Comp Exam Study Guide - PowerPoint Presentation

Comp Exam Study Guide

Table of Contents History (Classical, Neoclassical, Modern, New Public Mgmt) Theories (Political Control, Reputation, Decision-Making, etc) Reform (Scientific Mgmt, War on Waste, Watchful Eye, and Liberation Mgmt) Performance Management (National Performance Review, Managing for Results, Accountable Government Initiative) Budgeting (Planning, programming and budgeting, Zero-based, Performance-based, Incremental) Methodologies (Quantitative and qualitative tools)

HISTORY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Positivism/ Scientific Management (1890 – 1920s) Woodrow Wilson (1887) “Study of Administration” Progressivism: Pendelton Act of 1883Frank Goodnow (1900) “Politics and Administration”Field’s legitimacy lies in administrative lawFrederick W. Taylor (1911) “Scientific Management”One best way to accomplish tasks and manage workersHenri Fayol (1916) “General Theory of Management”Universal approach to administrative management

Principles of Public Administration (1920s – 1950s) Mary Parker Follett (1918) “The New State” Contradicted Scientific Management, only later accepted Offered the first feminist perspective, web approach, network Chester Barnard (1938) “Functions of the Executive”Influence of values on decision-making, power of persuasionReconcile top down goals with bottom up complianceLuther Gulick and Lyndall Urwick (1937) “Papers on the Science of Administration”Principles of P.A. – POSDCORB (Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, Coordinating, Reporting and Budgeting)

Public Administration as Political Science (1940s – 1970s) Herbert A. Simon (1946) “Proverbs of P.A.” Attacked Wilson’s P.A. Dichotomy as contradictory P.A. should be based on study of human behavior Humans are not rational and should not be perceived as suchRobert Dahl (1947) “Science of P.A.: 3 Problems”Bureaucratic Efficiency vs. Democratic ValuesRethink normative assumptions about sharp dichotomyExpand “rational” man to include human behaviorEmbrace historical, economic and social conditions and impactsDwight Waldo (1948) “The Administrative State”Administration is inherently political, Reject dichotomy

Human Relations/ Social Sciences(1930s – 1950s) Robert K Merton (1940 ) “Bureaucratic Structure and Personality” Argued that Scientific Mgmt is inhumane and undemocratic, called for development of a theoretic basic social science, focus groups Weber’s bureaucracy has characteristics that lead to inefficiencyHerbert A. Simon (1950) “Administrative Behavior”Bounded Rationality and the concept of satisficingMarshall Dimmock (1951) “Free Enterprise and the Administrative State”Business uses economic power for profitability rather than to promote the national interestAdministration is law in actionCharles Lindblom (1959) “Science of Muddling Through”Political process lead to an incremental approach to policy

“Modern” / New Public Administration(1930s – 1950s) Minnowbrook Conference (1968) Hosted by Waldo; Add equity as a social value P.A. underwent an identify crisis as it tried to redefine itselfAaron Wildavsky (1964) “Politics of the Budgetary Process”Applied Lindblom’s incremental theory to budgetingTed Lowi (1969) “End of Liberalism”Govt expands relentlessly to meet special interest demandsGraham Allison (1971) “Essence of Decision”Cuban Missile Crisis: 3 Paradigms - Rational Actor, Organizational Process and Political Process ModelsVincent Ostrom (1973 ) “Intellectual Crisis in American Public Administration” P.A. lacks the cumulative and empirical strength of other sciences

Minnowbrook Conference (1968) P.A. can be neither neutral nor objective Technology can be dehumanizing Hierarchy can be an ineffective organizational strategy Bureaucracies tend toward agency survivalCooperation and consensus are more effective than exercise of authorityModern P.A. built on post-behaviorist and post-positivist logic

Research Strands Reinventors : Osborne and Gaebler - Entrepreneurial SpiritCommunitarians:Etzioni, Galston, Chrislip, Selznick - Rebuilding community and citizenshipRefounders:Goodsell, Rohr, Stivers – Philosophical, institutional, and theoretical redefinition of P.A.Interpretivists:White, Stivers, Spicer, Box – Values and ideas concerning the very nature of human existenceNew Bureaucratic Analysts:Light, Selden, Behn, Cooper – Reevaluate the relationship between politics and administrationFrom Management to Governance: Kettl , Moore, Lynn, Rainey – Best practices, steering and networks

