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Big Government? Public Manager of the Week PAD 6060 week two lecture University of North Florida Master of Public Administration program PAD 6060 Public administration in modern society Fall 2017 Big government? Public manager of the week Photo credit Margaret Thatcher Former Prime Minister, and small government advocate Lecture goals: Introduce some perspectives on public management. * In this lecture we'll look at some historical context of American public administration, then look at some conceptual perspectives. But we’ll start with some (necessarily crude) definitional differences between public administration/ management/ policy/ affairs: Political science/politics (as in a Major in Political Science): a focus on human governance from the perspective of political leaders, and their elections. Public affairs (as in School of Public and Environmental Affairs): a broad focus on the formal organizations, and processes of human governance. This is an umbrella term, including the following: o Public policy (as in the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management): a focus on the processes of (or interactions involved in) human governance. Public policy also tends to focus on analytical techniques for solving policy problems. For a discussion of the difference between the MPA and MPP (Master of Public Policy), from the accrediting agency for both, click link. o Public administration (as in the American Society for Public Administration): a focus on the structures of (or organizations involved in) human governance. The focus is especially on managing (‘administering’) government organizations. Public management (as in the Public Management Research Association): much the same as public administration (focus on structures), save that it purports to take a more pragmatic, how-to-manage-an-organization approach. This public management v. administration distinction is largely an academic one, though. o Nonprofit administration (as in the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organization and Voluntary Action): a focus on the structures and process of non-governmental, non-business organizations. Business management (as in a College of Business): a focus on the management of for-profit business firms, and the processes of market allocation. Page 1 of 12 PAD 6060 week two lecture Clear enough? If so, please explain it to me! It is also worth bearing in mind that the conceptual boundaries between these fields break down in their application, as there is a lot of crossing over. Among other things, I don't think it is possible to understand the structures of public administration without some knowledge of the public policy processes that public agencies are often involved in. Politicians who get elected but have no implementable policies are a disaster; and public managers who are unaware of politics are likely to have a short career. Big guv’mint! (Or is it?) Table 1 Some pragmatic, good government indicators Corruption Civil Government Legal It is worth keeping in mind that the US federal government is, perceptions freedom effectiveness system in dollar terms, the world's G7+ US 7.1 1 7.86 7.50 largest. Why? Liechtenstein is Australia 8.7 1 8.93 8.31 able to govern itself with a Canada 8.9 1 9.29 8.28 government that costs about France 6.8 1 7.14 7.31 US$1b, while the US federal Germany 7.9 1 7.86 8.17 government alone spent some Italy 3.9 1.5 6.79 5.67 $3,455b (in 2013, source). If Japan 7.8 1.5 8.21 7.49 Liechtenstein can govern itself Sweden 9.2 1 9.64 8.48 for only $1b, why does it cost UK 7.6 1 7.86 8.11 us $3.5t? But of course, the US is much, much larger than BRICs Liechtenstein, hence the much Brazil 3.7 2 7.50 5.25 larger budget of the US. Turns China 3.5 6.5 5.00 6.38 India 3.3 2.5 8.57 5.93 out, as seen in Table 1 in Russia 2.1 5.5 3.21 5.73 Lecture 1, the US actually is a relatively lightly governed Laggards country, both in terms of the Pakistan 2.3 4.5 5.71 4.04 size, and regulatory reach of its Nigeria 2.4 4.0 3.21 4.20 governments. This is also Vietnam 2.7 6.0 4.29 6.01 evident in the comparison with Venezuela 2.0 5.0 3.93 2.91 Liechtenstein: even though the Sources: Corruption perceptions is from Transparency International. It is US federal budget is about a 1-10 scale, with 10 = less corrupt. Civil freedom is from Freedom House. It