Public Administration Theory Second Midterm Exam Essay Example

- What type of communication problems discussed in the Garnett reading was illustrated in the case of responding to the shootings at Columbine? What strategies might have been employed in solving or circumventing these problems? From your own experience, what techniques would you utilize to ensure that information you receive is accurate, timely, and not distorted by preconceived, personal, or institutional biases?
It was on the fateful day of April 20, 1999, when the Columbine High School was left shaken by the gunshots just three days after the prom. The incident led to the demise of as many as twelve students and a teacher. Also, twenty-four students were physically injured on that day. The two gunmen, who were fellow students, shot and killed themselves. The incident had its direct impact on hundreds of students and staff and the community was left in a state of trauma. There was panic among all the individuals who were caught in the middle of the incident and also those who had their wards and near ones stuck in the plight. The attack was unexpected and
In retrospect, one can clearly comprehend that a major impediment which surfaced during the Columbine shooting was the extreme difficulty on the part of the many separate agencies in communicating directly with one another. In total, there were forty-six agencies which were responding to the emergency. Inevitably, they were operating on different emergency radio channels and also different parts of radio bandwidth which complicated the situation.
As a result, the agencies could not communicate with each other and also the groups with similar functions failed to communicate through radio. In an ideal scenario, the groups which have similar responsibilities needed to have their own channel for communication so that the reports and vital information about the situation and are could be conversed properly.
If all of these agencies would have used the same system, there would have been a central command by the lead agency which could have instructed and guided all the agencies in function. Unfortunately, in the case of the Columbine shootings, the use of a variety of radio channels prevented the possibility of establishment of a common command channel which would have aided the situation a lot.
Garnett opines in the article that decisions are based on the dynamics among various organizations. As such, the authorities need to comprehend the paramount importance of an infallible inter-organizational communication among the various agencies involved with emergency actions. The complex relationships of agencies which are integral parts of such rescue operations require profound communication among themselves. Also, there needs to be flow of information among the agencies to avoid any confusion and thus ensure proper actions. The case is an example of immense shortcoming in lateral communication. There was lack of coordination among the various agencies which were functional during the day of the incident. Spheres of information sharing and multidisciplinary problem solving took a blow due to the same reason and thus the matter got more complex to be handled. Thus, the inability to form a common channel for all the responders on the day of the incident had an adverse effect on the process of the rescue operations. The Columbine shooting exposed the loopholes of the structure of the cooperative actions among these agencies. The impediments which hindered the agencies only pointed at the issues which needed to be addressed immediately by the administration.
A close scrutiny of the incident makes it clear that the problems could have been done away with if some required steps were ensured by the administration. The administration needed to attribute the issue of inter-organizational communication with optimum importance. That would have meant a prompt action on the part of the administration to nullify the factors which would expose the vulnerability of the organizational structure.
There needed to be a hierarchical structure of communication among all the agencies which were functional on the day of the incident. A hierarchical structure of communication would have led to a proper information transfer among the agencies. Also, the various agencies could have coordinated much better with one another and aided in controlling the situation. The lead agency pattern would have been of great help in such a situation. Under such condition, all the involved agencies would have reported to a central unit which could have successfully coordinated with all the agencies. Any confusion or delay could have thus been averted by the administration and the resources could have been put to use perfectly. Hence, the situation could have been brought under control much faster and more effectively.
Also, the various mediums of communication like radio, television or websites could have been utilized more promptly and effectively to pacify the fear or confusion among the various people who had their wards or relatives in the middle of the horrific situation at the high school. Also, there was requirement for communication with the families of the students of the school about the fate of their wards.
Thus, the complexity and trauma of the situation could have been minimized by quite some extent if the authority would have been more careful about the public administration issues discussed. The incident acts as an example of the insufficient preparation on the part of the agencies and raises the demand for a better administration and planning of communication in future. The aim of the public administration to ensure the well-being and safety of the citizens could only be ensured hence.
It is very important for an individual to form a personal opinion about matters. However, such a pursuit requires a careful approach to the bombardment of news media which aims to condition the masses into having favorable outlooks toward matters which would comply with the bias of institution or organization. The institution might take the aid of press-agentry model or the public information model by employing the experts to channelize the cognition of the mass. Even the two-way asymmetric model aims to make the people accept the propaganda and bias of the institutions by seeking passive information from the public.
