Abstract
Today, it is necessary to state clearly the essential character of public administration’s activities. The question of the essential character of what public administration can do in relation to the public services was proposed by Denhardt and Denhardt. The discussion of the question should be referred to the concept of new public management developed by researchers. The essential character of public administration’s actions is associated with the notions of political neutrality, democracy, public interests, and new public management.
Introduction
To improve the approaches used by public administrators in order to do the public service effectively, it is necessary to state clearly the essential character of this process and associated procedures. The question of the essential character of what public administration can do in relation to the public services was proposed by Denhardt and Denhardt, thus, to respond to this question, it is also necessary to refer to the concept of new public management developed by researchers to describe the modern situation in the sphere of public administration (Denhardt & Denhardt, 2011). From this point, today, the essential character of public administration’s actions is closely associated with the ideas and notions of political neutrality, democracy, public interests, and new public management.
The Essential Character of Public Administration’s Actions in the Field
Public administration serves to implement the governmental regulations in order to address the public interests, thus, to develop the most effective plan of implementation. As a result, the governmental policies and regulations are managed to respond to the public’s needs, and this shift from writing the document to implementing the policy in the real society is very important. That is why, the effectiveness of the public administration’s activities depends on the definite neutrality of public administrators from business and politics necessary to avoid any negative impacts on the process of policy implementation to satisfy the needs of this or that group.
Denhardt and Denhardt state that “government shouldn’t be run like a business; it should be run like a democracy” (Denhardt & Denhardt, 2011, p. 2-3). From this point, it is impossible to refer to the profits for one of the parties, but it is necessary to contribute to democracy. Political administrators cannot follow this or that political actor as well as the certain business (Overeem, 2005, p. 312). Thus, the essential character of what public administration can do in the public service is reflected in the efficient implementation of governmental policy to provide the good for all the categories of the society while basing on the principles of democracy and neutrality.
The Main Tenets of New Public Management
The rapid development of the world makes public administration also adapt to the changes in the vision of public management. Nowadays, it is important to focus on the innovative business methods to realize the public management, but it is necessary to avoid the domination of the business principles (Rubin, 2002, p. 90). Thus, the principles of new public management can serve to create the perfect background for the dynamic development of public administration. According to Denhardt and Denhardt, “the New Public Management refers to a cluster of contemporary ideas and practices that seek, at their core, to use private sector and business approaches in the public sector” (Denhardt & Denhardt, 2011, p. 12-13). This approach guarantees the necessary flexibility in providing the services (Morse, 2010, p. 111).
For instance, to realize the anti-poverty and welfare neighbourhood programs, public administrators more often choose to cooperate with the private sector and to apply effective practices used by charity organizations, investors, and sponsors to promote and implement the productive welfare programs. The war with poverty is the complex process which should be resolved at the governmental level while involving the business resources.
Thus, the essential character of public administration’s activities today should be discussed with references to the principles of new public management as the way to improve the approaches used in the sphere of public administration during a long period of time.
References
Denhardt, J. V., & Denhardt, R. B. (2011). The new public service: Serving, not steering. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.
Morse, R. (2010). Public administration and community collaboration for Capella University. USA: Wiley.
Overeem, P. (2005). The value of the dichotomy: Politics, administration, and the political neutrality of administrators. Administrative Theory & Praxis, 27(2), 311-329.
Rubin, H. (2002). Collaborative leadership: Developing effective partnerships in communities and schools. USA: Corwin Press.