Challenges and

Gains of Public
Administration
What is Public Administration?

According to Leonard D. White, Public Administration consists of all

those operations having for their purpose the fulfillment or
enforcement of a public policy.
“operations having for their purpose the
fulfillment or enforcement of a public
policy”

The word “operations” refers to the infrastructure needed

to enforce and effect a public policy, which are, human,
fiscal, and material resources, systems, and structures.
Public Administration (PA) is a progressing hunt for relevance, meaning, and
strategy towards a responsive and accountable management of public resource,
where the nation’s leaders and the bureaucracy and its working staff are always
put on a rather active test. Judging its performance based on a standard
principle vis-à-vis the political culture of the people, PA may always be put in a
litmus test.
PA as a discipline is usually stressed up with many issues for effective
governance and management. The success of PA as a discipline and as practice,
at least in the Philippines, is on how it can blend and work out PA principles into
the actual politico-administrative setting in the like manner as they are
contemplated and propounded in existing literature abroad.
In truth, however, most PA theories and models are derived from Western and European origin,
and may not reside too well in the experiences of a developing political economy like the
Philippines. There are continuing efforts and strategies at indigenizing PA principles for local
adaptation that are believed to be workable and sensible. Meanwhile, the University of the
Philippines-National College of Public Administration and Governance is leading the endeavor in
relevant researches, building on feasible local materials, and providing continuous experiments
and case validation of PA principles. Also, the university is working enormously with the private
sector, the government service, the NGOs, and other multilateral organizations to effect
integrated development mechanisms that may serve as model frameworks for community
organizing in the country, and the university’s campaign thrust for popularization of the
discipline among schools would all make pleasant attempts at strengthening Public
Administration in the Philippines.
Roles of Public Administration
According to the luminaries, the Public Administration has essential role in the National
Development, but not limited to, namely:
opromotion of a rational economic development through regulation;
omanagement of state supported enterprises and public services, securing free
competition and transparency in its implementation;
osupport of the private sector, especially of small and medium-sized enterprises, the
development of effective cooperative relations between the public and private
sectors;
odrafting and implementing effective policies ins: transportation, information and
communication, environmental policy, education, employment and health care
policy and many others;
o“Steward of the public trust.”
Gains of Public Administration
The quest for the success of Public Administration (as a long haul) gave birth to its
three (3) obvious achievements, namely;

•Separating Politics and Administration;

•Improving Government Efficiency; and
•Improving Delivery of Public Service.
Separating Politics and
Administration
•Professional Bureaucracy and Civil Service; and
•Bias-Free Government Institutions.
Improving Government Efficiency
•Determining mission and goals;
•Focusing on talent management
•Leveraging Information Technology;
•Delivering on analytics; and
•Managing change.
Improving Delivery of Public
Service
The improvement of the delivery of public service is anchored on the
employment of:
•Transparency;
•Accountability; and
•Public Participation.
Trends and Challenges
in Public Administration
 Context
Public administration is a social science that is similar to history as it enables youth to assess the past in
order to create solutions to resolve issues in the present and in the future.
In their book titled, Thinking in Time: The Uses of History for Decisionmakers, Richard E. Neustadt and
Ernest R. May discuss using history as a tool to make it more relevant to current trends.
The discipline of public administration has its own historical context embedded within American
government and political science.
Public administration is the practicality of these two disciplines which has been demonstrated through
presidential administrations, Congressional decision making, strategic planning and citizen focus.
 Context
One major question in public administration is how can you reflect on challenges and harness
opportunities?

Thinking in time helps the public administrator implement current trends which include new governance,
new leadership styles, generational change and succession planning, strategic and performance
measurement, citizen focus, reorganized work structure and process, e-government and e-democracy,
service delivery, innovation, ethics and transparency.
 Context
The need to improve sustainability, along with the persistent fiscal crisis, makes each of these trends
relevant to cause the public administrator to think in time in order to implement these trends.

New leadership styles are the pivotal trend that will help government maintain sustainability and prevent
fiscal crisis. There are many types of leadership styles that has caused formal authority to become almost
obsolete and has led to innovative styles, such as transformational, change agent, facilitative and
situational. Each of these innovative leadership styles is effective. But the key to leadership style is
leadership ability.
 Context
In John Maxwell’s The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, he identifies 21 laws of leadership in order to
produce effective results. These laws are applicable to the public sector.
However, the three laws that could make a new leadership effective are leadership ability, influence and
empowerment. Without an effective leadership style, the government loses its efficiency and sustainability
because of the “maze” of bureaucracy.
A system of bureaucracy causes a lack of innovation and places limitations on governance,
strategic/performance measurement, ethics and transparency.
 Context
The transformational leadership style is new and innovative enough to help the government structure
maintain sustainability and improve the fiscal crisis. When implemented within a bureaucratic system, the
transformational leadership style will help strengthen the relationship between management and staff. This
type of leadership style enables the follower to be motivated and inspired and provides challenging tasks
which enable them to feel like a contributor.
Embedded within the transformational leadership are the elements of individualized consideration,
intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation and idealized influence. Each of these characteristics is
what makes the transformational leadership style effective.
 Context
The individualized consideration is when the leader keeps communication open and places challenges
before the followers. Intellectual stimulation is where the leader challenges assumptions, takes risks,
stimulates creativity and turns unexpected situations into opportunities.