New Public Management

New Public Management Governance Orthodoxy David Osborne and Ted Gaebler (1992) “Reinventing Government” Shift toward privatization and decentralization. Governments should:Steer, not rowEmpower communities to solve own problemsEncourage competitionBe driven by missions, rather than rulesMeet needs of customer, not bureaucracyConcentrate on earning money, rather than spending itInvest in preventing problems, instead of curing crisesDecentralize authorityInfluence market forces rather than create public programsTenets of NPM1) Productivity, 2) Marketization , 3) Service Orientation, 4) Decentralization, 5) Policy and 6) Accountability

New Public Management Donald F. Kettl (2000) “Global Public Management Revolution” Describes Westminster Reforms in NZ and UKMilward, Provan and Else (2000) “Governing the Hollow State”Concerns of accountability and oversight in contractingRobert and Janet Denhardt (2007) “New Public Service: Serving, not Steering”Oppose Osborne and Gaebler: Serve citizens not just customersServe citizens, not customersSeek the public interestValue citizenship over entrepreneurshipThink strategically, act democratically Recognize that accountability is not simple Serve rather than steer Value people, not just productivity

Early America

Founding Father’s Views Alexander Hamilton : With James Madison and John Jay, Challenged Jefferson in Federalist Papers, favored elites Strong national government and executive Thomas Jefferson:Weak executive, bottoms up approachBureaucracy’s accountability to the publicJames Madison:Mixed government balanced by opposing interest groups/ pluralism

Time Periods in P.A. Rohr ’s three periods of political foundings : Founding of the Republic (1787-1795)Founding of PA (1883-1899)Founding of the Administrative State (1933-1941)Skrownek’s building of a new American StatePatchwork (1877-1900) Reconstruction (1900-1920)Stillman’s four eras of U.S. PA ThoughtPOSDCORB Orthodoxy (1926-1946)Social Science Heterodoxy (1947-1967)Reassertion of Democratic Idealism (1968-1988)Refounding Movement (1989-Present)

Reform

Reform Movements Civil Service Reform , circa 1877 – 1883 Pendelton Act of 1883: Introduced merit/professionalism to civil service Progressive Reform, circa 1879 – 1920New York Bureau of Municipal Research (1906): First council-manager form of government in Stanton, VA (1908)Interstate Commerce Commission (1920): Established federal regulationScientific Management, circa 1910 – 1970Preferred by Presidents and popularized by POSDCORBWatchful Eye, circa 1970sFavored by Congress, response to Watergate and VietnamNew Public Management Reform, circa 1979Shift towards business and general management practicesWar on Waste, circa 1980sFavored by Congress, welfare fraud trialsLiberation Management, circa early 1990sFavored by Presidents, let managers and workers find creative solutions

Theories of Public Administration

Political Control of Bureaucracy Agency Theory : Bureaucracies are out of control or at the least difficult to control Rosemary O’Leary, “The Nevada Four” – go native Principal-Agent Theory : Legislature (principal) relies on bureaucrats (agents) due to complexity of problemsBalla (1998) – Congress relied on HCFA due to Medicare’s complex fee schedules Capture Theory: Agencies are heavily influenced by elites or constituents, Iron Triangle dominated by business interestsEvan Ringquist, “Political Control and Policy Impact at EPA” – Public participation is low, but businesses don’t control policyClient Responsiveness Theory: Respond to constituents’ needs, Street level bureaucratsMichael Lipsky, “Street level bureaucrats” – Teachers, cops

Representative Bureaucracy Organizations perform better when they mirror the demographics of clients John Rohr (1986) argues that bureaucracy cures constitutional defect of adequate representation Selden, Brudney and Kellough (1998) studied active representation among minorities in the FmHA and found a difference between active and inactive representation

