of power 141
Meaning of authority 141
Voters and the legislature 141
Organised interest groups and the legislature 142
Role of the legislature 143
THE EXECUTIVE AUTHORITY 145
Nature and function of the modern executive authority 145
Types of executive leadership 146
Inheritance 146
Elected heads of state 147
Indirect election 147
Nominated heads of state 147
The structure and organisation of the executive authority 148
Parliamentary or cabinet system of executive authority 148
Advantages of the cabinet system 150
Disadvantages of the cabinet system 150
The extra-parliamentary system of executive authority 151
The basic characteristics of the presidential system 151
Advantages of the presidential system 152
Disadvantages of the presidential system 152
THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 153
Portfolios and government departments 154
The public service 154
Public administration in civic cultures 154
Merit system in the public service 155
The spoils system in the public service 155
PARASTATALS 156
Creation of parastatals 157
Government investment in the economy 157
Government as a political agent 158
Government as a political-economic agent 158
Government as economic entrepreneur 158
Classification of parastatals 159
Public business and industrial enterprises 159
Regulatory bodies 161
Benefactor agencies 162
Advisory and investigating organisations 162
Judicial bodies 163
Localised and co-ordinating government bodies 163
Educational and research bodies 163
Founding parastatals 163
The founding act 164
The appointment of a managing body 164
Provision of capital 164
Control of parastatals 165
SUMMARY 166
Possible examination questions 169
Chapter Five: THE MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS 173
INTRODUCTION 173
DECISION MAKING 174
The decision making process 174
Personal qualities for decision making 176
Decision making power 177
Preconditions for successful delegation of decision making power 177
Principles for delegation of decision making power 179
What should be delegated? 180
The high or legislative level 181
The middle or executive level 181
The lower or administrative level 181
Control over delegated decision making power 183
POLICY MAKING 186
Policy analysis 187
Policy levels 188
Political party level 188
The legislative level 188
The executive level 189
The administrative level 189
The policy making process 190
Research and analysis phase 191
The policy formulation phase 193
The policy approval phase 193
The implementation phase 194
PROGRAMMING 194
ORGANISING 197
Organising principles 198
Process of structuring the organisation 199
Delegation of operational authority 200
CO-ORDINATING 201
The need for co-ordination 202
Horizontal co-ordination 202
The macro-level 202
The micro-level 203
Vertical co-ordination 203
COMMUNICATION 204
Formal channels of communication 204
The internal communication process 204
Barriers to effective communication 205
Importance of feedback 206
Informal communication – the grapevine 207
Positive informal communication 208
Communication methods 208
Verbal communication 208
Written communication 208
Audio-visual communication 209
Public communication 209
First level of contact 210
Second level of contact 210
CONTROL 210
The purpose of control 211
The framework for control 212
The control process 213
The need for a comprehensive control system 216
Input control 216
Output control 216
PLANNING 217
Approaches to planning 219
Statist approach to planning 220
Democratic approach to planning 220
Planning styles 220
The imperative style 220
The indicative style 221
EXERTING LEADERSHIP 222
Requirements for constructive leadership 223
The leader 223
The leadership team 228
The organisational factors affecting leadership 229
Methodology of leadership 231
Leadership styles 231
SUMMARY 233
Possible examination questions 238
PART II
Chapter Six: PUBLIC RESOURCES MANAGEMENT 243
INTRODUCTION 243
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT 244
The need for money 244
Authority to impose tax and allocate funds 244
Imposition of tax 245
Government revenue 246
Tax rates 248
Characteristics of taxation 248
Ethics and taxation 249
Horizontal equity 250
Vertical equity 250
Ability-to-pay principle 250
The benefit-received principle 251
Income taxation 251
Defining income 252
The Haig-Simons definition 252
The production-flow concept 253
Taxable net income 253
Deductions 253
Exemptions 254
Goals of income taxation 255
Personal income tax 256
Corporate income tax 256
Tax base of corporate taxation 257
Classical system 257
Imputation system 258
Two-rate system 258
Integrated system 258
Wealth taxation 258
Goals of wealth taxation 259
Property tax 260
User charges and consumer tariffs 264
Government expenditure 264
Government budgets 265
Features of a budget 266
Functions of a public budget 268
The budget as a policy statement 269
Redistribution-of-wealth function 270
Economic regulation function 273
The budget as an operating programme 276
The budget as a source of information 279
The budget as an integrating and co-ordinating instrument 280
The budget as a control instrument 281
PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT 283
Equal employment opportunity and affirmative action 283
Ethics and personnel management 286
The meaning of ethics 286
Metaethics 287 Normative ethics 287 Religious ethics 287 Social ethics 287 Personal ethics 288 Professional ethics 288
What ethics is not about 288
The importance of ethics to public administrators 290
Professionalism 292
Requirements and characteristics of professionalism 293
Requirements 293 Characteristics 293
Tenets of professionalism 294
Roles of public administrators 295
Role of politics in public administration 295
Responsibility of public administrators 295
The value base of public administration 296
Professional administration and efficiency 296
Professional administration and democracy 297
Public service systems and models 297
Criteria for an acceptable public service 297
Alternative systems and models 298
The autocratic system 299
The democratic system 299
The spoils system 299
British example 299
American example 299
American reforms 300
The merit system 301
The open competitive system 302
