Question One
Intergovernmental Relations was created to cater for the challenges experienced by public administrators in the United States of America. It is how different intergovernmental leaders and units come together to solve a problem. The system has enabled leaders to improve on centralized regulatory control in favor of devolved and decentralized service delivery systems. The sharing of power between political leaders was to provide effective and efficient administrative services, but can include policy, financial, and administrative dimensions (Stillman, 2009, p.146).
Findings revealed that Wichita Kansas was located under a toxic contaminated lake in 1990. The Environmental Protection Agency stated that people would suffer from acute diseases such as cancer in case they were exposed to the toxins in the underground water. According to local government agencies, some areas such as Gilbert had immense amounts of industrial and commercial chemicals. There were no reported health related concerns on the incidence, but it had a negative impact on Wichita. Potential investors and businesses closed down and transferred to other cities, adversely affecting the economy of the city.
The Environmental Protection Agency formulated plans to eradicate the toxins in the Central Business District. Business owners were required to co-operate in the cleaning process, failure to which they would pay huge sums of money. The financial institutions stopped lending money to the property owners in Wichita. This was a strategy to evade any relation with the businesspersons, which would give it the liability of raising funds to clean up the mess in the city.
Kansas Department of Health and Environment had identified 158 businesses and industries, which were liable for the pollution, and requested them to take responsibility of cleaning up the city. The other alternative was to allow the initiation of the ranking of the Gilbert-Mosley as a superfund status. Political bargaining was essential to develop appropriate measures to solve the toxin problem in Wichita. Intervention by political leaders would assist in formulating and implementing the most suitable decisions to solve the problem
The city manager at the time declined both proposals by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. He argued that the superfund initiative would be time-consuming, and would lead to a decline of Wichita’s economic resources. He implemented an alternative that would change the financial institutions’ perspective on lending money to the business owners in the city. The manager’s policy aimed at providing other financial sources, for example, increasing the tax rate on the property in the city. Other measures included introducing a tax increment on finance district, and imposing a tax on the state of Kansas.
Outcomes
Political bargaining with various stakeholders in the Federal government would help achieve the set objectives. It was essential for the city manager to negotiate with Wichita school board, county council, and the Sedgwick county council. These negotiations would lead to a successful implementation of the plan if the administrators agreed on the terms. This was a challenge as various government agencies were affected by the manager’s plan. Another problem was to convince the Environmental Protection Agency that Wichita was committed to implementing the plan and that there were enough funds to develop the strategy. The plan would involve merging powers with the governor and state legislature, which required considerable bargaining due to the complexity of the intergovernmental regulations.
Cherches, the city manager did not focus on personal gain but the city’s benefits in case his tax decrement plan was implemented. It would be impossible for the manager to create the positive outcomes alone. Political bargaining and coalition played a crucial part in the success of the outcomes. He was able to convince financial institutions to lend money to the public though they had earlier declined. Political bargaining and negotiations encouraged the implementation process of the suggested plan by the manager. The State of Kansas took the responsibility to monitor the cleaning process on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency. Through political bargaining and coalition, Wichita’s economy started to improve as investments increased in the region after the cleanup.
Analysis
The manager’s plan would be comprehensive by involving other firms that polluted the city to contribute funds for the cleanup process. This would make them liable for their mistake, and serve as a lesson to other companies. The funds from these firms would increase the set budget for the clean up process, an added advantage to the state.
The political feature of the intergovernmental regulation is evident in the initiation of the funds allocated to the clean up process. The increment of taxes by the State generated revenue for the eradication of toxins from the site
The interdependency of the business owners and the political leaders in Wichita led to a win-win situation. The manager’s plan created a favorable opportunity for the city’s clean up without necessarily imposing additional costs on the dwellers. The plan saved the state from being listed in the superfund status, a factor that led to the development of the economy in the area.
