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PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION & POLITICS.
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Examines causes & effects of legal and extralegal relationships between bureaucracy, elected officials & pressure groups.... More...
6 Pages / 1350 Words
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Paper Abstract:
Examines causes & effects of legal and extralegal relationships between bureaucracy, elected officials & pressure groups.

Paper Introduction:
Public Administration and Politics This paper will discuss the relationship and interplay between public administration and politics. The first part of the paper will briefly discuss the traditional roles of administration and the separation of administration from electoral politics. The second part of the paper will discuss the role interest groups have come to play in the formulation of public policy as a result of their relationships to administrative agencies. Politics play a unique role in the administration of public policy in democracies. Democratic governments are ruled by politics; they must adhere to the will of the electorate or else run the risk of being voted out of office. This means that all functions of a democratic government are somehow influenced by the political w

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(Etzioni-Halevy, 1983, p. Somehave argued that bureaucracies have also insulated themselves from publicscrutiny and effectively made themselves more powerful than the electedgovernors who appointed them. First, bureaucracies do notderive all of their power to administrate from their elected benefactors.Instead, they derive some power from the structures of interests whichsurround them. This structure has caused severaltheorists to place bureaucracies under the heading of new ruling "elites."(Etzioni-Halevy, 1983, pp. The separation of administration fromelectoral politics ended the official relationship between administrationand politics, but allowed other political forces to invade public policy.Special interest groups now influence public policy made by bureaucraciesas a result of the special relationships which have arisen between the two. Fromthat time forward, the political spoils system ruled American national andlocal governments. The agency depends upon the pressure group for advice,prior clearance of policy decisions, and political support. As a consequence, public policy tended to reflect the interests ofthe political party in power. (Etzioni-Halevy, 1983, pp. This occurs when the group becomes the naturalexpression and representative of the social sector with which the agency isconcerned. Politics play a unique role in the administration of public policy indemocracies. 152-55). Rules may even be implemented for the purpose ofregulating the input provided by pressure groups. 164-66). Bureaucracies have established sets of rules and procedures whichensure that their functions are carried out in an orderly manner. However, they also recognized that these decisions would still beinfluenced by politics. These new types of influence are more invidious thanthe old because of the popular notion that politics no longer influencedadministrative decisions. The abuses of the administrative structure which arose in theNineteenth Century led many to advocate the separation of theadministrative structure from politics. From Max Weber: Essays inSociology. Thelower-level bureaucrats are hired and promoted on the basis of merit. The power of bureaucracies is such that they can prevent theother governmental entities from carrying out their functions. The most visible lobbying efforts of pressure groups are thoseaimed at elected legislators. Historically, governmental bureaucracies in the United States havenot enjoyed a reputation for political neutrality. It has been pointed out,however, that this does not occur in practice. However, the civil service system was not uniformly implementedthroughout the United States and political spoils were still utilized.(Etzioni-Halevy, 1983, pp. It has even been argued that the artificial separation of politicaland administrative functions has not only not removed the politicalinfluence on administrative decisions, it has introduced new types ofpolitical influence. Andrew Jackson institutionalized the practice of rewardingpolitical support through governmental appointments in the 183 s. As a resultof this relationship, the agency will tend to look to this pressure groupas the sole source of advice from the community. New York: Oxford University Press. The Politics of Bureaucracy. Public Administration and Politics This paper will discuss the relationship and interplay between publicadministration and politics. (Peters,1984, pp. Thomas Jefferson firstinstituted the practice of removing political opponents from public servicein 18 3. E. Thus, the agencytends to protect the interests of the industry it is regulating. (1958). 15 ). The pressure groups promise support forreelection if the legislators in question vote in a certain fashion.