Public management models 301
Political activist model 302
Non-militant political activists 303
Militant political activists 303
The scientific bureaucratic model 304
Professional public manager model 305
Leading and motivating personnel 306
Motivation 307
Goal achievement 307
Some early motivation theories 308
Maslow’s needs hierarchy theory 308
McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y 308
McClelland’s achievement, affiliations and power motives 309
Herzberg’s motivation hygiene theory 310
Vroom’s expectancy theory 311
Rational motivation 313
INFORMATION MANAGEMENT 314
The need for information 314
Social information 314
Political information 315
Economic information 316
Safety and security information 319
Collecting information 320
Information processing and interpretation 321
INVENTORY MANAGEMENT 322
Procurement of stock 322
Centralised purchasing 323
Joint purchasing 324
Tenders and tender procedures 325
Calling for tenders and contracting 325
Opening and awarding of tenders 326
Acquisition and storage of stock 327
Issuing of stock 327
Record keeping and control 328
Stocktaking 328
MANAGEMENT OF ACCOMMODATION 329
Policy choice for providing accommodation 329
Financing 329
Maintenance and risk management 330
Responsible organisation 330
Control of government property 330
SUMMARY 331
Chapter Seven: GOVERNMENT FUNCTIONS 341
INTRODUCTION 341
The nature of government functions 342
Types of government functions 343
Line functions 343
Order and protection functions 343
Social welfare functions 344
Economic welfare functions 345
Staff functions 346
Financial function 346
Personnel function 347
Office and secretarial function 347
Legal advisory function 347
Organisation and work-study function 347
Procurement function 347
Accounting and auditing function 347
SUMMARY 348
Possible examination questions 349
Chapter Eight: PUBLIC SERVICES 350
INTRODUCTION 350
Nature of public services 350
Collective services 351
Particular services 352
Quasi-collective services 352
NATIONALISATION VERSUS PRIVATISATION 354
Nationalisation 354
Arguments in favour of nationalisation 355
Monopoly control 355
Economic planning and development 355
Power and influence 356
Defence and military strategy 356
Efficiency and effectiveness 357
Arguments against nationalisation 357
Anti-government monopoly 357
Centralisation 357
Inefficiency and ineffectiveness 358
Interfering with private rights 358
Privatisation 359
Strategy for privatisation 359
Role of government in a free-market system 360
Services suitable for privatisation 360
Ways and means of privatisation 361
Denationalisation 361
Withdrawal or suspension 362
Outsourcing 362
Deregulation 362
Obstacles in the way of privatisation 363
SUMMARY 364
Possible examination questions 367
Chapter Nine: GOVERNMENT GOALS AND OBJECTIVES 369
INTRODUCTION 369
ORIGINAL GOALS 370
The origin and meaning of laissez-faire 370
Laissez-faire as an ideology 371
Goals of the laissez-faire system 371
SOCIAL WELFARE GOALS 372
Meaning of socialism 372
Socialism as an ideology 372
Social welfare state 374
Meaning of the social welfare state 374
Social welfare state as an ideology 375
Objectives of the social welfare state 376
ECONOMIC WELFARE GOALS 377
Economic welfare state 378
Meaning of the economic welfare state 379
Economic welfare state as an ideology 379
Objectives of the economic welfare state 380
GOALS OF THE MODERN CIVILISED STATE 381
A good quality of life for all 383
SUMMARY 383
Possible examination questions 385
Chapter Ten: INDIVIDUAL SATISFACTION AND FEEDBACK 387
INTRODUCTION 387
Satisfaction of individual needs 387
Serving the individual 387
Service-delivery principles 389 Consultation 389 Service standards 390 Access 390 Courtesy 390 Information 390
Correcting mistakes and redressing failures 391
The feedback loop 391
Oral complaints 391
Written complaints 392
Letters to the news media 392
Lodging complaints through political representatives 392
Lodging complaints through interest groups or NGOs 393
Complaints to an ombudsman 393
Approaching the courts 393
The need for proactive administration 394
SUMMARY 394
Possible examination questions 396
EPILOGUE 397
BIBLIOGRAPHY 399
INDEX 408
FIGURES
Figure 1: The holistic approach 12
Figure 2: The holistic approach 16
Figure 3: Needs hierarchy for developing societies 58
Figure 4: Needs hierarchy for affluent societies 59
Figure 5: The administrative or lower level 183
Figure 6: The political-economic spectrum 219
Figure 7: Classification of property 261
P
REFACE
This book is the product of many years of thought, study, research and reflection. Over many years of practical experience, teaching, researching and writing on Public Administration, I have concluded that the knowledge gained from my studies and practical experience was acquired in such a fragmented way that at the beginning I found it difficult to see the wood for the trees. I found it difficult to visualise clearly the relative links between the various theories of the subject matter we studied. I found it difficult to comprehend a holistic picture and grasp the logical sequence of the individual parts (modules) of the subject to arrive at a systematic progression in knowledge of the subject. For instance, one semester you study in isolated compartments “the organisation of government” and the next one “policy analysis” without seeing the relation between the two, and so it goes on until you complete your studies. Ever since my first encounter with the subject Public Administration, first as an uninformed (almost ignorant) public administrator, then as a part-time student and later as a university teacher of the subject, I came to the conclusion that students and even some teachers of the subject were never able to comprehend the subject matter holistically. In scrutinising some of the syllabi of various universities and colleges it appears that most of them are simply loose arrangements of sub-themes or parts of the subject in isolated compartments, not complying with the basic educational principles of knowledge progression, inter-relatedness or coherence and without a clear holistic sense of the subject. This makes it impossible for any person to comprehend the subject holistically.