Bureaucratic Politics Revolve around questions of political power in the key organizational dimensions of: Bureaucratic Behavior Institutional Structure Distribution of Power Game Theory: Highly formulized and mathematical approach to explaining behavior and choicesGraham Allison (1971) “Essence of Decisions”Examined executive decision-making during the Cuban Missile CrisisRational Actor ModelOrganizational Processes ModelPolitical Processes Model

Bureaucratic Reputation Theory Agency autonomy is based on organizational capacity and political affiliations Daniel Carpenter (2001) “The Forging of Bureaucratic Autonomy” Post Office under Anthony Comstock assumed moral guardianship against porno and gambling

Max Weber’s Bureaucracy Hierarchy of authority Impersonality Written rules of conduct Promotion based on merit Specialized division of laborEfficiency

Program Roots Evolved and borrowed from Political Science, Business, Economics, Sociology, Management and Law P.A. is both an art and a science, academics and practitioners ASPA is a pan- generalist organization Academic programs generally fall underPolitical ScienceBusiness/ ManagementPolicy and Public Affairs

Trends Transforming Bureaucracy America as the last global superpower Populations shifts and immigration Reliance of foreign markets Growth of info and service industries New technologies and complexityHostile opposition to governmentSmaller and less self-sufficient householdsWidening young/old and poverty gapsShifting fundamental values

Market Failures Weimer and Vining (2003): Public Goods: Federal Highway AdministrationExternalities: Environmental Protection AgencyInformation Asymmetry: Food and Drug AdministrationMonopolies and Oligarchies: Federal Communications Commission“Greatest Good” Principle: Allocation of goods to maximize the social welfare functions form theories of Rawlsianism and Utilitarianism

Public Policy

Public Policy Models Thomas R. Dye Institutional model Emphasizes formal and legal aspects of government Process model Political Systems Theory: Political response to demandsRational modelBased on Public Choice, motivations of individual actorsIncremental modelBuilds on past decisions and grows slowly and steadilyGroup modelPluralism: Diverse and competing interests for an equilibriumElite modelWealthy and policy-planning insiders influence values and preferencesPublic choice modelBureaucrats, politicians and citizens all act in their own best interestsGame theory modelStatistical approach to behavior and decision making

Policy Analysis Tools Extrapolation: Estimated Population = Pop. In a base year + (Avg. Growth Increment X Time Periods) Forecasting: Assuming that past trends/ events will continue Criteria Alternatives Matrix:Evaluating, rating and comparing different alternatives on multiple criteriaDiscounting:Net Present Value = Discounted Benefits-Discounted CostsPresent Value = Future Value X Discount FactorBenefit Cost Ratio:BCR = Discounted Benefits/ Discounted Costs (Greater than 1)Deflating MoneyCurrent Dollar Value = (Current dollars X Base Year Implicit Price Deflator)/ Current Year IPDCost Benefit AnalysisMonetary value is assigned to inputs and outcomes of a processs

Classics of Organizational Theory

Classical Organization Theory Adam Smith (1776) “Wealth of Nations” Division and specialization of labor in a pin factory Henri Fayol (1916) “General Principles of Management”Universal approach to administrative managementMax Weber, I922 (1946) “Nature of Social Action”Modern concept of bureaucracy with strict hierarchical structure, set rules and regulations, professionalism and meritLuther Gulick (1937) “Notes on the Theory of Organization”Principles of P.A. – POSDCORB (Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, Coordinating, Reporting and Budgeting)

Neoclassical Organization Theory Chester Barnard (1938) “Economy of Incentives” Power of persuasion to motivate and induce workers Herbert Simon (1946) “Proverbs of Administration”Attacked Wilson’s P.A. Dichotomy as contradictory, e.g. division based on purpose, place, process or clientele?Phillip Selznick (1948) “Foundations of the Theory of Organization”Individuals may have different goals than the organizationCooptation is a way of managing opposition and so preserving stability and the organizationCyert and March (1959) “Behavioral Theory of Organizational Objectives”How decisions are taken within a firm, Compromise between different individuals and groups within an organization that have their own aspirations and conflicting interests

