Question

What is the biggest challenge you see facing those in public administration?

Answer 1

The two-party structure in America has historically indicated that Republicans prefer more state or municipal government and less services, whereas more centralised government is preferred by the Democratic Party. In order to respond to the ideologies of the party in power, public programme managers must modify policies. The current economic crisis also plays a role in the difference between ideologies, as lawmakers are skittish over financing some forms of services. The trend has been towards downsizing and managers have to find out how to do the same job with less workers. When wages are capped and recruiting freezes as well as changes affected employment, work morale falls.

Administrators have turned to private companies in response to a need for greater frugality in services. In certain instances, the move has had the opposite effect. Works that are independent of the government appear to be more transparent for their strategies and weaknesses. Private companies have continued to "play by other rules." This has contributed to a variety of controversies, such as the Blackwater problems in Iraq and, most recently, irregularities in the outsourcing of gaols and the Veteran's Government fiasco. In the above, outsourcing has contributed to over-runs of the budget and to outrageous costs for items such as toilets. Nevertheless, in some cases, the idea that rivalry could promote some more successful use of capital could prove valid. It seems like the problem is to determine which products to privatise

The obstacle that this dilemma raises is to make public institutions representative of the social and cultural context in which they exist. In simplified words, a proportionate percentage of minority members of the government would involve public housing agencies of diverse communities. That refers not only to racial problems, but to gender and sexual orientation. Organizations that are formed in this way, though, can face tensions between participants and cultural groups. In any situation, organisations must defend minorities while recognising the interests of the majority.