Relying on my experience as a chief executive officer and public administrator, I asked myself what would any one want to know about the subject of Public Administration to become an efficient and effective chief executive officer or for that matter a good public administrator? Put in another way: what would I need in order to become a good chief executive officer, if ever I were to become one again? There must be a framework (paradigm) of interrelated, interconnected and cohesive set of theories and principles that would include whatever is needed in knowledge and skills to become an effective and efficient public administrator.
What struck me also is the need for using clear and understandable language in teaching public administration. Language is a tool of communication and to communi-cate properly means to express oneself in understandable, simple and clear language. The purpose of communication by words is to paint a picture of the concept you perceive in your own mind by using the spoken or written word in such a way that the person you wish to convey the concept to will be able to perceive the picture exactly as you have it in your mind. Therefore, one must always try to avoid pompousness and grandiloquence – be simple and clear in your explanations!
To use clear and understandable language in the teaching process does not mean that one has to sink to the lower level of students’ linguistic abilities. It is our task to develop the linguistic abilities of our students. Without falling into linguistic ineptitude, we must strive to explain the subject in clear, correct, unambiguous and understandable language. We must understand that words have exact meanings. It is this exact meaning of public administration terminology that we must communicate to
our students. In the first year we must come down to a level where high school graduates (Grade 12 learners) can understand the message we want to convey to them. Then we must, in the years that follow, gradually pull them up to a higher standard of
language proficiency. It is imperative that we teach them to use not only good
language but also correct language free of clichés, acronyms and slang. This is very important, because language is the tool to convey one’s messages to others. We want others to understand exactly what we try to convey to them – the message must be clear. To repeat, one must be able to describe one’s message in words so clearly, by using their exact meanings that the person to whom you want to convey your message exactly understands what you are trying to convey. The slightest misinterpretation of a public administrator's message can cause havoc – in international political relations, it could perhaps create diplomatic hostility and even spark a war.
Another thing that upsets me is the lack of courage in striving for academic freedom and the eagerness of some academics to be politically correct. It appears as if they want to please their political masters by placing their teaching within the framework of the structures, policies and processes of the ruling party. Some of them even use published policy papers, like Green Papers, White Papers, laws and regulations as sources for teaching. All they are doing is aping and preaching the policies of the government of the day. Professor Emeritus John Ellis, University of California (1996), argues in his book Literature Lost: Social Agendas and the
Corruption of the Humanities, that: “academic literature criticism has been
transformed from traditional inquiry into an overarching search for relevance and significance applicable to modern (contemporary) society. That literature and humanistic inquiry are subverted to quests for political power such as that ‘the universities should have an overtly political function, work directly for social and political change, and inculcate a particular political viewpoint in their students’.”
Arthur Schopenhauer, one of the world’s greatest philosophers of the 19th century,
wrote: “Safe in their own taxpayer-subsidised enclaves, the professors of philosophy found that the goodwill of colleagues is supreme, with its own special, distilled version of the course of current politics, since ideological conformity has become so important that it now even has its own name: ‘Political Correctness’…”. This is completely unacceptable, objectionable and must be rejected out rightly.
We must enjoy academic freedom and must not allow ourselves to be subjected to political expediency or indoctrination, i.e. to serve the purpose of any political party, whether in power or not. Academic freedom must be our constitutional right to investigate our field of knowledge and express our views without fear of restraint or dismissal or harassment. Our insights must be grounded in the substantive data of reality and logical reasoning, i.e. scientifically founded. This right rests on the assumption that open and free enquiry within the field of our study and teaching is essential in the pursuit of knowledge and the performance of our educational function. The condition, however, is that our teachings and criticism must be scientifically founded – i.e. based on facts. Academic freedom goes hand in hand with academic responsibility. The concept of academic freedom implies also that the tenure of office depends primarily on our competence and performances as teachers of public administration and on our acceptance of certain standards of professional integrity
rather than on extraneous considerations such as “political correctness”, or religious beliefs and affiliations. We must never subject our academic and professional integrity to party political expediency or any other expediency. We must elevate ourselves above party politics and never contaminate our academic integrity with political expediency. Our academic integrity is too precious to squander.
Our final products, in the form of academically qualified public administrators, must be able to apply their acquired academic knowledge and skills in practice. What we actually produce are junior public administrators who still need in-service training in the application of the theories and skills acquired at academic level. The profession of public administrator, like so many other professions, also requires an internship of
several years before a person is actually fully qualified for occupying middle- or
top-level public administrators' positions. The development of such system of internship is incumbent upon the employer. Our products are not trained as administrative technicians and should not be applied as clerks (administrative officers) in the public service, because this would be a waste of knowledge and skills – they will be lost to the profession that they were educated for. They should immediately be put into junior management positions under the supervision and guidance of well-qualified and experienced public administrators for a long enough period to eventually qualify them as professional public administrators.
This may be my last contribution to the subject of Public Administration. So far I have published several books on Public administration and this one represents a culmination of some of my knowledge contained and some not contained in those books already published, which obviously could not cover everything – and I hope this book will make a modest contribution to the development of the subject. I also hope it is an improvement on my former publications. I say this in the full realisation that no one in a single lifetime can ever fully master any specialised subject. If I only knew what I do not know of the subject, I would have been wise. I also believe that it is incumbent upon every retired academic to publish his accumulated knowledge acquired over the years through study, research and experience as a legacy – for what it is worth – to a future generation of public administrators. Publishing what you know, however simple it may be, surely contributes to the existing corpus of academic knowledge on Public Administration. I hope this work will contribute something new to the subject, even if it is only my idea of a holistic paradigm.