Behavior/ Human Resources Mary Parker Follett (1926 ) “Giving of Orders” Web of Inclusion, better to work with employees rather than just give orders, encourage participation Abraham Maslow (1943) “Theory of Human Motivation” Pyramid- from the bottom-up: 1) Physiological, 2) Safety, 3) Love/Belonging, 4) Psychological Needs/ Esteem, 5) Self-ActualizationDouglas MacGregor (1957) “Human Side of Enterprise”Theory X and Y: Different views on human motivation tactics, Can become a self-fulfilling prophecyIrving Janis (1971) “Groupthink”Desperate drive for consensus at any cost

“Modern” Structural Organizations Burns and Stalker (1961) “Mechanistic and Organic Systems” Mechanistic: Stable, hierarchic, precise roles and rules, Organic: Changing, networks, innovation, community Blau and Scott (1962) “Concept of Formal Organization”Collective Actors, Formal Organization: fixed set of rules, Informal Organization: interlocking social structureHenry Mintzberg (1979) “Five Basic Parts of the Organization”1) Strategic Apex, 2) Middle line, 3) Operating core, 4) Technostructure, 5) Support Staff

Power and Politics French and Raven (1959) “Five bases of Social Power” 1) Referent, 2) Expert, 3) Reward, 4) Coercive, and 5) Legitimate Cohen and March (1974) “Leadership in an Organized Anarchy”Garbage can theory: decision making is neither consequential nor sequentialHenry Mintzberg (1983) “Power Game and the Players”Resources, Technical Skills, Body of Knowledge, Formal Power, and Access to PowerInternal Coalitions: CEO, Operators, Line Managers, Analysts, Support Staff and Ideology External Coalitions: Owner, Associates, Employee Associations, Publics, Directors

Culture and Change/ Environment Edgar Schein (2004) “Concept of Organizational Culture” Set of shared beliefs and expectations based on societal norms Katz and Kahn (1966) “Systems Concept”Open systems, seek optimal solutions, not just “one best way”Bolman and Deal (2003) “Reframing Organizations”Structural = FactoriesHuman Resources = FamiliesPolitical = JunglesSymbolic = Temples

Performance Management

Performance Management Presidential Trends Clinton : National Performance Review Office of Reinventing GovernmentAmerica @ it’s Best – Work better and cost lessBush: Managing for ResultsPART (Program Assessment Rating Tool) Traffic Light Signal with executive discretionObama: Accountable Government InitiativeReform contracting, Promote accountability, Close IT gap, Recruit top talent and Cut waste,

Performance Management Tools S.M.A.R.T .: David Ammons (2000) SpecificMeasureableAttainableResults-OrientedTime-BoundBalanced Scorecard: Kaplan and Norton (1993)FinancialsCustomersInternal ProcessesInnovation and Learning

Research Methodology

Governance

A New Model of Governance Milward , Provan and Else (1993) “Hollow State” – Metaphor for public service provision outsourced to may providers and reducing direct provisionLynn, Heinrich and Hill (2000) “Governance and Performance” – How can public-sector regimes, agencies, programs and activities be organized to achieve public purposes?

Theory-Building Research Atheoretical – Builds on theory through descriptions Disciplined Configurative – Use theories to explain a case Heuristic – Identify new variables, hypotheses and causesTheory Testing – Assesses validity and scope of a theoryPlausibility Probes – Preliminary studies on untested theoriesBuilding Blocks – Identifying common patterns

Qualitative Methods Case Studies In-Depth Review can include Interviews, Archival Documents, Observations, and Artifacts Path Dependency How the set of decisions one faces for any circumstance is limited by the decisions one has made in the past Process TracingTracing the causal process from the independent variable of interest to the dependent variableCongruence MethodTo fully understand an organization’s performance, must understand the organization as a system that consists of some basic elementsTemporalityTime Bound, related specifically to the past, present or futureCritical JuncturesDavid (1985) QWERTY keyboards vs DvorakCounterfactual Analysis“If A had not occurred, C would not have occurred”.

