The new public administration refers to the modality adopted after the Minnow brook Conference of 1968 held under the leadership of Dwight Waldo. The New Public Administration premises an outright separation of policy and politics is unattainable. Still, public policy makers are constantly engaged in policy making that is the function of politicians. New Public Administration thus assumes an anti-positivist rhetoric that is also unusually anti technical as well as devoid of the formal hierarchical that characterizes the traditional public administration. Proponents of the New Public Administration argued that the theory as well as the practice of public administration that followed the turmoil’s of the Second World War, as well as the 1960s did not effectively address the problems of the day.
Central to the functionality of the New Public Administration platform is the deficiency in the roles of the public servants in finding solutions to the problems of the society. Instead, it focuses on the central role of citizens in bestowing citizenship, democracy, and patriotism. Service to the public is a public good, and it is the right of the citizens to be served by the citizens under the social contract agreement. A source of pride for most administrators should be their pride in service to the nation and the people and not the power that comes out of being public servants. Understanding the dynamics of representative democracy is the starting point in job analysis. Policy makers with this understanding can be objective while making policies relating to the criteria to be used. Consequently, job competencies will gain popularity in the analyses
According to Follet, the conventional view of management has misled people for a long time. Therefore, another view can suffice to correct the wrongs done by the conventional view. Follet asserts that contemporary work environments do not provide employees the opportunity to exploit their abilities and achieve their goals. Workplaces limit the performance of their employees by viewing them as naturally lazy, which compels the management to control them to achieve the required results. People are more productive when given freedom to use their talents and abilities. Moreover, when people are encouraged to accept responsibility at all organizational levels, all their needs can easily be achieved. The public service because civil service is governed by legislation, managers in the civil service sector are caught in a dilemma between implementing their mandate and negotiating with the employees. Due to the control the government has on civil service, forming unions is difficult. The remedy for employees in the civil service is through legislation.
Public management as field also should redefine itself to cope up with the changing times. Instead of the single mindset approach, practitioners would be better off if they embraced the multidisciplinary paradigm that management has taken. Managers are thus more helpful if they are well rounded, flexible, and aware of the need to be dynamic with the market demand. With the changing nature of the field of management and globalization, management has become an international career with global expectations; there is the need to be prepared for challenges that are not only American but also global. These challenges range from international challenges as well as local challenges.
References
L.Urwick, ed.Freedom and Cordination: Lectures in Bussiness Organization nu Mary Baker Pollet: London: Management Publications Trust Ltd. 1949).
Krislov, S. (1974). Representative Bureaucracy. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Mosher, F.C. (1982). Democracy and the Public Services: The Collective Services. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Thomas, R. R. Jr. (1990). From affirmative Action to Affirming Diversity. Cambridge: Harvard Business school Publishing.
