Historical Overview of public administration

 

Large-scale administrative organization has existed from early times. The ancient empires of Egypt, Persia, Greece, Rome, China, and later the Holy Roman Empire as well as recent colonial empires of Britain, Spain, Russia, Portugal, and France – they all organized and maintained political rule over wide areas and large populations by the use of quite a sophisticated administrative apparatus and more or less skilled administrative functionaries.

The personal nature of that rule was very great. Everything depended on the emperor. The emperor in turn had to rely on the personal loyalty of his subordinates, who maintained themselves by the personal support from their underlings, down to rank-and file personnel on the fringes of the empire. The emperor carried an enormous work load reading or listening to petitions, policy arguments, judicial claims, appeals for favors, and the like in an attempt to keep the vast imperial machine functioning. It was a system of favoritism and patronage.

In a system based on personal preferment, a change of emperor disrupted the entire arrangements of government. Those who had been in favor might now be out of favor. Weak rulers followed strong rulers, foolish monarchs succeeded wise monarchs – but all were dependent on the army, which supplied the continuity that enabled the empire to endure so long. In the absence of institutional, bureaucratic procedures, government moved from stability to near anarchy and back again.

Modern administrative system is based on objective norms (such as laws, rules and regulations) rather than on favoritism It is a system of offices rather than officers. Loyalty is owed first of all to the state and the administrative organization. Members of the bureaucracy, or large, formal, complex organizations that appeared in the recent times, are chosen for their qualification rather than for their personal connections with powerful persons. When vacancies occur by death, resignation, or for other reasons, new qualified persons are selected according to clearly defined rules. Bureaucracy does not die when its members die.

Ex. 2. Read the text again for understanding its main points and answer the 10 'What'-questions given below:

1) What is public administration?

2) What institutions and agencies are involved in public administration?

3) What institutions are involved with policy formulation?

4) What public figures are visible to the public – elected or anonymous ones?

5) What are public administrators?

6) What maintained political rule over wide areas and large populations in ancient empires?

7) What is the difference between macro-administration and micro-administration?

8) What changes could a change of emperor lead to in a system based on personal preferment?

9) What are modern administrative systems based on?

10) What is the difference between the administrative system based on objective norms and the one based on favouritism?

 

Ex. 3. Now read the text for detailed information to complete the following sentences and develop the idea:

1) We are in contact with … almost from the moment of birth.

2) Public administration is said to be not ….

3) Public administrators are the anonymous specialists, who ….

4) Whether in the negative or positive sense, public administration is ….

5) The ancient and recent colonial empires ….

6) The emperor carried an enormous work load ….

7) Modern administrative system is based on ….

8) When vacancies occur by death, resignation, or for other reasons, new qualified persons ….

 

Ex.4. Answer the following questions:

1) Why may our society be labeled as the "administered society"?

2) Why is public administration said to be not as showy as other kinds of politics?

3) Why was the system of the ancient empires called "the system of favouritism and patronage"?

4) Why is bureaucracy thought to be immortal?

5) What specialists are called "rank-and-file personnel"?

6) Why did ancient empires often move from stability to near anarchy and back again?

7) What objective norms are modern administrative systems based on?

8) Why do people think of elected officials when they think about government?

 

D. Post-reading Exercises

 

Language Study

 

Ex. 1. Match the words to their definitions:

1) patronage 2) favouritism 3) anarchy 4) rank and file 5) vacancy 6) functionary 7) underling 8) subordinate, n

a) a job which is not being done by anyone and which people can apply for; b) the ordinary members of an organization as opposed to the leaders or officers; c) a situation where nobody seems to pay attention to rules or laws; d) this person has an official administrative job in an organization, especially in a government or a political party; e) the practice of unfairly helping or supporting one person or group more than another; f) the support and money given by someone to a person or a group such as a charity;   g) someone, who has a less important position than you in the organization that you both work for; h) inferior in rank or status to someone else.

 

Ex. 2. Give synonyms to the words given below in italics or briefly explain their meaning:

1) The anonymity of much public administration raises fears that government policies are made by people who are not accountable to citizens.

2) Members of the bureaucracy are chosen for their qualification rather than for their personal connections with powerful persons.

3) When vacancies occur, new qualified persons are selected according to clearly defined rules.

4) Our experiences with public administrators have become so extensive that our society may be labeled the “administered society”.

5) Public administration is a political process involving the authoritative implementation of legitimated policy choices.

6) Many fear that these so-called faceless bureaucrats subvert the intensions of elected officials.

7) The ancient and recent colonial empires organized and maintained political rule over wide areas and large populations.

 

Ex. 3. Insert prepositions where necessary:

1) We are accountable … our parents for our actions.

2) We cannot dispose … our earthly remains without final administrative certification.

3) Everything depended … the emperor, who in turn had to rely … the personal loyalty of his subordinates.

4) Various institutions are involved … public administration, but large, specialized governmental agencies are given responsibility … most public administration.

5) The Parliament or Congress are involved … policy formation, and the Department or Ministry of Defense are mainly involved … policy implementation.

6) The emperor carried an enormous work load reading or listening … petitions, judicial claims, appeals … favour, and the like.

7) In a system based … personal preferment, those who had been … favour might now be … … favour.

8) Weak rulers followed strong rulers, foolish monarchs succeeded … wise monarchs – but all were dependent … the army, which supplied the continuity.