Thus, one needs to comprehend the techniques to escape the paramount effect of the institutional biases. One can opt to know about a particular event in different forms of media. Thus, the number of sources would increase and the information would not be bound by the bias by too much. Also, it is wise to take into consideration the news circulated by an international media house as that would not be under the influence of the government or would not promote any preconceived bias as such. It is also required to understand and remember if a particular news media house promotes any particular propaganda. If it is understood by the public, it is wise to avoid forming an opinion abiding by the notion or perspective of that source. It is always advisable to form an individual opinion and interpretation of the society and occurrences. This requires an unbiased mind on the part of the individual. One should judge the facts and then endeavor to conclude on the issue. It is important to understand that the dominant forces would always try to influence and thus channelize the public opinion. Such a comprehension on the part of the individual is the inception toward forming an independent opinion.
Thus, the innate bias of the news or information catered to the public can be nullified and the step toward forming an unbiased and logical outlook toward a particular matter can be initiated.
- What does the "Wichita Confronts Contamination" case study say about the significance of political bargaining and coalition building in IGR? And its role in influencing outcomes? In what specific ways are the political dimensions of IGR analyzed by Conlan illustrated in this case study?
The Wichita Contamination incident shook the authorities of the city from the core as the impending complexities could have hindered the economic growth as well as development of the city. The pursuit of doing away with the contamination required a huge fund along with considerable time for completing the process. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) recommended two steps: the companies responsible could come together to clean the area or the place would be ranked for National Priority Listing which was the first step toward the activation of Superfund.
The Congress had passed the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act in 1968 which initiated a more co-optive and opportunistic model of federalism. Now, the target was to utilize the IGR for grants and procedures which would aid the process of the cleanup of Wichita.
The city government was in a state of confusion at the impending crisis of uncertain liability and bank-imposed real estate freeze which would have hindered the tax base of the city. In a bid to control the situation, it was opined that about 100 parties which were potentially responsible could form a PRP to ascertain the payment of the Remedial Investigation and Feasibility study which were required for countering the contamination. The city and Coleman would also be involved in the process. This option was far more viable in comparison to allowing the site to be ranked for Superfund.
The third option which was taken into consideration was a list of financial alternatives. However, the establishment of special assessment districts, issue of bonds, creation of tax increment finance districts, state-wide tax all would have brought negative impacts. Also, any such step required the approval of the Wichita City Council, Sedgwik County Council and Wichita School Board. Thus, a final analysis clarified that the plan required the complex collaboration between several institutions like the city manager’s office, city council, county commission, the school board, KDHE, Coleman, state legislature, EPA and the governor.
The city had talks with the KDHE which became enthusiastic about assuming responsibility for Gilbert-Mosley with the TIF proposal. Moreover, Cherches initiated negotiations with the state to oversee the cleaning process and thus the high expenditures of the EPA could be avoided. The plan got the overwhelming support of the people and won unanimously at the city council. Then, the plan was taken to the local financial community for approval which came out to be positive.
Another step was taken where the innocent property owners who did not contribute in the contamination process could apply for the Certificate and Release for Environmental Conditions and thus be exempted from any sort of cleanup liability.
Both the city and EPA exuded the quality of opportunism by pursuing their immediate interests with very little regard for the collective or institutional consequences. The city also got the backing of the EPA as it was proposed that all the proposed steps of the EPA would be followed by Wichita and the requirements for the cleanup would be fulfilled. The KDHE would act as the overseeing authority. As such, the EPA had a lot to gain from the process, rather than lose. The agency could hog the credits for the cleanup if the city succeeded in its pursuit. Otherwise, nothing would stop the EPA from going forward and implementing the Superfund.
After settling this, the legislative complexity was addressed by the city. The IGR needed to be utilized for showing policy innovation by the governments which would aid the process of the cleanup. This positive sign of federalism was shown by the authorities and the effects were clear in the legislative innovation. The Cash Basis and the Budget Law of Kansas would not allow operating governments commit operating revenues over a year’s time. What Wichita needed was an exception to this and thus an amendment needed to be brought about to the TIF law. Thus, the procedure of long-term environmental cleanup would not be impeded. After a week of the Coleman agreement, the TIF bill was passed by the Kansas legislature. Wichita was now able to reserve up to 20 percent of the property tax of Gilbert-Mosley to utilize for the cleanup, for the next 20 years.
After all the impediments were nullified by Wichita, the banks also agreed to lend money on the security of the real properties of Gilbert-Mosley if the owner could produce the certificate of exemption issued by the city. Thus, the problem was solved with much planning and the process for cleanup of the contamination was initiated in Wichita. The process could have never been possible if there was not enough trust between the different units and levels of the government. The case stands out as a quintessential example illustrating the political dimensions of the IGR which are analyzed by Tim Conlan in “Intergovernmental Relations (IGR): The Concept of Opportunistic Federalism”.
The city of Wichita pursued the immediate remedy to the surmounting problem of cleaning up the contamination. Through a very well-planned process utilizing the IGR, the situation which could have proven to be catastrophic for the city was finally averted. The financial onus and the legal bondages were handled extremely well by the governance.