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Historical overview of public administration
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Large-scale administrative organizations have existed since early times. Ancient empires organized and maintained political rule over wide areas and large populations by the use of quite a sophisticated administrative apparatus and more or less skilled administrative functionaries.
The personal nature of that rule was very great. Everything depended on the emperor. The emperor in turn had to rely on the personal loyalty of his subordinates. It was a system of favoritism and patronage.
In a system based on personal preferment, a change of emperor disrupted the entire arrangements of government. Those who had been in favor might now be out of favor. Weak rulers followed strong rulers – but all were dependent on the army, which supplied the continuity that enabled the empire to endure so long. In the absence of institutional, bureaucratic procedures, government moved from stability to near anarchy and back again.
Modern administrative system is based on objective norms (such as laws, rules and regulations) rather than on favoritism. It is a system of offices rather than officers. Loyalty is owed first of all to the state and the administrative organization. Members of the bureaucracy are chosen for their qualification rather than for their personal connections with powerful persons. When vacancies occur, new qualified persons are selected according to clearly defined rules.
Ex. 2. Read the text again for understanding its main points and answer the 'What'-questions given below:
1) What is public administration?
2) What institutions and agencies are involved in public administration?
3) What institutions are involved with policy formulation?
4) What public figures are visible to the public – elected or anonymous ones?
5) What are public administrators?
6) What maintained political rule over wide areas and large populations in ancient empires?
7) What is the difference between macro-administration and micro-administration?
8) What changes could a change of emperor lead to in a system based on personal preferment?
9) What are modern administrative systems based on?
10) What is the difference between the administrative system based on objective norms and the one based on favouritism?
Ex. 3. Now read the text for detailed information to complete the following sentences and develop the idea:
1) We are in contact with … almost from the moment of birth.
2) Public administration is said to be not ….
3) Public administrators are the anonymous specialists, who ….
4) Whether in the negative or positive sense, public administration is ….
5) The ancient and recent colonial empires ….
6) The emperor carried an enormous work load ….
7) Modern administrative system is based on ….
8) When vacancies occur by death, resignation, or for other reasons, new qualified persons ….
Ex. 4. Answer the following questions:
1) Why may our society be labeled as the " administered society" ?
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2) Why is public administration said to be not as showy as other kinds of politics?
3) Why was the system of the ancient empires called " the system of favouritism and patronage" ?
4) Why is bureaucracy thought to be immortal?
5) What specialists are called " rank-and-file personnel" ?
6) Why did ancient empires often move from stability to near anarchy and back again?
7) What objective norms are modern administrative systems based on?
8) Why do people think of elected officials when they think about government?
D. Post-reading Exercises
Ex. 1. Insert prepositions where necessary:
1) We are accountable … our parents for our actions.
2) Everything depended … the emperor, who in turn had to rely … the personal loyalty of his subordinates.
3) Various institutions are involved … public administration, but large, specialized governmental agencies are given responsibility … most public administration.
4) Parliament or Congress are involved … policy formation, and the Department or Ministry of Defense are mainly involved … policy implementation.
5) In a system based … personal preferment, those who had been … favour might now be … … favour.
6) Weak rulers followed strong rulers, – but all were dependent … the army, which supplied the continuity.
Ex. 2. What is the English for:
| А 1) править, господствовать 2) требование, претензия 3) эффективный 4) осуществлять, приводить в исполнение 5) курс, стратегия 6) регистрировать 7) квалифицированный, опытный | В 1) государственное управление 2) законно избранное правительство 3) осуществление политики 4) государственный бюрократизм 5) административная система 6) государственная служба 7) преданность подчиненных 8) влиятельные люди 9) политическое правление |
Ex. 3. Retell the text finishing the following sentences and adding 4-5 phrases of your own:
1) The text under discussion draws our attention to ….
2) Public administration is said to be not as showy as ….
3) Public administrators are…
4) The ancient empires organized and maintained political rule by …
5) Modern administrative system is based on …
Ex. 4. Translate into English:
1) Анонимность государственного управления вызывает у многих опасения, что государственная стратегия будет вырабатываться людьми, не подотчетными гражданам.
2) При смене императора, разрушался весь государственный механизм, и люди, которые были в почете, могли оказаться в немилости.
3) При современной системе государственного управления государственные служащие назначаются согласно их квалификации, а не по личным связям с влиятельными людьми.
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4) Государственное правление зависело от императора, которому, в свою очередь, приходилось полагаться на преданность подчиненных.
5) Император выполнял огромную работу – читал и слушал ходатайства, разбирал судебные иски и просьбы о помиловании.
Ex. 5. Answer the following questions:
1) What is public administration? Have you ever been in contact with public administration?
2) What institutions are involved in public administration?
3) What qualities should a public administrator possess?
4) How does a system based on personal preferment function?
5) Modern administrative system is based on objective norms rather than on favouritism. What are these objective norms?
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