 

Ex. 4. What is the English for:

А 1) править, господствовать 2) требование, претензия 3) эффективный 4) осуществлять, приводить в исполнение 5) курс, стратегия 6) регистрировать	В 1) государственное управление 2) законно избранное правительство 3) рядовые служащие 4) осуществление политики 5) государственный бюрократизм 6) административная система
7) мелкий чиновник 8) квалифицированный, опытный	7) государственная служба 8) преданность подчиненных 9) влиятельные люди 10) политическое правление

 

Pre-discussion

 

Ex. 1. Retell the text finishing the following sentences and adding 4-5 phrases of your own:

1) The text under discussion draws our attention to ….

2) Public administration is said to be not as showy as ….

3) Public administrators are…

4) The ancient empires organized and maintained political rule by …

5) Modern administrative system is based on …

Ex. 2. Translate into English:

1) Анонимность государственного управления вызывает у многих опасения, что государственная стратегия будет вырабатываться людьми, не подотчетными гражданам.

2) При смене императора, разрушался весь государственный механизм, и люди, которые были в почете, могли оказаться в немилости.

3) При современной системе государственного управления государственные служащие назначаются согласно их квалификации, а не по личным связям с влиятельными людьми.

4) Государственное правление зависело от императора, которому, в свою очередь, приходилось полагаться на преданность подчиненных.

5) Император выполнял огромную работу – читал и слушал ходатайства, разбирал судебные иски и просьбы о помиловании.

 

Ex. 3. Render into English:

a) Наука управления в современном понимании — это специфическая отрасль научного знания, которая, в отличие от кибернетики — науки об общих чертах управления любыми системами (биологическими, техническими, социальными), занимается изучением процессов и явлений, возникающих в социальном управлении, в ходе организованного взаимодействия людей в целях достижения наиболее эффективных результатов совместного труда. Она имеет свои границы в изучении этих процессов и явлений, устанавливает и согласует с другими науками (кибернетикой, социологией, психологией, юриспруденцией и т.д.) пределы своей области исследования, пограничные (стыковые) области, имеет свой, строго очерченный объект и свой предмет исследования.

Очевидно, что объектом этой теории является организаторская деятельность руководителя, которая представляет собой главное звено, сердцевину всей его управленческой деятельности, включая исполнение им функций администратора, профессионала служебной деятельности организации, обучения и воспитания подчиненных.

Предмет данной теории составляют законы и закономерности, принципы, формы, методы, функции, этапы управленческого цикла организаторской деятельности руководителя.

(Князев 2002: 6)

 

б) …Возникает вопрос – можно ли считать, что английское понятие “менеджмент” и русское “управление” и, соответственно, “менеджер” и “руководитель” – это одно и то же. И да, и нет. В общем смысле или, так сказать, с высоты птичьего полета, пожалуй, – да. Вместе с тем есть и отличия в трактовке и применении этих понятий. … два отличия представляются существенными. Во-первых, говоря о “менеджменте”, американцы почти всегда подразумевают фигуру “менеджера” – человека, субъекта управления, действующего в некоторой организации. В более общем смысле они применяют термин “администрация”, “администрирование” (administration), который в большей степени отражает обезличенную систему управления. Во-вторых, когда говорят «менеджер», то, по большому счету, имеют в виду профессионального управляющего, осознающего, что он представитель особой профессии, а не просто инженер или экономист, занимающийся управлением. К тому же менеджер – это человек, прошедший, как правило, специальную подготовку.

(Евенко Л.И. Вступительная статья // Мескон, Альберт, Хедоури. –1996:.6)

 

E. Additional Reading

 

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION ACTIVITIES

 

Public administration is difficult to define, though we all have a sense of what it is.

In part, this is because public administration covers a vast amount of activity. Public administration jobs range from the exploration of outer space to sweeping the streets. Some public administrators are highly educated professionals; others possess few skills that differentiate them from the mass of the citizenry. Some public administrators make policies that have a nationwide impact and may benefit millions of people; others have virtually no responsibility for policy-making and simply carry out the mundane governmental tasks of filing and record-keeping. Public administrators are doctors, lawyers, scientists, engineers, accountants, personnel officers, managers, clerks, manual laborers and individuals engaged in many other occupations and functions. But knowing what public administrators do does not resolve the problem of defining what public administration is.

One can find a wide variety of helpful definitions of public administration. They usually state that public administration involves activity, is concerned with politics and policy-making, tends to be concentrated in the executive branch of government, and is concerned with implementing the law.

One more specific definition of it is that public administration is the use of managerial, political, and legal theories and processes to fulfill legislative, executive, and judicial governmental mandates for the provision of regulatory and service functions for the society as a whole or for some segments of it.

(On the basis of Rosenbloom, pp.4-6)

 

F. Discussion

 

Ex. 1. Express your viewpoint on the following statements:

1) "Our experiences with public administrators have become so extensive that our society may be labeled the 'administered society' ".

2) "If the elected officials are visible to the public, public administrators are the anonymous specialists."

3) "Bureaucracy does not die when its members die."

 

Ex. 2. Comment on the statements:

1) "Modern administrative system is a system of offices rather than officers".

2) "Public administrators are the translators and tailors of government".

 

Ex. 3. Speak on the following problems:

1) Personal preferment and objective norms in a public administrative system.

2) Public administration as policy making.

 

G. Writing