Allow me to thank my dear wife, Antje, for her tremendous support in writing this book; for her encouragement, for the research she has done, for the painstaking editing of every word I wrote and last but not least of all, for serving as my soundboard and for her positive criticism. As was the case with many of my previous publications, this one is indeed a combined effort from the two of us.
JSH Gildenhuys Somerset West 12/09/03
P
ART
I
THE PUBLIC
PUBLIC NEEDS
PUBLIC VALUE SYSTEMS
GOVERNMENT ORGANISATIONS
I
NTRODUCTION
STUDY GOAL
The purpose of studying this INTRODUCTION is for the student to understand
the philosophy of Public Administration, encapsulated in the holistic and
multidisciplinary paradigm, as well as the three principles for teaching and learning the subject.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After studying this INTRODUCTION, the student must be able to explain the following concepts in his or her own words:
T The holistic paradigm as depicted in Figures 1 and 2;
T The difference between ‘office administration’ and the academic subject
called ‘Public Administration’;
T The logic of knowledge progression in studying Public Administration;
T The normative and generic principles in studying Public Administration;
T The multidisciplinary approach in teaching Public Administration.
This book deals with the philosophy of public administration encapsulated in a holistic paradigm. This demands first an explanation of what is meant by philosophy and a consideration of whether an academic subject can have its own philosophy. Can there be such a thing as the philosophy of public administration? Simply stated, philosophy is a set of principles, a set of fundamental truths or natural laws serving as the bases for reasoning and action; it is a law of nature forming the basis for the construction and working of a human organisation. Human beings cannot devise principles. Principles are natural and exist; it is for human beings to discover principles through research and logical inference from natural facts by rational thought and reasoning. Principles are fundamental. They do not change for simple reasons; they can only change when it is discovered that the original reasoning for discovering such principle was false or based on misinterpretations of the original facts of natural law. Some principles are formulated through rational thought and logical inference from facts of natural law; some are formulated from facts of experience. One may refer to this approach as analytical philosophy or logical empiricism. Today, for example, historical facts determine the principle that a country organised and ruled according to the ideology of dictatorial communism (a corpus of irrational principles based on unnatural positive law) cannot survive. Such countries eventually collapse, while a country organised and served by a democratic free market economy (a corpus of rational principles based on natural law) survives and may become the world’s strongest and leading country economically and politically.
Practitioners of public administration may be inclined to apply their personal philosophy (the principles they believe in) in administering a government’s affairs. For that reason one may find autocratic/dictatorial public administrations, communistic public administrations, socialist public administrations, social-democratic public
administrations, democratic free market public administrations, Islamic public administrations, so-called Christian National public administrations and many kinds of other variations. One may regard most of these as based on pseudo-philosophical principles, because most of them are not based on natural law, reason and rational facts of truth but on mysticism, religious witchcraft, superstition, myths, lies, emotion, faith and ideology – all false doctrines and the opposite of rationality. However, it is incumbent upon public administration academics and students to discover by logical reasoning the true and fundamental principles based on natural law, reason and the rational facts of truth that can serve as a set of laws on which the administration of government affairs should be based. The true and fundamental principles eventually form the common value system generally nurtured by the people. The common values emanating from this process should form the basis of public administration, because they ought to be the common public value system acceptable by all. What then if the common public values are in conflict with the true principles based on natural law and reason? The answer is that a well educated and well informed public’s common values are usually based on natural law, reason and facts of truths, thus conforming with the values of an honest, efficient and effective public administration. If the public’s common values do not conform to moral principles based on natural law, reason and facts of truth, then it is incumbent upon the politicians and public administrators to reform the minds of the people through proper education, not by propagandistic brainwashing and brainstorming, but by honestly supplying facts and correct information.
What then if politicians and public administrators have deliberately corrupted the public’s minds with false propaganda, disinformation and feeble election promises which they cannot fulfil? What then if a government devised positive laws not conforming to rational moral principles based on natural law? If the minds of the politicians and public administrators are so corrupt that they do not support true principles based on natural law, reason and facts of truth, then the public administration will also be corrupt and not based on true principles formed by natural law, reason and facts of truth. The result would be instability and chaos in the way history has revealed the path of the politics, economics and social events in such countries. People with crooked minds live crooked lives; therefore politicians and public administrators with crooked minds govern and administer in a crooked way and will eventually be forced to turn to violent suppression of the people, sometimes even to genocide, to remain in power. Their only motive is obtaining political power and retaining power by force to their own advantage and to the disadvantage of the people and detriment of the country as a whole – they rule by the power of the sword. Fortunately, such governments and their administrations do not last forever; as a rule they are usually overthrown by force, but unfortunately with much bloodshed of innocent civilians.
To come back to our question: can an academic subject like Public administration have its own philosophy? The answer is Yes. It simply follows the philosophy of the public administrators and politicians running the affairs of government. It is for this reason that we must have public administrators with high moral and professional ethical standards. It is for this reason that we must educate future public administrators in the moral principles of Public Administration.
