Winston Churchill – the leader I Admire

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the great wartime leaders. He served as Prime Minister twice (1940–45 and 1951–55). A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a historian, a writer, and an artist. To date, he is the only British prime minister to have received the Nobel Prize in Literature, and he was the first person to be made an honorary citizen of the United States.

Churchill was born into the aristocratic family of the Dukes of Marlborough. His father, Lord Randolph Churchill, was a charismatic politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer; his mother, Jenny Jerome, an American socialite. As a young army officer, he saw action in British India, the Sudan and the Second Boer War. He gained fame as a war correspondent and through books he wrote about his campaigns.

At the forefront of politics for fifty years, he held many political and cabinet positions. Before World War I, he served as President of the Board of Trade, Home Secretary and First Lord of the Admiralty as part of the Asquith Liberal government. During the war, he continued as First Lord of the Admiralty until the disastrous Gallipoli Campaign, which he had sponsored, caused his departure from government. He then served briefly on the Western Front, commanding the 6th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers. He returned to government as Minister of Munitions, Secretary of State for War, and Secretary of State for Air. After the War, Churchill served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Conservative (Baldwin) government of 1924–29.

Out of office and politically "in the wilderness" during the 1930s, Churchill took the lead in warning about the danger from Hitler and in campaigning for rearmament. On the outbreak of World War II, he was again appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. Following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain on 10 May 1940, Churchill became Prime Minister. His steadfast refusal to consider defeat, surrender or a compromise peace helped inspire British resistance, especially during the difficult early days of the War when Britain stood alone in its active opposition to Hitler. Churchill was particularly noted for his speeches and radio broadcasts, which helped inspire the British people. He led Britain as Prime Minister until victory had been secured over Nazi Germany.

After the Conservative Party lost the 1945 election, he became Leader of the Opposition. In 1951, he again became Prime Minister, before retiring in 1955. Upon his death, The Queen granted him the honour of a state funeral, which saw one of the largest assemblies of world statesmen ever.

 

Oral Topic

 

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

When people think about government, they think of elected officials. The attentive public knows these officials who live in the spotlight but not the public administrators who make governing possible; it generally gives them little thought unless it is to criticize “government bureaucrats”.

Yet we are in contact with public administration almost from the moment of birth, when registration requirements are met, and our earthly remains cannot be disposed of without final administrative certification. Our experiences with public administrators have become so extensive that our society may be labeled the “administered society”.

Various institutions are involved in public administration.

Much of the policy-making activities of public administration is done by large, specialized governmental agencies (micro-administration). Some of them are mostly involved with policy formulation, for example, the Parliament or Congress.

But to implement their decisions public administration also requires numerous profit and nonprofit agencies, banks and hospitals, district and city governments (macro-administration).

Thus, public administration may be defined as a complex political process involving the authoritative implementation of legitimated policy choices.

Public administration is not as showy as other kinds of politics. Much of its work is quiet, small scale, and specialized. Part of the administrative process is even kept secret. The anonymity of much public administration raises fears that government policies are made by people who are not accountable to citizens. Many fear that these so-called faceless bureaucrats subvert the intensions of elected officials. Others see administrators as mere cogs in the machinery of government.

But whether in the negative or positive sense, public administration is policy making. And whether close to the centers of power or at the street level in local agencies, public administrators are policy makers. They are the translators and tailors of government. If the elected officials are visible to the public, public administrators are the anonymous specialists. But without their knowledge, diligence, and creativity, government would be ineffective and inefficient.

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

Oral Topic

MY FUTURE PROFESSION

I am a first year student of law faculty of Brest State University named after A. Pushkin. I specialize in Public Administration and Economics.

Public Administration prepares individuals to serve as managers in the executive branches of local and state government as well as in private and non-profit organizations such as museums, foundations and charities which serve public interests. The field of Public Administration is based on the social sciences and draws on economics, political science, and sociology, that is why we are instructed in these spheres too, special attention is paid to economics.

Economics is the study of the production, conservation, and allocation of resources in conditions of scarcity. We study Economic Theories, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, National Economy, Logistics, etc.

After the graduation we are supposed to be able to evaluate alternative methods of achieving society’s goals and objectives and to formulate strategies and policies that will help to achieve these objectives, to analyze, manage and deliver public programmes and services, to have skills in public decision making and policy formation, in analysis of policy issues, resource allocation and decision modeling, cost/benefit analysis, and statistical methods.

After the graduation I would like to work in the executive branch of local government, of course with good prospects for promotion.

In my opinion, to be a public servant an individual should be extremely responsible and devoted to his/her work. Principle should come first. Work in public administration is work with people, with their problems, and it can be very stressful sometimes. But if you treat people you work with in an honest way, if you take into account their unique problems and circumstances, you will be respected. It is important to be hardworking and responsible, because you work for the benefit of the society, your country. I think my personal qualities such as energy, initiative and decisiveness will help me to achieve my goals.

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