Quantitative Data and Methods Levels of Measurement : Nominal – Limited options, such as gender Ordinal – Order, such as grades Interval – Rank, such as temperatureRatio – Percentage with natural zeroIntercept: Point where line crosses Y axisSlope: Expected change in Y for one unit change in X, holding others constantT-Test: Significance of each variable, if more than 2 reject null – there is a linear relationP-Value: If small than reject null hypothesisR-Squared: Goodness of fit, Proportion of variation in Dependent Variable explained by Independent VariablesSkewness: Tilt of the bell curveKurtosis: Peak of the bell curve

Quantitative Confidence Interval: Range where the true value lies for the population, a = .05, 95% certain to capture the true value Standard Deviation: Average distance each score is from the mean S = √ [ Σ(Xi – Mean)2 ÷ (n – 1)]Standard Error:BLUE: Best Linear Unbiased EstimatorsSeven Assumptions of CLRM:Linear RelationshipNo CovarianceRandom distributionHomoscedasticityNo AutocorrelationMore observations than I.V.No outliers

Quantitative Terms Ordinary Least Squares (OLS): Method of finding the linear model which minimizes the sum of the squared errors Time Series: Follows one case over time Panel Data: More than one case over timePooled Data: Different cases over timeWeighted Average: Takes into account the number of cases in each categoryIndex of Qualitative Variation:IQV = Observed Differences ÷ Max Possible DifferencesMPD = [(# of cases)2 × (# of categories)] ÷ (2 × # of categories)Central Limit Theorem: If an infinite # of random samples of equal size selected, sampling distributions approach normalityCoefficient of Relative Variation:Used to compare distribution with different units

Performance Management Tools Results Based Management : Ensuring all processes, products, and services contribute to the achievement of desired results Activity Based Costing : Assigns cost based on how much is actually usedCompetitive Benchmarking:Comparing and measuring against other organizations

Performance Management Government Performance and Reporting Act of 1993 , strategic plans: Establish top-level agency goals, objectives and annual program goals Define how it intends to achieve these goals Demonstrate how it will measure agency and program performance in achieving goals

History of Budgeting Performance Budgeting : Proposed by the Hoover Commission of 1949 Program, Planning and Budgeting System (PPBS) : President LBJ had Robert McNamara implement in the Pentagon during Vietnam WarZero-Based Budgeting: President Carter adopted during the 1970s

Sample Comp Questions

Comp Question: Overview Provide a general overview of the field in an essay with a comprehensive assessment of the field’s evolution, its status today as an academic discipline, and the direction of the field in the future. Evolved from political science, business, law and sociology Changes and grew to meet emerging societal demands Future trends in Public Service, sustainability, information technology and disaster management Leading contributorsWilson, Follett, Gulick, Waldo, Simon, Dahl, Osborne & Gaebler, Denhardts“Big questions” that define the fieldWhat is P.A. and its role? What is the “good life”?Questions answeredAdministration is political and constitutionally legitimateQuestions remainingIs governance more effective than the direct provision of government?How much government is appropriate?The scope of public administration varies with the people’s conception of good life, which changes with the times

Comp Question: Performance Critically assess the various approaches to agency performance developed by PA: What challenges do we face in measuring performance in the public sector? Democratic values are at odds with bureaucracy Motivation is not the same as business, e.g. equity What are some of the key propositions and findings about effective public organizations?Culture must form from the top and include stakeholdersDesign a strategy to assess the effectiveness of the organization’s performance.Regression model with business growth as dependent variableShift-share analysis to measure clusters and integrationIdentify and defend possible performance measures.Change in number and composition of businessesReduction in local unemployment and poverty rates

Article Review for Comp Exam Briefly summarize the main points of the article in terms of research questions, hypotheses, major findings and conclusion Provide a critical evaluation of the article, including: Assumptions made to investigate the problem Potential contributions of the research Internal and external validityStrengths and weakness of the data, methodology and overall research approachPotential improvements you would suggestProvide an explanation of the implications of the research to the theory and practice of public administration, as well as discussions of the statistical and substantive significance of major findings

