B. Pre-reading Exercises

Ex. 1. Look at the heading of the text and predict the contents of it.

Ex. 2. Name some words and phrases you know related to the problem under discussion.

Ex. 3. Guess the meaning of the following words and word combinations:

politics/policy, public/private organization, formal/informal group, spiritual/ material/ individual needs, need of self-actualization, corruption, area or responsibility, task orientation, faceless bureaucrats.

Ex. 4. Give your own definition of 'organization theory'.

Ex. 5. Answer the following questions:

1) The discipline of public administration like any other discipline has its own subject and field. What are they?

2) What do the terms 'a public organization' and 'a private organization' convey to you?

3) What is 'a hierarchical structure' (of a government or business organization)?

4) May bureaucracy create abuses of power? In what way?

5) Does the effective development of public administration theory depend on our knowledge about humans, their motives and needs? Can you give examples?

C. Reading

Ex. 1. Read the text for general information to complete the following statements:

1) The text discusses … (the main issues and aspects of …)

2) The text considers organization theory which involves …

3) The text tells us about public administration and its main participants … (such as … who …)

SOME THEORETICAL ASPECTS

OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Though there are different approaches to the field of public administration, this interdisciplinary subject nowadays has a quite strong theory that tries to take into account not only management subjects, but also the mix of administration, policy making, and politics.

Let us consider some issues of this theory and start with organization theory common to both public and private sectors.

The basic aspects of organization theory

The terms public and private convey very different connotations to the general public. Public organizations are commonly pictured as large mazes that employ bureaucrats to create red tape; private organizations, on the other hand, are viewed to be run by hard-nosed managers who worry about profit and consumers. Public organizations are pictured as wasteful; private organizations are often presented as efficient. Yet these perceptions of their differences do not withstand careful scrutiny. Both types of organizations have much in common.

Organization as bureaucracy

Whether in business or government organizations, a dominant form of any administration is bureaucracy. Bureaucracies are generally defined as organizations that (1) are large, (2) hierarchical in structure with each employee accountable to the top executive through a chain of command, (3) provide each employee with a clearly defined role and area of responsibility, (4) base their decisions on impersonal rules, and (5) hire and promote employees taking into account their skills and training related to specific jobs. Bureaucracy has promise but it may also create problems and abuses of power, especially in the absence of effective coordination.

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