Inspirational motivation is where the leader articulates a vision that is appealing and challenges followers
with high standards. Idealized influence is where the leader becomes a role model for high ethical
behavior.
 Context
This new leadership style implemented within government structure motivates the organization to follow
aspects of Peter Senge’s Fifth Discipline: building a shared vision and team learning, which leads to a
commitment of thinking together, which leads to exemplary leadership such as modeling, creating
challenges, keeping people inspired to achieve the mission, and creating a learning organization.
Trends and Challenges
1. Should public administration be ethnocentric or universal? Should public administration be guided
primarily by theories and principles, for whatever these are worth, or should it adapt itself to
environmental pressures and consequently seek new approaches for responding to the challenges of
the environment?
Principles of administration are universal but their applicability and relevance may yet be conditioned
by the physical and social environment.
Technology aims at making life more convenient and improving the quality of life by introducing new
methods and approaches to service delivery.
The management of the economy, for example, may require new perspectives especially with the
advent of the debt problem, borrowing and repayment schemes.
Trends and Challenges
A development-oriented public administration has to consider as major concerns, productivity, efficiency,
effectiveness, accountability, budgetary deficits and unstable economy, among others. It must address the
problems of poverty, ecology, social justice, inequality, and disproportionate distribution of the goods of
society.
 Trends and Challenges
2. A) As more goods are produced for more people =
1. GOODS AND SERVICES
2. DEMANDS AND EXPECTATIONS
Several Problems;
•Energy Crisis (lack of foresight and failure)
•Depletion of Forest Resources (maintaining the ecological balance and instilling environmental
consciousness)
• Unregulated Population Growth (lack of appreciation for quality life more than a religious inspired and
ethical social phenomenon)
• Moral, Mental and Environmental Pollution (enforce ethical standards for social and ecosystems
maintenance)
•Cleaning and Greening (exemplified by the City of Manila and hoped that this will have a spillover effect
throughout Metro Manila and the rest of the country)
Trends and Challenges
3. Administration in Developing Countries is characterized by the following; {by: FERREL HEADY}
•It has an imitative rather than a indigenous pattern characterized by some version of modern western
bureaucratic administration.
• It is deficient in skilled manpower necessary for developmental programs; there is shortage of trained
administrators with management capability, development skills and technical competence.
• There is emphasis on orientation other than production-directed and program oriented goals. It uses the
public service as substitute for a social security program and a means to help solve the unemployment
problem.
Trends and Challenges
•There is wide discrepancy between format and reality as demonstrated by the urge to make things seem
more than what they actually are, resulting in a gap between expectations and realities.
•It has a generous measure of operational autonomy as several groups converge in the bureaucracy. There
are technical experts, professional experts or technocrats and the military, each desirous to formulate and
implement policy decisions on their own respective turfs.
 Trends and Challenges
4. There are two basic issues of Public Administration today;

•Policy issues which involve the core role public administrators

•Organization issues which are instrumental aspects of management or factors involved in internal
administration.
Trends and Challenges
POLICY ISSUES The range of policy issues the public administrator has to deal with includes the
following:
•Welfare Policy - like regulation and control of urban sprawl, slum clearance, public housing, control of
crimes, transport, education, revenue sourcing, social insurance, health policy and public assistance.
•Economic Issues – like tax sources, credit control, stock market operation and regulation, antitrust
enforcement, encouragement of small business, debt burden and loan repayment.
•Labor Policy – which includes regulation of industrial dispute workers right to organize and stage strike;
government encouragement to the formulation of labor movements, and the impact of labor group
pressure upon policy and administration.
Trends and Challenges
•Resource Policy – which have to do with such concerns like shrinking farm population, price control of
agricultural products, form of agricultural assistance and subsidies, cooperative movements, land use
planning, natural resource conservation, energy supply, providing balance between population and
resources.
Trends and Challenges
5. ORGANIZATION ISSUES
•Planning of Policies and Programs – with the use of plans, the consciousness of those responsible for
making decisions may be modified and necessary changes identified and implemented.
•Centralization Argues
•Lateral and Horizontal Allocation of Responsibilities and programs
•Lack of Coordination
•Decision Making and Program Management , (controlling and evaluating performance) – policies,
developing strategies, assigning roles, elicit participation, and cooperation) •Confronting public
management is how to deal with negative bureaucratic behavior, abuse of discretion and over indulgence,
red tape, graft and corruption. OTHER SIGNIFICANT ISSUES Proactive management must look into the
future. One prognosis is that in the years to come there will be more professionals in the work force. This
could mean added expertise inputs to government service. •Influence upon political and administrative
decision making is significantly powerful. •More public interest groups will pursue collective and
community oriented goals demanding environmental conservation, clean air, eradication of poverty,
equitable allocation of goods and services and this groups completed by citizen awareness of the
responsibilities of government and will be more critical of government policies. •The environment of
Trends and Challenges
5. ORGANIZATION ISSUES
•Planning of Policies and Programs – with the use of plans, the consciousness of those responsible for
making decisions may be modified and necessary changes identified and implemented.
•Centralization Argues
•Lateral and Horizontal Allocation of Responsibilities and programs
•Lack of Coordination
•Decision Making and Program Management , (controlling and evaluating performance) – policies,
developing strategies, assigning roles, elicit participation, and cooperation)
Trends and Challenges
•Confronting public management is how to deal with negative bureaucratic behavior, abuse of discretion
and over indulgence, red tape, graft and corruption.
 Trends and Challenges
OTHER SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
Proactive management must look into the future. One prognosis is that in the years to come there will be
more professionals in the work force. This could mean added expertise inputs to government service.
•Influence upon political and administrative decision making is significantly powerful.
•More public interest groups will pursue collective and community oriented goals demanding
environmental conservation, clean air, eradication of poverty, equitable allocation of goods and services
and this groups completed by citizen awareness of the responsibilities of government and will be more
critical of government policies.
Trends and Challenges
•The environment of society is fast changing; the challenges are continuous; there are no permanent
solutions.
References

The references are available at the following link:

•https://bit.ly/2KNuuog
•https://bit.ly/2NzpbGY
•https://bit.ly/2LmIoyf