Comp Question: Theory Discuss the various theoretical and practical approaches aiming to reconcile bureaucratic government with democratic values and key finding of the research assessing them Political Control of Bureaucracy Agency Theory : Hard to control bureaucrats Principal-Agent: Legislature defers to agencies to deal with complex issuesBureaucratic Capture: Ruled by policy elitesClient Responsiveness: Work for constituentsRepresentative BureaucracyCures constitutional defect and improves outcomesBureaucratic Politics“Who gets what when and how” – Harold Lasswell, 1936Political Power – Waldo, Simon, Dahl and Allison

Timeline: 1776 - 1890 1776 Declaration of Independence 1787 Federalist Papers, written by Hamilton, Madison and John Jay 1789 Constitution (no mention of administration) 1801-1809 Jefferson – decentralization, individual rights, representation1809-1817 Madison – separation and balance of power1839-1837 Jackson – strong executive, spoil system grows1835 Tocqueville – line between state and society is blurred1850 John S. Mill, wage incentives, span of control, unity of command1881 President James Garfield is shot by Charles Guiteau1883-1884 Pendelton Civil Service Act, Wilson’s essay1887 Interstate Commerce Act1890: Progressive Era begins, Reform against corruption

1906 – 1940s 1906 New York Bureau of Municipal Research 1908 Staunton, VA appoints 1 st city manager, differs from existing local governments 1910 Taylor – Scientific Management1914-1918 World War I1922 Max Weber, Bureaucratic form of organization1924 Maxwell School at Syracuse1926 White’s 1st P.A. textbook1927 Elton Mayo – Hawthorne Experiments, Mary Parker Follett1929 Stock market crash1933-1937 Roosevelt - New Deal 1937 Luther Gulick – POSDCORB1938 Chester Barnard – Functions of the Executive1939-1941 World War II, Robert K. Merton opposes Weber’s bureaucracy1946-1948 Neoclassical – Simon, Waldo, Dahl

1960s to 1980s 1954-1960 Human Relations – Maslow, MacGregor , Janis 1959 Lindblom – Incremental Approach to policy making1964 Civil Rights Act of 1964, Great Society1965 Planning, Programming, Budgeting Systems1968 Minnowbrook Conference hosted by Waldo ushers in New Public Administration1971 Allison – Decision making paradigms1976 Peter Drucker points out problems with management by objectives, goals don’t always match1978 Civil Service Reform Act allowed non-postal federal workers the right to unionize1979 Mintzberg – Five basic parts of an organization, Modern Public Management Reform1980-1988 New Public Management imitates private sector, Westminster reforms in U.K. and New Zealand

1992 - 2010 1992 Osborne and Gaebler - Reinventing Government, Steer, Don’t Row 1993 Gore - National Performance Review 1998 Light – Scientific Management, War on Waste, Watchful Eye, Liberation Management2000 Donald Kettl – Global Public Management Revolution, Milward, Provan and Else – Hollow State2003 Bolman and Deal – Organizational Frames: Structural, Human Resources, Political, Symbolic2004 Ammons – SMART performance measures2007 Denhardt and Denhardt – Serve, Not Steer2008 Barack Obama elected President, economic crisis, Larry Bartels, Unequal Democracy2010 EZ Program extended a year

Neshkova’s Class Justifications for Government Policy (Weimer and Vining , 2003) Government and Market in Theory (Lindblom, 1977)Politics and Market in Practice (Williams and Collins, 1998)Development of the American State (Rohr, 1986)Emergence of Bureaucracy – (Skowronek, 1984) (Carpenter, 2001)Theories of Bureaucracy (Frederickson & Smith, 2003) (Wilson, 1989)Selden, Brudney and Kellough, 1998 (Representative Bureaucracy) O’Leary, 1994 (Agent Theory) Ringquest, 1995 (Capture Theory) Balla 1998 (Principal-Agent Theory)Interest Groups and Bureaucracy (Lowi, Golden,Reforming American Public Sector (Light, 1997)Contemporary Forces ( Kettl , 2005) Federalism and Empirical Issues (Peterson, 1996