Administration of public institutions

Administration of Public Institutions

In an organized society, governing institutions play a key role in the maintaining and formation of common goals for all citizens. Public administration is concerned with the management of public programs, which interact with the residents of the community. In order to verify that governing groups are acting on the behalf of the community as a whole, a "report card" system is required to check up on individuals and governing groups to make sure society is benefiting from their role as "overseer" of a particular program. Without this report card, it becomes very difficult to make a determination of whether the governing groups are doing what they are supposed to. Someone has to 'police the policemen,' in other words, and there are often laws and regulations put into place to do that.

Evaluation research is an important tool in making sure the people operating public institutions like health care systems, schools, and others are effectively running those areas which are crucial to society's growth and development. It attempts to determine whether changes sought through a particular program's intervention actually come about. The main purpose of evaluation research is to rate the impact of social interventions, for example new teaching methods or parole criteria, so that the best outcome may be achieved. Evaluative research applies the scientific method to problems that have administrative consequences. Since its ultimate purpose is to contribute to the effectiveness of action programs, implementation of research results is a critical phase in the process. As an aid to society, the desire of social scientists to make a difference in the world has contributed to the growth of evaluation research, and careful review of research results allow for the improvement of public administration programs much faster than in previous times.

The successful administration of evaluation research depends on cooperation from agency administrators and practitioners involved in community action programs. Sometimes, staff-management conflicts can seriously affect the researcher's progress because evaluation may involve examination of the activities of staff subordinates. The evaluators themselves are sometimes suspected of being "company spies" rather than actual researchers. This can lead to inaccurate data results based on the altered behavior of the staff or management involved. One final important issue is the availability of funds for evaluative research. When budget cuts must be made, evaluation funds are often among the first be reallocated.

The Sunshine Laws are the guidelines by which governing bodies are required to hold "public meetings" in order to do business, and make certain documents available to the public. The Sunshine Laws of each state differ slightly, and are generally seen as creating a better sense of accountability in legislators. One advantage of the Sunshine Laws is the idea of anti-censorship, or "freedom of the press." This involves the public's "right to know" of government actions, and the right of the media to separate political agenda and factual evidence. An example of a Sunshine Law's disadvantage would be a school wanting to bid anonymously on real estate yet by law, the actions of the public school administrators should be a matter of public knowledge. This instance may make the school unable to obtain the best price on a piece of property if the landowner is able to search public records to find out bargaining information to use as leverage in obtaining full price on the sale.

One of the duties of public administration is to oversee benefit programs for those members of the community who need public assistance. A government program that requires payment to anyone who meets specific qualifications is called an entitlement program. Those members of the community who meet criteria set up as guidelines to the programs are 'entitled' to the benefits of such plans as Social Security, Medicare, food stamps, etc. There are many more people entitled to these benefits at the present time because the economy is still struggling. As it improves there will be fewer people who will need these kinds of programs, but there will always be members of society who need them, and it is unrealistic to believe that these programs can ever be phased out.

The Food Stamp program, for example, was first started during the Great Depression in 1939 and still continues to serve needy families today with food purchase benefits. Families who qualify financially for this program are awarded monthly benefits for food purchases. This used to be in the form of coupons that they could use at the store, but is now handled in many states by a debit card. This reduces some of the uncomfortable stigma that a lot of people felt when they were required to present their food stamps to the cashier and also makes the entire transaction faster and easier. The program is overseen by the Department of Agriculture and serves millions of households each year.