Detailed Essay on Corruption and Public Values in United States Government

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wv981993

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Rutgers university

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Answer the following in 6-7 pages per question.

Write an essay explaining some of the challenges and opportunities associated with public sector governance? How can public officials undermine public confidence in government and, inversely, how can they assure the citizenry that the public sector is working in their best interest?How does the public sector promote public values in the United States?

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SPECIAL TOPICS IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS: DEMOCRATIC FOUNDATIONS OF PUBLIC SERVICE & PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION FINAL EXAMINATION Distributed: April 26, 2018 Due: May 7, 2018 at 5 p.m. via e-mail stephanie.newbold@rutgers.edu **Given that you will have 11 days to complete this exam, I will not grant any extensions for late exams.** Directions: Students are to answer each question. Essays must be typed, numbered, double-spaced, attached with a title page, and should be approximately 6-8 pages in length. Please remember, I expect you to use correct English, grammar, spelling, punctuation, and sentence structure. It will be helpful to refer to the writing expectations guide distributed on class 1 for reminders when writing and editing your work. Students are not required to consult outside sources for the purposes of this examination, but students may rely on everything we have read throughout this course to answer these questions. Question 1: Write an essay explaining some of the challenges and opportunities associated with public sector governance? Question 2: How can public officials undermine public confidence in government and, inversely, how can they assure the citizenry that the public sector is working in their best interest? Question 3: How does the public sector promote public values in the United States?
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Running Head: PUBLIC SECTOR AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Public Service and Public Administration- Question 1
Name
Institutional Affiliation

1

PUBLIC SECTOR AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

2

Public Service and Public Administration- Question 1
Introduction
The state sector also called the public sector is the segment of the economy that is composed of
both the public enterprises and the public services. Under public services, there is public goods
and government services such as police, infrastructure, public transit, military, healthcare,
sewers, public education, and telecommunications. On the other hand, the public enterprises
include publicly owned that provide various private good and services for sale and thus conduct
their activities on a commercial basis. Due to the magnitude of their operation and the extent of
its role, the public sector faces several challenges and opportunities. These challenges often lead
to reforms which help in bettering the services to the citizens both taxpayers and non-payers.
Opportunities also help in improving the public sector and even contributing to the growth and
development of the economy in the United States. This paper is a discussion of the challenges
and the opportunities faced in the public-sector governance in the United States.
Challenges and Opportunities related to Public Sector Governance
In summary, the challenges are the lack of resources to conduct assessments; the difficulties in
measuring effectiveness in the public sector; lack of proper leadership and, lack of transparency.
The opportunities include increasing devolution and decentralization; strengthening competitive
pressures; transforming workforce structure, size, and HRM arrangements; changing budget
practices and procedures; and introducing results-oriented approaches to budgeting and
management.
Challenges
Lack of resources to conduct evaluations

PUBLIC SECTOR AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

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Evaluation of the governance of the public sector are crucial since they highlight the problematic
areas in the sector and then decisions are made based on the provided information following the
evaluation. However, the lack of resources can hinder the activities aimed at illustrating the
working areas and the areas that may require more resources, better leadership or budget
allocation to work effectively. Lack of resources for evaluation is, therefore, one of the
challenges that are faced in the public sector. Lack of evaluation of the public sector attracts
consequences that are far-reaching and impactful to the citizens and the economy of the United
States. One of the reasons behind the lack of resources for program evaluation is the financial
crisis which affected many countries and economies. Secondly, the poor allocation of funds and
the misuse of the available yet limited resources within the public sector is another way that
leads to the lack of resources for the purpose of conducting evaluations (Tizard , 2012). These
evaluations should be done since they create information for primary stakeholders in their
decision-making processes. Lack of evaluations creates uncertainty in investors and the
stakeholders of the public sector.
The complexities in measuring efficiency in the public sector
Public administration requires achieving high levels of efficiency, and thus efficiency is an
imperative of public administration. As a primary value, efficiency has to be checked on and
improved upon over time in the public administration sector. In a nutshell, efficiency is the use
of the limited available resources to produce the maximum output. Government agencies are
therefore expected and required to operate with efficiency in mind even as they implement new
policies that may be costly in the start. However, measuring of efficiency involves complexity
that often hinders the improvement of the sector based on improving the efficiency (United
Nations , 2010). Improvement of efficiency can be made by improving the productivity of the

PUBLIC SECTOR AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

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employees, the efficient use of the funds according to the budget allocation, computer
investments and other investments to have more returns and so forth. Lack of clear ways and
approaches to measuring efficiency in the public sector remain a challenge.
Lack of proper leadership
Poor leadership practices remain an issue in the public-sector governance. A continuous stream
of the failure shown by the public governance failure through increased inefficiency, fraud, lack
of integrity, corruption and poor internal controls and financial mismanagement. The public
sector should put pressure on the leadership unit so that they can justify the use of resources with
proof, the utilization of allocated funds to the various agencies and the service delivery to the
citizens of the United States. (Tizard , 2012) To ensure proper governance, the leadership styles
and practices have to be changed, and the accountability has to be introduced. Accountability is
heavily influenced by the integrity system of involved individuals and agencies, the internal
control system and the leadership qualities that will contribute to efficiency and accountability.
Use of better leadership practices and the increase of accountability among the departments and
agencies of the government.
Lack of transparency
Lack of transparency is another issue that faces the public governance and one which has
hindered the development of the sector. Transparency is a critical aspect of public sector
governance yet it is least upheld. The financial records, audit results and other pertinent
information regarding efficiency, the use of public resources, the spending patterns of different
agencies would be made available for accountability and transparency reasons (Aziz, Rahman ,
Alam , & Said, 2015). The people in these departments also have to uphold transparency for the

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purpose of ensuring that public services and administration is correctly done. Transparency,
similar to proper leadership is an essential aspect of having an efficient and full functioning
public sector with fewer hiccups and mishaps.
Opportunities
Increasing devolution and decentralization
Decentralization is an opportunity for the public-sector governance since it leads to spending
responsibility. Having a decentralized system helps in the devolution of resources. Apart from
the devolution of resources, the other benefit of having a decentralized system is an increase of
efficiency. It is also imperative to note that the decentralization of the functional responsibilities
leads to the fiscal and political decentralization. If decentralization increases the efficiency of the
use of public resources, then communities are able to accrue benefits which would otherwise be
hard to gain. It is also helpful in decentralizing the responsibilities of the employees in various
agencies and in so doing impacting their productivity and morale, both of which are important
aspects to employee satisfaction and subsequently the provision of public services and the
delivery of public services.
Transforming workforce structure, size, and HRM arrangements; changing budget practices
and procedures
Human resource management practices are an imperative aspect and opportunity for the publicsector governance. Employee morale and satisfaction are critical drivers of performance. In
public governance, most of the activities are aided by the employees are they are highly valuable.
However, their role is so central and critical that it can affect the activities and efficiency of the
public sector. Employees should be carefully chosen using the appropriate human resource

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management strategies. Getting the right fit for the job is essential to the outcomes that will be
experienced in the sector since most of the work and the activities will be accomplished by the
hired employees. Additionally, changing of human resource management practices aids in
emphasizing on ethics which also help in the promotion of values such as integrity and
transparency (Tizard , 2012). The employees that uphold such values often fail to engage in
corruption, fraud, and embezzlement of funds. Attracting and retaining the right employees can
be achieved through the changing of the human resource management strategies used by the
public-sector governance. Changes in budget prices are, for example, influenced by the
Presenting results-oriented methods to budgeting and management
Results-oriented approaches to budgeting is an opportunity for th...


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