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Five future trends in Public Administration are 1) global interconnectedness and self-sufficiency; 2) changes to public health policy; 3) incorporation of advanced technology into administration; 4) more grassroots advocacy; and 5) emphasis on sustainability (Florida Tech, 2019). The first trend—the global interconnectedness of public administrations and a focus at the same time on self-sufficiency—may seem like two diametrically opposed trends going in opposite directions, but the reality is that global interconnectedness and self-sufficiency are compatible and public administrators in the future will need to realize how. First off, globalization is a fact of life in the modern world. The China-U.S. trade war is a perfect example of how what is happening on one side of the world can have a tremendous impact on the entire rest of the planet: the reason is that we live in a global economy, and every country’s economic output is integrated with every other nation. Thus, public administrators will have to be willing to work more closely with administrations in other countries in order to bring stability to their own communities. At the same time, they must not appear weak on the global stage and must be able to show that they are self-sustainable—otherwise they are more likely to be taken advantage of. Tomorrow’s public administrators must be “tech-savvy, communicative, globally minded and efficiency driven” (Florida Tech, 2019) in order to succeed.
Second, public administrators in the future will have to address the issues of public health, including expanding access to care for underprivileged populations and making sure that everyone is covered. Public administrators are going to have to face problems such as making sure that drinking water for school children is clean and safe from chemicals and minerals that could harm. They will have to address the issue of vaccinations and the extent to which they will be made mandatory. They will have to address the issue of drug abuse and the opioid epidemic and how society can solve it without having to turn people over to the justice department.
Third, technology is going to be a major factor in public administration going forward. This means that public administrators will need to be experienced in and knowledgeable of tech concepts and tools that will make the work of public administration more efficient. This falls under the category of scientific management and public administrators will need to know both how to use these tools effectively and also how to safeguard and protect data, for as the world becomes more technological the risks of hacking increase as well.
Fourth, public administrators will be relying more and more on grassroots advocacy in order to get policies moving and implemented. Social media has became a major tool of the grassroots community and because it is such a powerful tool it means that the grassroots community has obtained more power for itself. Public administrators will need to work with these communities to help keep the state progressing forward.
Finally, public administrators will have to address the issue of sustainability and whether the world can switch over fully to green energy or whether it is an impossibility. The issue must be addressed because more and more focus by the grassroots communities is being put on the problem of climate change and even though not everyone agrees it is happening, the problem will not go away and it will be a major policy focus in the coming years for public administrators.
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According to VCU (2019), public personnel administration is the practice of “acquiring the best...
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