Another point of confusion to clarify is the name of the subject “Public Administration”. I remember many years ago how a junior colleague painstakingly tried to explain to first-year students over and over again the difference between the meaning of “PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION” in the upper case (which he called the academic subject) and “pubic administration” in the lower case (which he called the office administration of government institutions). Woodrow Wilson was the first academic (later President of the USA) who used and coined the phrase “Public Administration” for the activities of what are today known as civil servants or Public
Administrators to distinguish it from politics, as the activities of elected politicians.1
Today the subject “Public Administration” is generally accepted as the subject matter of an academic discipline to equip future civil servants for executive positions. To me the term “public administration” refers to a body of knowledge and skills taught at universities as an academic subject to equip students as future public administrators, especially in the middle and top management levels. The science of public administration is organised knowledge about how best to administer the public affairs of a country, not about the government administration of a specific country itself.
“Office administration“, as it is generally known, refers to the technical paper work done in offices, sometimes referred to as clerical or office work – paper work done by clerks. There is quite a difference between the academic education of civil servants as public administrators and the technical training of clerks (sometimes also referred to as administrative officers) in the skills of office work. Office work refers to activities such as letter writing, bookkeeping, designing and keeping filing and other record systems, compiling agendas for meetings and keeping minutes of meetings, the management of information technology, etc. Office administration may also be referred to as Office and
Secretarial Services, one of the staff functions of any organisation.2
There is also confusion about the difference between “Public Administration” and “Public Management“. Stephen P. Robbins took the easy way out by accepting the terms “administration” and “management” as synonyms and using them
interchange-ably.3 To me this is wrong because I see public administration as a vast body of
knowledge and processes in a holistic paradigm, whereas the functions referred to by Stephen Robbins as “administrative functions” actually represent the “management functions“ as only a part (sub-theme, a module) of the whole, albeit a very important part. This will become clear when I explain the holistic approach.
Contemplating the framework of this book, I realised that some principles should guide the teaching of public administration. In the teaching of public administration one should comply with certain basic principles, namely:
T the principle of logical knowledge progression;
T the holistic principle;
T the normative principle;
T the generic principle;
T the multidisciplinary approach.
1 Wilson, Thomas Woodrow, 1887, “The study of administration”, Political Science Quarterly, June 1887, Vol. 2, pp. 197-222
2 See Gildenhuys, J. S. H. and A. Knipe, 2001, The organisation of Government: An Introduction, Pretoria, Van Schaik, pp. 54-56 for an exposition of line and staff functions.
The logic of knowledge progression
Educationalists should realise and understand that educating students starts with the basics, especially at the undergraduate level. Teaching public administration is analogous to building a house. When building a house one starts logically at the bottom, i.e. the foundation and the floor. Then one proceeds to building the walls and finally after all other things (electricity, plumbing, etc.) have been put in place, the roof is put on top of it all. The foundation must be sound and strong, because it must carry the rest of the construction. If the foundation is not sound and strong, serious faults and cracks might appear some time in the future, causing the house to collapse or fall apart. However, even before one starts building the house, one must have a blueprint (a building plan) indicating the layout and specifications of the house. When teaching public administration the same applies. One must first have a blueprint or plan – i.e. a properly structured syllabus. The syllabus must start with the most basic knowledge that forms the basis (the foundation) to progressively build on and to add on the subsequent sub-themes (modules) in a logical sequence. These sub-themes must follow one after the other logically up to the final year, when the students’ knowledge is rounded off, providing them with a clear picture and understanding of the subject as a complete concept, i.e. providing a clear holistic picture.
It would be stupid, for instance, to teach public personnel management and public financial management before the student is properly informed and fully conversant with the theories of the basic management functions. How is anybody going to be able to manage personnel or to manage finance without any knowledge of the theories of management? This is so elementary that it would surprise me if anybody who wants to be called a teacher of public administration does not agree with this basic principle of knowledge progression. The holistic picture in a condensed form must be provided for in the first year of study in order to allow the students to understand where they are going and what they are heading for. They must be able to see the road on which they are going to proceed and what purposes they are aiming at. The study goals and study objectives must be clear. They must first get a picture of the whole and then study the separate elements forming the whole. If the foundation is not set properly at the beginning, the student may struggle to master the subsequent modules in a proper way. The result of poor education could be that the organisation that is some day to be managed by such poorly equipped student might collapse!