(Peters, 1984, p. The most visible consequence of this type of relationship betweenagency and pressure group is that outcomes of policy decisions tend to beself-regulative and distributive. The effects of politics on public administration are quitepronounced, even in a governmental system which has officially separatedadministration from electoral politics. W. (Rourke, 1976, ch. They must mobilize support in the legislature, whosemembers can create or destroy individual bureaucracies, and they mustgenerate support from the interest groups and individuals who are affectedby the policies. Third,bureaucracies must create and maintain political bases in order to ensuretheir own survival. Ironically, many politicians cameto advocate such a separation because it insulated them from the publicaccountability for hard decisions. H., and Mills, C. Gerth, H. The bureaucracies charged withfashioning and implementing policies must create sufficient politicalconsensus on their own in order to carry out the policies. Pressure groups also exert considerable influence over administrativeagencies in government. Prior to this separation,bureaucratic administrators were beholden to elected officials for theirjobs. New York:Longman. In some countries, private organizations administer certaintypes of regulations and policies. Finally, bureaucracies must mobilize support in the mediain order to gain the overall support of the public at large. London: Routledge & Keegan Paul. The first part of the paper will brieflydiscuss the traditional roles of administration and the separation ofadministration from electoral politics. 7). This means that all functions of a democratic governmentare somehow influenced by the political will of the electorate. 158-59). When thissort of arrangement is allowed, the pressure groups will have an officialrelationship with the bureaucracies and will send advice and ideas throughofficial channels. 147). Hiring andpromotion were to be based upon merit and dismissals had to meet certaincriteria. In some countries, the pressure groups are legallyand officially involved in the administration of public policy. (Peters,1984, pp. (1983). The policy of the agencywill then reflect the interests of the pressure group. (1984). Bureaucracy, Politics and Public Policy (2d.ed.). Pressure groups may also beused as agents for implementing the policies established by administrativeagencies. The relationship between the agency and the pressure group can bedescribed as symbiotic, or mutually dependent. 147). The agency perceives the group to have a legitimate status,although the group may have no legal status in the government. 149-5 ). The civil servicesystems were implemented during the Twentieth Century as a means ofeliminating the political spoils system, or at least reducing its effects.Under the civil service system, the American bureaucracies were broughtunder the model of the British system, to a certain extent. They would not be to blame fordecisions made by administrative agencies independent from the politicalrealm. Rourke, F. (Peters, 1984, p. G. Bureaucracy and Democracy: A PoliticalDilemma. Boston: Little Brown. The pressure group dependsupon the agency for access to decisionmaking and favorable decisions onpolicy choices. The second part of the paper willdiscuss the role interest groups have come to play in the formulation ofpublic policy as a result of their relationships to administrativeagencies. Such arrangements allow these groups tohave considerable influence over the implementation of policy. A pressure group can also acquire a clientela relationship with anadministrative agency. (Gerth and Mills, 1958, pp. Moreover,distributional outcomes ensure that the industry represented by theinterest group continues to receive benefits from the government. The problem with thissort of arrangement is that it has the practical effect of restricting theadvice heard by the administrative agencies. However, many functions of government are carried out bybureaucracies whose members are not directly elected by the voting public.Instead, the heads of the bureaucracies are appointed by the electedofficials of the government; the head bureaucrats then hire workers for thelower tiers of the bureaucracy according to established guidelines. Peters, B. The new types of political influence exerted upon administrativegroups do not normally involve the political parties which are part of thepolitical process. 43). Self-regulation promotes the interestsof the regulated: the agency and the pressure group. The relationship betweenthe two entities becomes a basis for friendship in what might otherwise bea hostile political world. Democratic governments are ruled by politics; they mustadhere to the will of the electorate or else run the risk of being votedout of office. These groups lobby groups within the governmentin an effort to get these governmental groups to act in a particularfashion. (Peter, 1984, pp. The agencyneeds the pressure group's political support in its competition with otheradministrative agencies for government resources. This would seem to indicate that bureaucracies possess the potentialpower to rule without democratic influences. (Peters, 1984, p. Pressure groups representvarious facets of society which have banded together for the purpose ofachieving specific goals. Second, political parties rarely, if ever, create apolitical consensus for policymaking. 232-5). 158). Consequently, the new types of politicalinfluence are harder to identify and control. (1976). (Peters, 1984, p. The new types of political influence are wielded by pressure groupswho are not an official part of the government. They maynot be able to rule alone, but the other entities cannot rule without them. Thebureaucracies are therefore populated by technocrats possessing particularskills absent in the elected officials. (Peters, 1984, pp.157-58). 166-67). Othersargue that in the American political system, bureaucrats are unable to rulealone, although they exert a great deal of influence over theadministration of government. References Etzioni-Halevy, E. The separation of the administrative structure from theelectoral process has effectively limited the amount of influence apolitical party can exert on administrative groups through the officialrelationship between the party and the groups. The bureaucrats wield an enormous degreeof power in a democratic government, despite the fact that they were notpopularly elected. 9-84). Under these theories, bureaucracies compriseanother entity in American government which shares power with otherentities.

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