is a 1-7 scale, with 1 = free, 7 = not free. Government 3500 times larger than that of effectiveness and the legal system are from the Economist Intelligence Liechtenstein, the population of Unit’s Democracy Index. the US is nearly 9000 times larger (and land area over 50,000 times larger). So we do more with relatively less, providing government for 9000 times as many people, for only 3500 times more money. Say what you will about government in the US: it is more efficient than that of Liechtenstein. You won’t hear that on Fox News (link for example). Despite 'big bureaucracy', 'constraint' -- attempts at reducing the size and role of government -- has been a fundamental feature of the US system since the country was founded. Indeed, the country was founded with a ‘separation of powers’ to restrict capricious government activity: The Executive (identified in Article II of the Constitution) The Legislature, (identified in Article I of the Constitution) itself split into Page 2 of 12 PAD 6060 week two lecture o The House of Representatives, and o The Senate Judiciary (Article III of the Constitution) State governments (which preceded the United States, and guaranteed their rights through the 10th Amendment), themselves featuring An executive; A Legislature, 49 of which have both a House, and a Senate; and a Judiciary Still, despite this small American government with a light regulatory footprint, extraordinary enjoyment of civil and political liberties (as indicated in Table 1 from the previous page), there is little doubt but that government in the US has grown over the past century. This process has waxed and waned, though, as reflected in Table 2, below. Table 2 Federal spending (size of government!) in the US over time Year Federal Federal Federal GDP Jobless Highest (Presidential Outlays revenue Balance change (%) marginal budgets) (%GDP) (% GDP) (%GDP) (% annual) tax rate 1920 --- --- --- --- 73.0 1930 3.4 4.1 +0.7 -8.6 --- 25.0 1932 6.8 2.8 -4.0 -13.0 --- 63.0 1933 7.9 3.4 -4.5 -1.3 --- 63.0 1935-7 9.3 5.4 -4.0 9.0 --- 73.0 1938 7.6 7.5 -0.1 -3.4 --- 79.0 1939 10.1 7.0 -3.1 8.1 --- 79.0 1943 42.6 13.0 -29.6 16.4 --- 88.0 1944 42.7 20.5 -22.2 8.1 --- 94.0 1945 41.0 19.1 -21.9 -1.1 --- 94.0 1946 24.2 17.1 -7.1 -11.0 --- 86.45 1947-1960 16.3 16.5 0.2 3.4 4.6 89.1 1961-1974 18.9 18.2 -0.7 4.0 4.9 76.0 1975-1981 20.5 17.8 -2.7 3.0 7.1 69.9 1982-1989 (Reagan) 21.6 17.5 -4.1 3.6 7.3 43.1 1990-1993 (Bush I) 21.3 17.2 -4.1 1.9 6.7 32.4 1994-2001 (Clinton) 18.6 18.8 +0.2 3.5 4.9 39.5 2002-2009 (Bush II) 19.9 16.5 -3.4 1.6 5.8 35.5 2009 24.4 14.6 -9.8 -2.8 9.3 35.0 2010 23.4 14.6 -8.7 2.5 9.6 35.0 2011 23.4 15.0 -8.5 1.6 8.9 35.0 2012 22.1 15.3 -6.8 2.2 8.1 35.0 2013 20.9 16.8 -4.1 1.7 7.4 39.6 2014 20.4 17.5 -2.8 2.6 6.2 39.6 2015 20.6 18.2 -2.4 2.9 5.3 39.6 2016 20.9 17.8 -3.2 1.5 4.9 39.6 Sources: Budget data: Office of Management and Budget, Summary of Receipts, Outlays, and Surpluses or Deficits (-) as Percentages of GDP: 1930-2020. GDP change: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Gross Domestic Product change from previous period. Jobless: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment status of the civilian noninstitutional population, 1940 to date. Tax: Tax Policy Center, Historical Individual Income Tax Parameters. Page 3 of 12 PAD 6060 week two lecture From the data, three spurts of federal government growth are evident: the 1930s through World War II, the ‘Great Society’ era, then again from the late 70s through the Reagan years. The recent recession then lifted federal spending above even the Reagan years, though with recovery federal spending has decreased back to below Reagan-era levels. Why this previous growth occurred is due to numerous reasons, but in large part was due to growth and modernization of US society. Richer countries have larger governments (even as a share of their economy), as more complex societies require more coordination, and as richer people demand low crime, good schools, good infrastructure, good health (low incidence of tuberculosis and West Nile virus, etc.), a cleaner environment (mowed street medians, rivers that don’t turn green, etc.), and the like. Other interesting points from Table 2: Tax rates dropped through the 1920s, yet economic calamity occurred! Note the intensity of the Great Depression.
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