The holistic principle
The holistic principle demands the inclusion of all relevant aspects and themes as modules of the syllabus to equip students completely to become professional public administrators of quality and ability. For instance, one simply cannot exclude a study of the public, its needs and its common values. How can any public administrator serve, interact and communicate with the public if he cannot define the public and does not know how it is organised and what its needs and common values are? This is the basic starting point of study! We have tried to illustrate this holistic principle in Figure 1. The focal point is, of course, the individual right at the centre. The interest of the individual and his needs and values are paramount in all public activities and this
places him at the centre of all government activities. All government activities must be aimed at the individual, as all the little arrows in Figure 1 indicate by pointing to the individual sitting right at the centre forming the core of the whole system. If Figure 1 can be perceived as a wheel, the individual represents the axis around which everything turns. It also emphasises the fact that it is the strong individuals who carry the load of a whole community and that weaklings cannot carry communities; they are usually the parasites of society. In modern society most individuals interact with each other in the form of private organisations with common values, collective interests and needs. These private organisations are supposed to represent the common values, collective interests and needs of their members. Complying with the common values, collective interests and needs of these private organisations, means complying with the individual needs of their members. Complying with these common values, interests and needs should be the whole purpose of government. These private organisations form the outer rim of the holistic concept (the wheel), encapsulating all other theories and processes of public administration forming the hub of the imaginary wheel. All these subsequent theories and processes aim at satisfying the common values, interests and needs of these private organisations and therefore automatically those of their individual members. This outer rim represents the human environment within which the whole system of public administration operates and forms the foundation and starting point for studying public administration
The holistic principle demands that the future public administrator be informed on and be knowledgeable about the particular and collective needs and common values of the public, forming the needs and values environment. This environment demands from the public administrator, wherever possible, to abide by such common values and satisfying such needs in his routine public service activities. He must adopt it as his personal philosophy. The paramount principle in this regard is that the public administrator is, under normal circumstances, there to serve the individual and not to regulate and rule him. The value systems are paramount and flow from the individuals to the private organisations to which they belong to form specific common value systems of the private organisations generally accepted as such by its individual members. These common value systems should serve as normative guidelines for the public administrator in his daily activities serving the people. They form the first inner rim of the hub of the wheel as shown in Figure 1. These value systems are therefore logically the next theme or module to be studied.
The second inner rim of the hub represents the organisations of government. These organisations form the “engine room” within which all public administration activities take place. It is common sense to understand that before embarking on the study of the public management theories and processes, the student must first understand how government institutions are organised and what their functions are. It makes no sense to supply the student with the “fuel and lubrication” of the engine room without knowing how the engine room is put together, what its functions are and how to steer the organisation. It is of paramount importance that these institutions of government are organised with the generally accepted common public value systems, interests and needs as basis and that they adhere to these value systems and comply with the interests and needs of the people in executing their functions.
The public & their needs Public value system Government organisations Management functions Resources management Government Functions Public services Government goals & objectives
FIGURE 1: THE HOLISTIC APPROACH
F IGURE 1: T HE H OLISTIC A PPROACH
The activities of these organisations of government are supposed to be managed (steered) through the application of the public management functions by well-educated and skilled public administrators. These public management functions and theories form the third inner rim of the hub and they are the next to be studied. With a proper knowledge of the management functions and theories, the public administrator should be ready to manage the public resources, such as finance, personnel, information, accommodation and stock and equipment. The study of these theories of resources management is the next logical step in the process of knowledge progression and these resources form the fourth inner rim of the hub. They must be managed effectively and efficiently for the execution of the general government functions. A lack of proper knowledge of how to manage these resources can only lead to waste and maladministration.
A knowledge of the line and staff functions of government, as they are generally known, is of course necessary for their proper execution, because they are collectively aimed at attaining the government’s goals and objectives through the provision of public services as effectively and efficiently as possible to the individual. They form the fifth inner rim of the hub. Although one cannot be an expert in all the technicalities of every line and staff function, as applied in government, there is a need for public administrators to have a general knowledge of these government functions. One must know what kinds of services are rendered by the government administration, because the rendering of these public services is aimed at the attainment of specific public goals and objectives to meet the needs of the individual as the focal point at the centre of it all. These services represent the sixth and seventh inner rims of the hub with the individual right in the centre spot forming the core – the axis. It is because of the great variety of government functions that one may refer to a public administrator as a “generalist specialist” or a “specialist generalist“. He must have a good general knowledge of all the line and staff functions of the government institution(s) managed by him, but he must above all be a specialist public administrator. It is for this reason that one would prefer, for instance, to appoint a medical practitioner as chief executive officer of a Health Department, or a civil engineer as head of a Roads Department, or a lawyer as chief executive officer of the Department of Justice, provided he is also
properly qualified as a specialist public administrator! It is for this reason that most
Universities offer complete postgraduate studies in public administration – the Masters in Public Administration (MPA) degree – on a part-time basis. This allows line-function specialists to qualify as specialist public administrators to become chief executive officers of their departments.
Figure 2 explains Figure 1 in another form, showing the same logical sequential flow of knowledge progression as represented by the administrative processes and the feedback loop from the individual to the relevant government organisation and/or interest group. Normally the individual would work through the private organisation he belongs to indicate his satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the public services he received. It is also easier for politicians and public administrators to communicate with the executive of a private organisation than with every individual or the public at large. However, the system must provide for the individual to communicate directly with the relevant government institution about his needs and problems. Through the
feedback process the Public Administrator will receive new inputs from these private organisations and individuals and the public administrator must be able to evaluate the problems encountered and must take timely corrective action whenever necessary. The normative principle
The normative principle approach as opposed to a descriptive approach means that students should be taught what ought to be – rather than what is – i.e. how things should be done and not necessarily how they are done. This approach explains the difference between an academic education and technical training. Academic education aims at developing the mind (the intellectual skills) of the individual and to produce public administrators who are intellectually equipped with normative principles deduced from natural law, by logical reasoning and based on natural facts, to evaluate what is being done as opposed to people trained in doing something in a way they are instructed to do. One must always remember that academic knowledge is not simply a matter of acquiring and memorising facts and procedures on how to do things, but a process of intelligence transformation from ignorance to enlightenment and understanding. Students must not only memorise the key concepts of the propositions in this study, but also understand them and be able to explain and apply whatever knowledge and skills they have gained from their studies, otherwise the whole exercise is pointless. Their success as public administrators will depend on how well they have mastered the transformation process from ignorance to enlightenment and understanding public administration in a normative way.
