Public Administration
Introduction
The book, Classics of Public Administration by Shafritz, examines various concepts of Public Administration and later propose some of the best courses of public administration that can be adopted by leaders. The book begins by looking back into history and drawing a close analysis of successful ancient territories and states and the vital roles that public administration played in these territories. It goes on to examine modern-day cases of public administration, giving insights into classical public administration and its importance. In this paper, I shall assess the lessons that can be drawn from its third chapter, “From JFK to Civil Service Reform.”
A revitalized view of organizational bureaucracy
More companies and organizations are shunning the traditional and bureaucratic closed models of operation and adopting the open systems of operation. Shafritz opines that the closed and fixed operational models were only effective in situations where the business environment was controllable and stable, a sublime feature that is not synonymous with the modern business environment (Shafritz, 2016). However, he states that one major set back of the closed models was that they contributed to the instability of organizations despite making their operations dynamic. Instability arose due to the shifting business environment brought about by the dynamic nature of the closed systems. Shafritz, in his application of systems theory to the composition of organizations, further noted that the closed systems led to the failure of organizations due to the inability to effectively interact with the immediate environments. The open systems that are less bureaucratic should thus be the goal of any organizations keen on progressive development due to its unique ability to foster good relationships between human labour and the immediate business environment.
Intergovernmental relationships as an act of federalism
In the 1960s, developmental agenda for social change emanated from the federal government (Shafritz, 2016). However, the implementation of the social change agenda proposed by the federal government solely rested on the shoulders of the local or state governments. To smoothen the implementation of these agenda, the federal government would allocate sections of its budget to the state governments. The allocated budgets would later increase with time sparking a debate on the relationship between federal governments and state governments. Shafritz opines that the relationship between the federal government and local governments is an act of federalism that ought to be appreciated (Shafritz, 2016). However, these relationships were not very effective since it was only based on a mere allocation of funds. Shafritz suggests the adoption of creative federalism in which the federal government involves the state governments in the planning and decision-making on vital issues because decisions made by the federal governments affect the implementation of policies by the local governments that are in direct contact with the masses. For the diligent running of governments that have a federal system of governance, creative federalism ought to be central to its operations. This ensures that the operations, goals, objectives and missions of the state governments are in tandem with those of the federal government, thus eliminating conflicts of interest that may tramp on service delivery to the masses.
Conclusion
Shafritz, in the third chapter of his book, Classics of Public Administration, details some of the reforms in Civil Service way back from the administration of John. F. Kennedy. The reforms that were orchestrated in the civil service sector were critical in the progressive development of the United States. One important lesson drawn from chapter three is the essence of adopting open systems of administration by both political and business leaders. The chapter further highlights the importance of creative federalism in public administration.
References
Shafritz, J. M., & Hyde, A. C. (2016). Classics of Public Administration. Cengage Learning.