Contemporary scholars in public management and policy formation have favored a slightly lose structure compared to the traditional model of public management. In the United States, the period of Ronald Reagan presidency towards the Bush presidency of 2000- 2008 witnessed an increasing surge of privatization and the increasing role of corporate management in the government affairs. In contrast, the Obama administration has slightly taken a different route by a pursuing an increasing government role in the affairs of the state. Perhaps one such example is the Obamacare that attempts to provide universal healthcare for all Americans (Denhardt , 2012)
Proponents of the new school of public administration argue for increased flexibility and creativity on the affairs of government. The central premise of this argument is the strive for increased customer satisfaction. Included in the platform is the decrease of instruction from the top administrators and increasing role of lower managers on decision making. The benefit of such management skills allows for creativity and productivity. It also allows managers to take ownership of the decisions that they make form the grassroots. The United States, being a humongous political entity, would be governed better with a more consistent and sound public participation. Community engagement on the affairs of the state would be key in the implementation and success of government operation. With limited public participation, the success of the new school of management would be futile (Shafritz & Hyde,2012).
Even as governments continue to privatize operations, there is need for privatization with checks ( Allaf, 2012).Privatization with checks creates room for constraints that limit the excess of private companies in relation to their roles. The government must still claim responsibility for the actions committed by its agents. While some argue the imposing limits disregards flexibility, many reason that imposition of limits is the only way that the government can keep checks of the actions of its business agents (
References
Denhardt, Janet, Denhardt Robert, The New Public Service (2012) M.E. Sharpe Third Edition
Shafritz Jay M.& Hyde Albert C. Classics of Public AdministrationWadsworth Learning Seventh
Module 1a: Reinventing Government The Government Reinvention Movement