This explains the difference between the thinkers (public administrators) and the doers (the clerks or administrative technicians). A pragmatic approach would be to combine the normative (academic education) and practical (training) approaches, but this would be impractical, cumbersome and time consuming. It is the task of academic universities to educate future public administrators and it is the task of technical colleges or technical universities to train administrative technicians (clerks). However, one must admit that it is sometimes necessary to explain normative theory with practical examples from empirical research – and empirical research of facts is sometimes necessary to deduce normative theories by logical reasoning, sometimes referred to as logical empiricism. In such a case empirical research on practical examples simply serves as a tool for academic education. It also makes no sense to follow a descriptive approach by teaching students the existing systems and processes as applied in practice and as prescribed by law or regulation. This is irrational because laws and regulations contain temporary knowledge (instructions) and can be changed at the will or whim of the legislature or the executive. When the laws or regulations are changed, the acquired knowledge based on them immediately becomes obsolete.
This creates the need for in-service training, requiring constant and periodical retraining as laws and regulations change and the instructive processes based on them change. This is not the function of academic universities, but of the employer. What universities must produce are mentally developed public administrators who can evaluate existing policies, organisations, procedures, rules, regulations and laws, etc. in terms of the common value systems and normative public administration theories, and who must be able to recommend the necessary changes, if necessary, for better
public service delivery. The public administrator must know on what value system(s) the policies, laws, regulations, procedures, etc. are or should be based. He should know how existing polices, laws, regulations and procedures should be changed to improve public service delivery, whenever necessary.
The generic principle
The generic principle requires the teaching of public administration theories that are applicable in any situation under any circumstances and in any country, without being skewed by unacceptable ideologies and subjective political expediency or any other expediency or false philosophy whatsoever. It means that public administration
education must be neutral, non-partisan – i.e. free from political expediency or whatever
expediencies – and at the same time comply with the principle of rational objectivity – not irrational subjectivity to serve the purpose of any political ideology or the policies of any political party. Education in public administration must strike a rational balance between the well-known political ideologies and compare both the positive and negative aspects of each of them, because public administrators must be well informed on these various ideologies and their possible implications for the public as well as the individual. Our teachings must be positively critical – i.e. we must make a positive contribution to better government and administration. We should not criticise just for the sake of criticising. Above all, we must never be dogmatic; our theories and arguments and statements must always be based on rational thought and true facts, i.e. on natural law. One cannot say that things are the way they are just because “I say so”; no one knows everything! One must always found one’s arguments on reason and motivate one’s statements on rational thought and true facts. One’s criticism must be neutral and objective in the sense that any well-educated Public Administrator must be a professional and properly equipped to serve the public under any government of any political party in any country. The ideal would be an “international” public administrator who would be able to sell his knowledge and skills for public service all over the world.
A multidisciplinary approach
From the contents of Figures 1 and 2 and the arguments so far, one must conclude that the teaching of Public administration requires a multidisciplinary approach. It involves some knowledge of Political Philosophy, Economics and Economic Philosophy, Sociology and Social Philosophy, and the Philosophy of Public Law (Constitutional and Administrative Law). It is not always possible to include all these subjects in the curriculum of a bachelor's degree or for that matter in the curriculum of a MPA degree. It is, however, incumbent upon the academic teacher of Public Administration to research the common political, economic, social and constitutional value systems as well as the rules of Administrative Law applying to the activities of the public administrator. We must simply incorporate these value systems into our teachings to serve as normative guidelines and even as fixed principles for the public administrator. This is another reason why the profession of public administrator is sometimes referred to as a “specialist generalist” – a kind of contradiction in terms.
THE PUBLIC AND ITS NEEDS
PUBLIC VALUE SYSTEM
GOVERNMENT ORGANISATIONS
MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS
RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
GOVERNMENT FUNCTIONS
PUBLIC SERVICES
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
THE INDIVIDUAL The Individual Communities Interest Groups: Political Parties Economic Organisations Social Organisations Non-Governmental Organisations Public Needs: Social needs Economic needs Political needs Security & safety needs Legal values Economic values Political values Social values Cultural values The Judiciary The Legislature The Executive The Administration Parastatals Decision-making Policy-making Programming Organising Co-ordinating Communicating Control Planning Exerting Leadership Financial management Personnel management Information management Inventory Management Accommodation management Line Functions:
Social Welfare functions Economic Welfare functions Order and Protection functions
Staff Functions:
Financial function Personnel function
Office administration function Legal Advisory function
Organisation & Work-study function Procurement function
Accounting & Auditing function Collective services
Particular services Quasi-collective services Nationalisation vs. Privatisation Political goals & objectives Social Welfare goals & objectives Economic Welfare goals & objectives Order and protection goals & objectives Goal of the modern state
Satisfaction of personal needs Good quality of life Serving the individual
By now one should realise that the well-being of the individual and the future of modern society rests with politicians and public administrators. Their decisions make the difference between war and peace, wealth and poverty, economic growth and depression; and they decide directly on such critical issues as the quality of the public’s health care, availability of public goods and services, and the quality of the environment. The most direct effect public administrators have upon our lives is through the social impact on our life-styles. What is relevant is the active control public administrators have over our lives. Therefore, what public administrators believe (their philosophy) and how they act may be one of the most important areas for academic investigation.