References
Stillman, R. (2009). Public Administration: Concepts and cases. Denver: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Question Two
Root Decision Making Method
This approach of decision-making is used in the public administration field, in determining the most comprehensive alternative in a set of options. The decision makers think rationally on the best policy to adapt to achieve the firm’s goals. It is essential to look at other alternatives that can satisfy the same need, for example, when evaluating the best way to eradicate inflation in an economy. These alternatives enable the decision makers to build on one main objective, and evaluate the mistakes that may occur in the decision making process. The administrators then select the most appropriate decision among the alternatives; the decision must seek to maximize the ranked list of set goals, and minimize on errors.
The root method also referred to as the rational comprehensive method, can apply in making a decision regarding public projects (Hoy & Tarter, 2004, p.14). The government or the legislative council of a country uses the rational comprehensive method of decision making in managing their public funds. The public administrators should use collective efforts and ideas to avoid bias in the decision making process. This improves of people’s welfare as the leaders consider their opinions in decision -making process. It is vital to ensure that the decision makers have relevant information and knowledge when selecting the most suitable alternative to avoid making a wrong decision.
Advantages of the Root Method
The root method argues that the alternatives have equal chances to be adopted by the administrators. The method also allows the decision makers to be rational on the opinions. This promotes transparency in decision-making, as it is not possible for any decision maker to make a biased decision.
Disadvantages of the Root Method
The method is time consuming as the decision makers put many alternatives into consideration before choosing the most appropriate option.
The root method approach cannot be applicable in solving complex problems in public administration.
The Branch Method
The branch method is also called the successive limited comparisons decision-making method. This approach involves selecting one main objective, and improving it to suit an organization’s needs. The public administrators can add or reduce ideas to suit the objective of the decision-making process (Frederickson & Ghere, 2005, p.25). This ensures that the decision makers avoid serious mistakes in the execution process. The branch approach seeks to avoid unexpected changes in the public policies as simple alterations of a plan may lead to diversion from the main target.
Advantages of the Branch Method
It is applicable in complex decision making whereby public decision makers focus on building the main objective of a project.
The branch method saves on time as there are no additional alternatives considered in the decision making process.
Disadvantages of the Branch Method
Public administrators may overlook some vital details, which would help in the implementation process, hence altering the decision-making process.
The branch method does not allow decision makers to choose a decision rationally, but from a list of available choices, which may not necessarily suit the organization’s concerns.
The differences between the root and the branch methods of decision-making are clear due to their characteristics as indicated in the above paragraph. The root method uses a variety of alternatives while the branch method uses a sole objective in decision-making. The successive limited method is the most appropriate method in solving complex problems in an organization while the root method is used for simple tasks. In the root method, all details are relevant while the branch method overlooks some information.
The Hurricane Katrina was a deadly tropical cyclone that hit and destroyed property in the United States of America. The disaster led to loss of 1,833 lives and destroyed property worth billions. The Federal Emergency Management Agency failed in the decision-making process victims of Katrina suffered in floods without the agency saving them. The leaders concentrated on solving the complex problems without considering the simple problems such as the people stranded on rooftops. The public administration should have focused on life saving skills to prevent further loss of lives.
The State governors had not formulated comprehensive ideas on how to counter a natural disaster such as Katrina. The small steps in the formulation of ideas help decision makers to implement a plan that may be successful to other people. The problem was that the administrators delayed the decision making process, and this derailed the implementation process.
National Weather Service and the National Hurricane Center were some of the agencies commended for their work (Brinkley, 2006, p.36). The agencies provided accurate information on the hurricane weather tracking. This enabled the governors and other State leaders to make rational decisions to save lives. The Federal government and the populace should seek to formulate comprehensive ideas to prepare and control natural calamities to avoid severe consequences as in the case of Katrina.
References
Brinkley, D. (2006). The great deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. New York: Morrow.
Frederickson, H. G., & Ghere, R. K. (2005). Ethics in public management. Armonk, N.Y: M.E. Sharpe.
Hoy, W. K., & Tarter, C. J. (2004). Administrators solving the problems of practice: Decision-making concepts, cases, and consequences. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.