In their decision making capacity Public Administrators are required to take unorganised masses of opinions and values and inspect, scrutinise and organise these views into a meaningful, coherent, and consistent system. As philosophers, they seek to gather a body of related knowledge that supplies the logic of effective thinking for the solution of certain kinds of problems. It would seem, therefore, that these qualities make a philosophical and holistic approach to the study of public administration both logical and viable.
The fact remains that a public administrator must be a kind of “philosopher king“. It is for this reason that we prefer to refer to the philosophy of public administration. If we don't see it in this way, how can we ever do justice to our doctorate degrees in (the Philosophy of) Public Administration and how can we not follow a normative (i.e. a philosophical) instead of a descriptive approach in teaching the subject?
With these principles, illustrations and explanations – and especially the need for knowledge progression – in mind and without being too fundamentalist and foundationalist, the compilation of this book more or less follows the pattern set out in Figures 1 and 2. However, we are the first to admit that one need not follow the exact order as contemplated, as long as the whole range of themes and sub-themes is covered and the principle of knowledge progression is adhered to. The aim of the publication is to cover more or less the complete undergraduate course stretching over a period of three years.
POSSIBLE EXAMINATION QUESTIONS
1. Explain the holistic approach to the learning of Public Administration as depicted in Figures 1 and 2 (60 minutes)
2. Explain the meaning and the need for the principle of knowledge progression, and
the need for the normative, generic, and multidisciplinary approaches in learning Public Administration. (60 minutes)
CHAPTER ONE
T
HE
P
UBLIC
STUDY GOAL
The purpose of studying this chapter is for the student to understand who are the public and how individuals of the public are organised, as well as to understand the philosophies of individualism and communalism.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After studying this chapter, the student must be able to explain the following concepts in his or her own words:
T The individual and individualism;
T Communities and communalism;
T African communalism;
T Interest groups and the so-called ‘public interests’;
T Political parties and the various party systems;
T Economic organisations as interest groups;
T Social and cultural organisations as interest groups;
T Non-governmental organisations as interest groups.
INTRODUCTION
When students are asked why the “Public” in Public Administration, the answer would probably be: because it is about the administration of government activities as opposed to the administration of private business activities, which are not wrong. However, when asked, “Who is the public?” the usual reply is “The people or the society”. When asked to define “the people or the society”, one would perhaps be confronted with stares of disbelief that an academic teacher of public administration can be so uninformed as not to know what is meant by the “the people or society” – the concept is so obvious! However, when asked, “How are the people or society organised, how do they interact with each other and what are their common values, rights and needs?” then the stares of disbelief change to sullen expressions of uncertainty. Eventually it might dawn upon some that there is more to it than they might have realised – “the people out there” are simply not just the people out there!
The people out there are a collection of a variety of individuals each with his or her own peculiarities, particular values and needs. Individuals are born and brought up within communities. Communities form societies and particular social orders may eventually form nations and nations form nation-states requiring political and administrative institutions to manage the nation’s collective interests and needs. Within one nation individuals are inclined to group together in groups having the same interests, such as political, economic or social interests groups or according to their social, economic or political needs. Collective needs create collective interests. In this chapter the nature of individuals representing all kinds of political and social entities,
communities formed by them, and the variety of interest groups will be discussed and the principles ruling them will be explained. The public and the way in which it is organised represent the human environment of public administration. It is from this
human environment that the public administrator identifies the collective values and
needs to be serviced. THE INDIVIDUAL
The individuals of any country making up the so-called “public” consist of many kinds with a variety of personality traits, particular values and needs. There are citizens, permanent residents, aliens, immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, criminals, registered voters, minors, school children, and college and university students, poor people, rich people, disabled people and many more. The government and its administration must serve and manage the problems and needs of all these kinds of people. What must be understood here is that each of them is an individual with individual problems and needs and that an individual’s problems and needs are, from his personal point of view, the most important problems and needs in the world. Therefore, it is obligatory for the public administrator to deal with every individual and his problems with sympathy, consideration, dignity and respect. Public administrators must listen to their problems and take account of them in making decisions. Even the problems of alleged criminals must be dealt with in the correct way and in a fair manner. In most civilised countries alleged criminals have the right to a fair trial and are not guilty before being proven guilty by due process in a legitimate court of law.
Citizenship
Not all people making up a population of a country are citizens of such a country. Citizenship usually comes automatically by birth, or by naturalisation. Most civilised countries have laws regulating the registration of birth. Babies registered within a predetermined time of birth do not enjoy full citizenship. Apart from their natural rights obtained by birth, such as the right to life and protection by the state against abuse and maltreatment (even by their own parents), babies hardly enjoy any positive rights. They have, for instance, no political rights. As they grow up their positive rights increase; for instance, at a certain age they may register as voters and therefore gain political rights for the first time in their lives. Many civilised countries have laws for the compulsory education for children from and up to a certain age. They are allowed from a certain age to be employed and gain economic rights to do business and enter into legitimate contracts with other economic subjects. Many countries have laws forbidding child labour.
To become a citizen by naturalisation requires long and sometimes complicated requirements and procedures. This usually starts with the process of immigration ruled by strict requirements and lengthy procedures. Most countries have strict immigration policies. Some countries, already overpopulated, set stringent personal and technical qualifications for immigrants to keep out unwanted people and people who may one day become a burden on the country’s economy and government administration. The choice is normally on young very well qualified economically active people, people
